Ball ammunition

[sally-bee]

Hi guys,

What is ball ammunition exactly?

Sounds like it would be like an old musket shot but I see it's not this shape from a picture.

So what makes it ball?

[Silver87]

It's another name for full metal jacketed ammunition primarily used by the military so not actually a ball shape, I don't know how the name came about though.

[Baronvonrort]

Hi guys,

What is ball ammunition exactly?

So what makes it ball?

Have you been looking at cheap 7.62 nato 150gr ball ammo?
It has a .408 BC so no that good for longer ranges,it's military ammo which is FMJ due to conventions that outlaw expanding hunting type projectiles.

Technically I reckon some shotgun ammo could be considered ball ammo.

[Yelp]

I don't know how the name came about though.

Looks enough like a ball when seated in some cartridges I suppose.

ball-ammunition.jpg (7.82 KiB) Viewed 4163 times

[hoogle]

Maybe a nickname for pistol originally and some how stuck to rifle cartridges too

Some of the big game stuff is bally looking.

[sally-bee]

Have you been looking at cheap 7.62 nato 150gr ball ammo?
It has a .408 BC so no that good for longer ranges,it's military ammo which is FMJ due to conventions that outlaw expanding hunting type projectiles.

Technically I reckon some shotgun ammo could be considered ball ammo.

No not looking to buy any of that.

Just seen the term a bit without explanation and didn't know what it meant.

[Rakk]

Full Metal Jacket is right. NFI about the nickname ball either

[Grrzrr]

Full Metal Jacket is right. NFI about the nickname ball either

Most common theory is it's a carry-over from when bullets were balls. Wars with muskets.

Manuals still references 'ball ammo', 'tracer ammo' etc.

Ball is really 'standard military ammunition' by the manual. Or speciality ammunition if its something else like tracer.

[sally-bee]

Odd nickname for a jacket then.......

[handofcod]

Probably something to do with the french word for bullet being 'balle', hence the 'Minié ball' was a muzzle loaded conical bullet with spin stabilisation.

[Khan]

Outdated term now in any case.

FMJ is a more appropriate label to use.

[Grandpa_Halfdime]

It is a holdover from the times of round bullets.
The MiniBall is actually Minié ball, named after its co-developer Claude-Étienne Minié.
The ball part is a holdover from a time when there were ball, buck-and-ball, and buckshot loads. Buck-and-ball involved 4 rounds of .32-inch diameter buckshot loaded along with a single ball; it helped a lot because the muskets that used it were smooth bore firearms like the Brown Bess and notoriously inaccurate (probably why the British reported shooting in the water at the feet of the Colonial Militia). Yup, I have a smooth bore musket (replica of the 1814 Model from Harper's Ferry Armory used by the Mormon Battalion during the Mexican-American War) and I have all three types of pre-made paper rounds.
Anyway, the military has redefined Ball to mean any basic rifle bullet classified as FMJ or CMJ (Complete Metal Jacket over lead). Most countries restrict hunting with these rounds because of lower expansion / lower damage. The reason is bogus and is left over from a time people cut the tip off of military ammo and either drilled a small hole or put a cross on the tip. Someone decided that this caused more inhumane wounds than the FMJ versions because these rounds were believed to shatter on impact. Bullets cause the majority of their damage with the hydraulic effect and controlled expansion rounds provide a larger wound channel because of the physics involved, not because it shatters.

[Boatman]

If in doubt, just ask Grandpa

[AlanK]

The reason is bogus and is left over from a time people cut the tip off of military ammo and either drilled a small hole or put a cross on the tip.

The time of the dum-dum.

[Walt68]

mainly used to discriminate between different natures of Ammunition in the military, e.g. ball, tracer, armour piercing, discarding sabot.
Ball indicates normal FMJ.

[Farmjer]

Needed a nickname I'd say, too long to say "full metal jacket" 50 times a day.