Quote Originally Posted by whiterider View Post
The way I heard it explained was that the 'common' cartridge, that is not armour piercing, tracer, indendiary or other special purpose was just called 'ball'. A hangover from the days when that was the common musket round...a 'ball'.
Too right. 'Ball Round'. Similarly a cartridge with a tracer bullet is a 'Tracer Round', etc.