What is the meaning of "BALL"?

[Punch The Clown]

I thought it was named after "ball powder".

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[jmoore]

I thought it was named after "ball powder".

No, the term is MUCH older than that- ball powder is a roughly 1940's vintage development. (in military ammo- .30 M1 Carbine is the first common usage that I can think of, offhand.)

In the early days of rifles Minie dervived projectiles were commonly refered to as Minie-balls, and Whitworth, et al. target rifle/sniper bullets were commonly called "picket balls" due to their similar profile to a picket fence slat. As above, they also used "buck and ball" loads in muskets (although buck shot are "ball" projectiles also...)

I don't know the earliest recorded usage of the term, but I suspect it's been around a LONG time- why use two or three syllables when one will do?

"Pardon me, George, might you have any spare projectiles?"