1943 US made Enfield

[Seaspriter]

Mind you, 'ball' to me and everyone else in the Military doesn't relate to the propellant. It's the name given to the projectile. Ball, as opposed to tracer, incendary, Armour piercing etc etc...

Peter, I'm with you 100%. Ball always meant to me the projectile, not the powder. This is where it really got confusing.

I was in the airport stuck between flights and thought I'd do a little more research on this, and every post I read created more confusion with so many opinions about what "ball" meant.

Bottom Line: from what I can see it means both projectile and powder. We all know what the projectile definition means. From a powder definition, apparently there are several standards: cordite (nitroglycerine based), flake, and ball/spherical (all smokeless). "Ball" apparently is the high standard for an even rate of burn. (perhaps this level of interconnection is why both bullets and powders are measured in "grains.")

To confuse the matter even further, after WWII, Winchester developed a way of reprocessing deteriorating surplus powder for civilian use, and trademarked the name "Ball" powder, which is now a name owned by Winchester/Olin and Hodgdon.

I'm not an authority on this thing, just trying to understand; and now I understand why I am still confused. C'est la vie!

Perhaps someone who has more of a chemistry background can chime in on this one (Vincent are you reading this?)