why is fmj called ball?

Others contend the FMJ bullet's propensity for passing through barriers, enemy combatants and continuing downrange in search of secondary and tertiary targets earned it the nickname “hardball.” Shortened to ball it rolls off lips faster and sounds less offensive to sensitive eavesdroppers.

By Guy J. Sagi

Shooters often use the term “ball ammo” to describe cartridges with a full metal jacket bullet (FMJ). Although the jargon hints that the projectile is spherically shaped or contains some sort of hidden “ball” within, neither is true.

It’s the least-expensive ammunition—on average—available to civilian gun owners and accounts for the bulk of U.S. military small arms munitions. It’s clean, reliable, accurate and the favored fodder for practice, competition and informal range sessions.

Modern bullet design has slightly blurred ball ammo’s precise definition, however, which can make the term confusing to new gun owners. Here’s a look at likely origins of the name, what it means and what it does not.

Not everyone agrees on how the term “ball” grew to accepted status. Most concur it probably began when firearms finally found their way into widespread military use. During this time most smoothbore muzzleloaders used rounded balls of lead for projectiles.

The 1849 introduction of a new bullet seems to endorse the theory. Despite the fact the cylindrically shaped breakthrough from Claude-Etienne Minié had a conical point, its name—the Minié ball—indicates all military-issue bullets for small arms, regardless of their profile or composition, wore the suffix.

The French Army officer’s innovation was slightly smaller than the diameter of the barrel’s bore. This was to decrease the time required to load it from the firearm’s muzzle end. Its most important feature, however, was a hollow base with iron insert that expanded to engage rifling when the gunpowder ignited behind. The design improved accuracy and effective range.

James Burton, who was working at the United States Arsenal and Armory at Harpers Ferry at the time, improved the projectile in the early 1850s. His bullet was just as effective, but less expensive and easier to produce. Many historical documents refer to this iteration of the Americanized bullet as the “minnie ball.” When the Civil War began in 1861 both sides were using it widely. A fact that likely contributed to ball ammo’s indelible entry into the firearm lexicon.

It’s tradition, according to this theory, for frontline U.S. troops to refer to their standard-issue ammunition as ball. It accurately reflected bullet profile when we earned our independence. Because the term hasn’t lost traction in nearly 250 years, there’s likely more to its longevity than just habit.

One camp of opinion claims the term became permanently embedded after the introduction of ball powder during World War II. The propellant, which is safer and faster to produce than extruded powder, only became widely available to civilian reloaders in the 1960s, however.

Others contend the FMJ bullet’s propensity for passing through barriers, enemy combatants and continuing downrange in search of secondary and tertiary targets earned it the nickname “hardball.” Shortened to ball it rolls off lips faster and sounds less offensive to sensitive eavesdroppers.

Each theory has merits, and all likely contributed to ball ammo becoming an accepted firearm term. Regardless of the origin, qualification for membership on the ball ammo roster comes down to bullet construction and performance.

Firearms with rifling improved accuracy, period. Historically, lands and grooves had a habit of collecting some of the soft lead from those standard-issue minie balls used during the Civil War. That fouling compromised accuracy and slowed reloads.

Swiss Col. Eduard Rubin solved the problem in 1882. He added a thin skin of copper to the surface of a lead bullet—creating the first full metal jacket. We know historically the guns ran cleaner with this new projectile. The higher melting point allowed designers to increase powder charges in their unending search for increased velocity, flatter trajectories and more power.

Unlike its entirely lead predecessor, which flattened or lost integrity on impact, FMJs remain largely intact and unaltered after striking soft-tissue targets—at least when delivered at velocities possible from rifles and handguns. The cleaner running, reliably feeding and more accurate bullet design quickly assumed the new standard military ammo crown. Its characteristics are key ingredients in today’s definition of ball ammo.

Ball ammo, by today’s standards, are cartridges with jacketed bullets. On average, they do not change significantly in shape or surrender an undue portion of their mass when striking a game animal or other soft tissue. In handgun ammunition most “ball” bullets are round on the business end, often semi-spherical. Versions for rifles usually come to a conical point to improve aerodynamic stability.

Bullet profile can vary, and pure lead interiors aren’t necessarily requisite. The U.S. military, for example, has used a 5.56 NATO round often termed ball ammo, yet the bullet has a steel core.

Some of the cartridges that fail to qualify include those with hollow-point bullets. Tracer rounds, polymer-tipped bullet loads, those with frangible projectiles and virtually every flavor that does not have an FMJ bullet are not ball.

Bullets delivered from ball ammo don’t slow much when striking soft tissue, like a big-game animal. That reduces the chances of an ethical, one-shot stop. The fact also makes it nominal for self- and home-defense use for the same reason. Bullets exiting a target may strike something unintended downrange.

The FMJ bullets also pass through barriers like metal, wood and glass with relative ease—depending on impact velocity and material breached. That’s a slight advantage for members of our Armed Forces. Terrorists like to hide behind cover, after all. For law-abiding citizens defending themselves against criminal attack, or even hunters, it’s far from ideal for a bullet to travel to destinations unknown.

Cost is the most-often-cited advantage of using ball ammo. It’s inexpensive, particularly when bulk, non-corrosive military surplus cartridges are available.

Reliability is key. The softer lead core is covered by a metal that is less prone to dents and dings. Bullet wear is common as a bullet glides out of the magazine and onto the feed ramp. Stoppages and malfunctions most often occur during the cycling of the round. This bullet design has been around for more than 100 years and these loads are among the most reliable available today.

Interested in getting ammunition for your firearm? If you are not too versed in ammunition, you may be unsure of which kind to get that meets your gun’s desired function. Ball ammo is the most common type used in a variety of guns with a variety of different functions.

Ball ammunition is standard lead bullets that are specifically made for penetration. They are completely covered in metal, are solid, and do not expand upon impact. They are typically used for target practice and training rather than self-defense.

Keep reading to understand more about ball ammunition, what it is used for, the pros and cons, and how it compares to different types of ammo. This will give you an idea of whether it is a good fit for you.

Ball ammo, also known today as full metal jacket (FMJ) ammunition, stands for anything that is a non-hollow point jacketed round or what the military uses as standard ammo. It derives its name from the beginning of firearms, where muskets using large metal balls were used before the advent of conical ammunition.

Ball ammo is highly armor-piercing and is great in situations where that is needed. The downside to this, however, is in the implications of that through-and-through effect. If you fire into an assailant in your home, the round could go straight through him, through the walls behind him, and, feasibly, through an unintended target. This is why it is primarily used for the firing range.

Unlike other armor-piercing rounds, FMJ ammunition is completely legal in all firearms, including rifle rounds.

To summarize, ball ammo is great for practicing but bad in practice. You should purchase it only if you are looking to have some fun on your land or training your aim on the range. This is true even in spite of the fact that there are many kinds of ammunition of every kind, including FMJ. Stick with the hollow points for a home.

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Hollow point ammo is the counterpart of ball ammo. Whereas ball ammo is surrounded by a metal jacket, usually copper, hollow points have a hole at the tip of the bullet that goes to the bullet’s core.  This causes hollow point rounds to expand upon impact with their target, creating a larger wound cavity and stronger force once it enters the body.

This has another effect as well:

There are not many scenarios where armored targets will be present in a self-defense scenario, so hollow points are the ideal ammunition for a personal firearm.  Their stopping power far exceeds that of FMJ as well, with the force of the expansion being so great that it can kill your target even besides the actual bullet wound.

All in all, FMJ is great for military use, where they deal with armored targets or targets behind hard cover regularly, but in the civilian sector, its special qualities do more harm than good.  Hollow points are the standard ammunition for personal defense, and that is a standard that makes a lot of sense.  To clarify further, we will discuss:

There are two main advantages to using ball ammo over hollow point:

Rifle ammo is a lot different from pistol ammo, so it is worth taking an extra close look at it.  The most common ball ammo for a 5.56 mm bullet is the M193, which is a regular FMJ 5.56 round.  It has enhanced armor-piercing properties due to its size and the fact that it is fired out of a rifle, but it is not an armor-piercing round by itself.

That is where green-tip rounds enter.

The M193 was used by the military during Vietnam but was discontinued during the Cold War in favor of the M855s. The M193 round is more unpredictable than its newer counterpart, sometimes fragmenting upon contact with soft targets. This can lead to much more serious injuries than the M855 can incur, making it better for hunting and self-defense.

The M855 green tips do not do as much damage to soft targets, but they also travel through the air with much more stability due to the heavier weight of the round. This makes them much better at distance than the M193, whose lighter load and unstable movement were cause for significant bullet drop and inaccuracy due to the wind.

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Ball ammo is a versatile round that can be found almost anywhere. It is used in guns of all types except shotguns and is excellent for training and learning gun handling. For pistols, it is best to stick with hollow points or some other soft-tipped bullet when it comes to home defense and hunting.  This way, the power of ball ammo will not hurt anything you do not intend it to.

In the case of rifles, it is the opposite. 5.56 ball ammo is preferable for both hunting and home defense to its green-tipped other and will outperform its rival handsomely in both categories except at longer ranges. The importance of knowing your ammunition is hard to overstate when it comes to handling firearms, and there are few better examples of this than ball ammo.

Thanks for reading!

For more, check out How Much Does Ammo Cost? | Detailed Price Analysis.