Performance Comparison: Machine Guns and Light Cannon

[Shortround6]

The ball is an American term.

No, it is not. The English use it too.

I dont remember seeing any German, Russian 15mm on up having lead as a main substance, they were all hard metals or HE or combinations or other. The exception was use of lead to create the vehicle for a tracer bullet.

Wrong a second time. You don't need a lead core for it to be ball ammo, If you had been paying attention to facts instead of making stuff up you would have remembered this. US .50 cal BALL ammo uses a STEEL core. It is the SAME SHAPE AND WEIGHT as the AP core. AP core is heat treated and hardened, the ball ammo core is left as soft steel.

The British had a MK number for 20mm "BALL" ammo and many nations had 20mm training or practice ammo with no HE or incendiary filler AND NO HARD metal meant for armor penetration.

I think I am done with this "conversation".

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

I think zjtins should stick to netgear and welding forums...

Ball ammo does not have to be a lead core. Most commonly it is lead.

Ball ammo basically is s term for non expanding ammo. It has nothing to do with steel or brass or what not.

 

[zjtins]

Wrong a second time. You don't need a lead core for it to be ball ammo, If you had been paying attention to facts instead of making stuff up you would have remembered this. US .50 cal BALL ammo uses a STEEL core. It is the SAME SHAPE AND WEIGHT as the AP core. AP core is heat treated and hardened, the ball ammo core is left as soft steel.

Yes you are wrong.
From wiki:

Cartridge, Caliber .50, Ball, M2

This cartridge is used against personnel and unarmored targets. This bullet has an unpainted tip

Cutaway of a .50 M2 shows copper jacket filled with lead alloy (not from wiki).

Ball comes from standard round or the civil war Ball round. Used for anti-personnel vs AP is hard metal core. However to add to this mess the US went the SS109 5.56 round which includes a steel tip and there is an M2 AP .50 cal round with steel but its called AP not ball. AR15.com has some info on this.

 

[Greyman]

I think the term 'ball' ammunition has been around longer than the United States itself.

I have three different Ordnance Catalogues dealing with American ammunition ('43, '44, '55) and they all describe the M2 .50 calibre Ball as having a steel core.

The 20-mm Hispano Ball ammunition was hollow, and made entirely of steel.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Ball is just a term used for non expanding ammo.

 

[Shortround6]

Cutaway of a .50 M2 shows copper jacket filled with lead alloy (not from wiki).

Topped of maybe.........filled with lead????

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Boom! Headshot!!

 

[Matt308]

The term 'ball' has been around since sling projectiles. In fact, 'bullet' is derived from the French word 'boulette', which I was told equates to meaning 'little ball'. Adler has nailed it.

 

[Jabberwocky]

The Germans appears to have leaned towards the higher HE content with some form a of minegeshoss regardless of caliber especially as they went after bombers.

Standard belting for the MG151/20 was

2 Minengeschoss
2 HE/I-Tracer
1 Incendiary
1 AP
1 AP/I-Tracer

On the Western front, the preference was for more HE and Minengeschoss rounds in the belt, to use against the bombers. On the Eastern front, the preference was for more AP and AP/I-Tracer in the belt, to hit Il-2s and ground targets.