Ball propellant Ball propellant is a form of nitrocellulose used in small arms cartridges . It has been trademarked as Ball Powder by Olin Corporation and marketed as spherical powder by Hodgdon Powder Company . Ball propellant can be manufactured more rapidly with greater safety and lesser expense than extruded propellants . Ball propellant was first used to load military small arms cartridges during World War II and has been manufactured for sale to handloading civilians since 1960 . History . The United States military replaced gunpowder during the first decade of the 20th century with smokeless powder s formulated from nitrocellulose colloid ed with ether and alcohol . Large quantities were manufactured for World War I and significant amounts remained unused after the war . Nitrocellulose deteriorates in storage , but military quantities of old smokeless propellant were sometimes reworked into new lots of propellants . Through the 1920s Dr . Fred Olsen worked at Picatinny Arsenal experimenting with ways to salvage tons of cannon powder manufactured for World War I . Dr . Olsen was employed by Western Cartridge Company in 1929 and developed a process for manufacturing ball propellant by 1933 . Reworked powder was dissolved in ethyl acetate containing small quantities of desired stabilizers and other additives . The resultant syrup , combined with water and surfactant s , is heated and agitated in a pressurized container until the syrup forms an emulsion of small spherical globules of the desired size . Ethyl acetate distills off as pressure is slowly reduced to leave small spheres of nitrocellulose and additives . The spheres can be subsequently modified by adding nitroglycerin to increase energy , flattening between rollers to a uniform minimum dimension , coating with deterrents to retard ignition , and / or glazing with graphite to improve flow characteristics during blending . This manufacturing process also worked with newly manufactured nitrocellulose ; and manufacturing time was reduced from approximately two weeks for extruded propellants to 40 hours for ball propellants . Rate of burning is controlled by deterrent coatings eliminating precision forming and cutting machines required for surface area control of extruded propellants . Safety was improved by performing most of the manufacturing process in water . Olin subsidiaries began manufacturing ball powder specification WC846 for . 303 British ammunition during World War II . Hodgdon Powder Company salvaged 80 tons of WC846 propellant from disassembled . 303 British military rifle cartridges in 1949 and sold the propellant to handloading civilians as BL type C . The C was to indicate the propellant burned " cooler " than traditional Improved Military Rifle ( IMR ) propellants . Olin continued manufacturing WC846 for both civilian ammunition and 7 . 62×51mm NATO cartridges after the war . Constituents . Olin ' s material safety data sheet indicates the following composition of ball propellant : Comparison with IMR propellants . Aside from the manufacturing advantages , ball propellants metered more uniformly through measuring machinery used to load cartridges , had a longer storage life in loaded cartridges , and reduced erosion of rifle barrels when those cartridges were fired . On the other hand , ball propellant loadings were more difficult to ignite , produced brighter muzzle flash , and left heavier fouling in rifle barrels than had been common with IMR propellants . Some ball propellants burned satisfactorily over a narrower pressure range than IMR propellants ; and some handloaders accustomed to IMR propellants had difficulty determining appropriate charges for the unique components they were assembling . Light loads might fail to ignite and burn properly while heavier loads might cause abrupt pressure increases to dangerous levels . Fouling difficulties increased as military loadings shifted from the . 303 British and 7 . 62 NATO to the 5 . 56×45mm NATO . Some propellant lots clogged the gas tube of M16 rifle s until concentrations of calcium carbonate stabilizers were reduced in 1970 as reformulated WC844 for the 5 . 56mm NATO cartridge . Civilian handloaders experienced similar fouling problems with smaller bore diameters . Some attributed the problem to residues of unburned deterrent coatings and suggested using magnum primers to improve ignition and burning at lower pressures . Ignition was ultimately improved by blending in a small percentage of uncoated propellant granules to improve the performance of standard primers . Expanded handloading options . Hodgdon ' s original 80 tons of surplus BL - C introduced ball propellants to handloaders ; and handloaders were ready to pay for newly manufactured ball propellants when the surplus supply was exhausted about 1960 .