There are two purposes to this. First, to provide information concerning a fairly frequent question about what the cannellures on a cartridge case mean. And, second, looking for confirmation on a question I have on the same subject.
The attached photo shows five W-W .38 Special cartridge cases. From left to right these are:
.38 Spl. 148 gr. Mid-Range Wad-Cutter, Stock number
W38SMRP
.38 Spl. 158 gr. Lead Round Nose Luballoy, Stock Number
W38S1P
.38 Spl. Unsure, possibly 158 gr. Metal Point. If so it would be Stock number
W38S2P This is what I have the question about!
.38 Spl. 200 gr. Super Police Luballoy, Stock number
W38S3P
.38 Spl. Empty case sold as a loading component. Stock number
C38SP. Note that there is
no cannellure.
Notice on the center three cases how the cannellure becomes progressively lower as the stock number increases. At the time these cases were made, mid 1960s or so, both Winchester-Western and Remington-Peters offered a metal capped round nose bullet in .38 Spl, along with the RNL. This cartridge in W-W was the stock number I have shown above,
W39S2P. I have assumed that is the load this sock number refers to!
Now, the question. Does anyone have a 158 gr. Metal Point .38 Spl. in their cartridge collection to help me confirm that this is the load designated by the mid-positioned single case cannellure. I would appreciate it if a photo of same were to be posted.
Here is the photo referred to. Remington generally adhered to a similar system, including the 148 WC load being denoted in an identical fashion to Winchester.
.38 Spl. Load Identification From Cannellures
Linear Mode
