I see a few of the large ammo houses have the Federal Kaw Enforcement 38 Spl +P 158 gr LHP available. I noticed from pictures displayed by the sellers show practically any crimp on these; unlike Remington and Winchester brands which have prominent roll crimps.

I'm reluctant to purchase the Federal amount with a good roll crimp.

What is your read on this?

Did Federal change its process and use more of a taper crimp to "hold" their bullets?

My English is off today...the pictures show practically no crimps on their bullets.

I'm reluctant to purchase these cartridges without a firm roll crimp.

Since most of my "FBI loads" are a little old (I still have a modest stock of Federal Nyclad FBI loads), I cannot comment directly with experience with newer ammo. However, I will say that there is more than one way to skin a cat (meaning more than one or two ways to crimp adequately), and that your question may really be answered better by actual test in your gun used by your hand. I realize that this is a PITA, because you have to buy just one box and test it before placing your real order, but that's probably what you ought to do, particularly if you are firing from an ultralight gun.

I would be quite surprised if Federal's crimp turned out to be inadequate for any steel gun. In fact, I'd be a little surprised if it were inadequate for ANY gun.

I remember a few years ago there was a batch of Federal FBI loads that were reported to have resulted in bullets creeping out from the case on recoil, but I don't know what the current situation is. You may just have to buy a box and see if the issue shows up in your guns, as Model520Fan suggested.

Side question: I'm not a reloader. If one has the proper tools, is it possible/feasible to add more crimp to factory-loaded ammo if it was needed?

Yes,you could.

Some commercial ammo uses an adhesive substance to hold the bullet in place under recoil, so a heavy roll crimp is unecessary.

Why would you buy it a second time if it didn't work as sold?

Groo here
Mill spec 45 acp is sealed [Glued] in place.
The 45 WW2 load is 5gr Bullseye at 830fps +- 20.
If you reload that load today it is slightly slower.
The "glue" increases bullet pull.

First off....................
I would not trust the picture.

Lots of companies just use a "General picture" to slap on the cover.

Get a box and see what the real thing is.

Are you stating that Federal is putting out, bad ammo ?

If you are using a medium weight gun like a model 10 there should be no bullet jump. Federal may have introduced another process, maybe taper crimping these. Some military bullets had a sealant in the bullet neck that had to be broken in order to pull the bullet.

I'm going from memory but my old Speer number 9 said that the last uncrimped round jumped a bit. Any crimp at all, showed no jump. I'd trust Federal, but if they make bullets that have a problem with jumping bullets, send it back and let them know.

I have an Airweight model 38, .38 special that I might expect some crimp jumping problems in.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

I got some of these a couple of years ago for a reduced price on line. Someone had posted on here that it didn't seem to have a crimp. I got a case at a good price, and set my crimp die for a good stiff crimp. After running them all through, I had 1,000 +Pswchp with a good crimp. No chance of bullet creep and good bullet pull.

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dd884
JMHO-YMMV

But did you try them without crimping to see if they would work correctly?

I do not see Any big ammo company making ammo that is sub standard.....Why would they?

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A Snider squibbed n the Jungle

Other people had already reported creep................

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dd884
JMHO-YMMV

Would the stiff crimp cause excess pressure ?