But the cannelure is more cosmetic than useful . Should I buy a taper crimp die ? I'll keep them under 900fps .

I roll crimp the Xtreme bullets on the cannelure. I've never had an issue with jacket separation. I also keep most of my .38 special loads under 900fps.

I think as long as you don't use a heavy roll crimp, you should be fine.

I haven't tried loading any of my Extreme bullets yet, have a good stock or Rainier plated I'm working my way through. However I have loaded plated bullets from HSM, RMR, Berry's, and Ranier and have concluded that the copper plating is actually tougher than some give credit for. When I first read about the potential for fractured plating I used my RCBS collet puller to check the roll crimps on some older stock of 38 spl. The HSM, Berry's, and Rainier bullets were all just fine even with a pretty distinct groove left by the roll crimp. I've concluded that if you don't get foolish with a super heavy crimp it's not really a concern. So, IMO you can use a moderate crimp without any concern about fracturing the plating. If you have any doubts, assemble a dummy round and pull the bullet and look. BTW, I picked up a 10X/20X combined magnifier for 15 bucks at a gun show and it's become real handy for looking at stuff like this.

I always use a taper crimp in .38/.357, whether it's cast or jacketed. Lee dies come with a modified taper crimp, but I also have an RCBS taper crimp die.

I called them today............
4-6 week back log.
No lead, just plated in some offerings.

Unless you using a lightweight gun, just a light crimp is all you need for .38 spec.

A roll crimp that just touches the bottom of that light cannelure works just fine in any revolver I have, right down to a 442. Most of the holding is done by the bullet plating against the case anyway, not the crimp.
A moderate tap with an inertia bullet puller will show that the plated bullet is pretty well stuck without much crimp.

__________________
Science plus Art

What company ? Mine came this week and I just ordered them last week .

Nick, can you shoot a photo? The channelures look just fine in the pictures.

They look just like that but they're not as deep as true jacketed bullets that I'm use to .
Guess I shouldn't compare the two .

Those do look like 'faux' cannelures.

That is correct. A copper jacket is much thicker than copper plating. The "faux" channelure (cute, RW, cute) is more than enough to apply a light crimp and prevent bullet jump.

I load Xtreme Flat Point Round Nose plated 38s to about 800 FPS. I agree with those who suggest a light roll is fine. I've disassembled a lot of them and never found the plating compromised. I use a Lee die which is a taper at lightest, crimp as it gets stronger. I have deliberately tightened down the crimp to make it what most would consider "too hard" of a roll crimp. I haven't found even that to compromise the plating.

Takes a couple of good whacks at least with an inertia puller to get it out with my "normal" crimp setting.

To get the cartridge overall lenght anywhere near appropriate, the crimp is not on the cannelure, it's on the smooth part of the plating.

I sawed one of their bullets in half and polished up the cut surface in an attempt to get a good photo of the thickness of the plating. But I just don't have any kind of camera that will focus that close. It's thin, of course. Thinner than any jacket, of course. But it seems to withstand my crimping with no problem.


Sgt Lumpy