Your Thoughts

[Bellzy]

First, I'm not sure why some ammo makers put a (for lack of a better word) cannelure about a third of the way down from the mouth of the case. Does anybody know?

Now for the crux of this post. I finally decided to try 44 special as a caliber which as we all know is a pricey round to shoot to say the least, so reloading is almost a requirement. The cases I was reloading were from a box of Magtech Cowboy Loads that I had purchased and they have the before mentioned cannelure and a pretty heavy crimp. Now I'm not sure if it was the crimp or the cannelure but when I was resizing I could feel a little extra resistance about halfway through the stroke, Nothing major.

After everything was said and done and I was inspecting the finished rounds, I noticed this little wrinkle about half way down the case just below this cannelure that I keep refering to.





You have to look real close and I don't think it's going to be a problem but I was just wondering what your opinions on something like this were.

Thanks

[OKFC05]

That has nothing to do with the cannelure. It's just the bullet in the case.
When you size a case, it is smaller than the bullet. After you put the bullet in the now-reloaded case, you can see how far the bullet went in. The case tension holds the bullet in place.
I've seen reloaders who obsessed about the cannelure, and one even refused to reload cases with them. After the first resizing, the cannelure does nothing and is not worth any concern at all.

[semperfi71]

OKFC05 is dead-on.

The "fit" of a tight case to a bullet, unlike getting into a too-tight pair of paints, is a "good" thing. It is, to me, more important than a heavy crimp for revolver loads.

I have reloaded a lot of case-cannelured pistol ammunition a lot of times and the cannelure remains but is gradually ironed out. Never a problem.

You picked a great cartridge!!

[M29since14]

Originally Posted by Bellzy

First, I'm not sure why some ammo makers put a (for lack of a better word) cannelure about a third of the way down from the mouth of the case. Does anybody know?

The only logical reasons I am aware of are for identification and to prevent movement of the bullet into the case (as it might do when it encounters the feed ramp of a self-loading firearm).

I agree with the other posters who say to a handloader the cannelure is almost a non-issue.

[Rule3]

Why Case Cannelures?


http://www.corbins.com/power.htm

From the above web site:

Cannelures can be rolled into either straight cases, like the .45 or .38 pistol, or into bullets. The purpose of the groove on a pistol case is to act as a shelf to stop the bullet from sliding back into the case during feeding. It would be placed below the bullet, rather than where the bullet shank rests within the case.

[Skip Sackett]

The original reason for the cannelure in the case is to keep the bullet that is crimped over the ogive from going too far into the case, i.e. 45Colt.

There are lots of those old bullets that were crimped over the ogive that were held in place by the black powder in the case. Now that the smokeless powder takes up less room, some of them put a cannelure on the case to keep the bullet from going too deep.

After one or two firing in my Ruger though, they are pretty much gone!

Just sayin'