.38 spl cases with a cannelure

[Back Yard Shooter]

Loading the .38 spl, I ran into some cases with a cannelure on it. What is it for?

[Don P]

Something does not sound right with your statement. To date I have never seen a 38 spl with a cannelure. Maybe its just me.

[68FAN]

I have some older .38 brass that has a cannelure about halfway down the brass. I believe it is to help prevent bullet setback in the case.

[ACP230]

I've got some brass like that.
I load them just like brass without it and they work fine.

[Jim243]

What you are talking about is an embosed ring around the case not a cantilure. You will note that it is at about the point that the base of the bullet will sit when properly seated into the case. Why it is there I can only guess, but as 68fan has stated it might be to insure not setback, or it may be used for automated seating machines to use as to how deep the bullet should be set.

It has no effect on your reloading and these cases can be used as any other 38 spl case you will run in to.

Jim

[ky hunter]

What make of case do you have?

[csmsss]

I've seen these in .38 spl and .357 mag cases, as well as in certain makes of .45 ACP cases. I'm pretty sure it's to prevent setback.

[kraigwy]

Yeah its to prevent set back. You'll notice the cannelure is where the base of the bullet would set when loaded.

Main thing, don't worry about it, just load them like all your other brass, you wont be able to tell the differance.

[(BH)]

Just to throw a wrench in the gears, I have a few pieces of .38sp brass (S&B, I believe) that have two of these rings. The lower of the two being far too low to be there for the purpose of setback prevention.

I'll try to post some picks later if I can find them. I know that I have loaded and shot a few of them within the past week or two. They shouldn't be hard to fish out.

ETA: Here's one with two rings along with another example that has a ring much too high on the case to prevent setback (or at least it seems that way to me). These are not just single cases that may be defects, I have many just like both of these. Also, I was wrong... they are Remington, not S&B. Although, I do have a ton of S&B's w/ rings around the general area of the bottom of a seated bullet.





Anybody got an explanation for these? I was intrigued by them when I first came across them, but they loaded and fine so I never really gave them much thought.

[Mike Irwin]

Sorry, but I can't possibly see how they would prevent setback. I've never seen one deep enough to affect the interior of the case in any appreciable manner, and often they're simply not in a spot that would do anything to prevent bullet setback.

[Sport45]

Another thing to consider is that setback usually isn't a problem with revolver rounds. (Unless you drop them. ) When you fire a revolver the tendency is for the bullet to come out of the case.

I think with modern brass those rings are just decoration. They may be part of the brass manufacturing process, but since many don't have rings I doubt it.

[Uncle Buck]

I asked this very same questions when I saw this on some of my brass (and very old nickle plated stuff) and was told it was part of the manufacture process.

I never pursued the question further, so I do not know what part of the manufacturing process it is.

The three nickle plated cases that this appears on are Western, R-P and W-W, all .38 Special.

[Old Grump]

I have some 357 and 38 spcl brass like that but most aren't. Can't see a reason for it and I have to admit although noticed I never paid any attention to it.

[DiscoRacing]

I have plenty of em myself... had, and still have no idea what it would be like that for... but I DO know they dont wear nor load nor shoot any different with than without.

[IllinoisCoyoteHunter]

I have some 45 colt brass where the "ring" is deep enough to hlp prevent bullet setback....but not quite sure why it it is needed?? I just load them as normal and go on with the show.

[Mike-Mat]

I also have some like that. S & W I think. They are old. At least 30 years. They don't work any differently. I never gave it much thought. Assumed they were for decoration since they didn't seem to do anything.

Reload them enough times, I suppose it's a future fracture point on the case.

[Fullthrottle]

Add me to the list of folks that have brass with those features in .38 special. No clue why they are there, seems to have zero effect on reloading and shooting so other than normal inspection I just load and shoot.
Also most of the ones I have like that are headstamped W-W, Western, R-P, Peters and half of them are nickel others are brass, all were given to me when I started reloading.

If it works shoot it!

[BigJakeJ1s]

If they are shot out of a lever action rifle (with a tubular magazine) then you need to worry about bullet setback. Many revolver cartridges are also chambered in lever action rifles.

I have seen 38/357 and 45 colt brass with this, and the correct name is a cannelure. They may be formed prior to seating to use as a stop, or after seating, as a crimp.

Andy

[oneounceload]

The ones further down the case were most likely originally loaded with WC bullets, the ones with the cannelure near the top, most likely had SWC bullets seated in them. Not a big deal

[P5 Guy]

I have R-P that has this ring. Both 38 and 357 head stamped. Why I can't say ask Remington-Peters about the ring, but I'd bet the machinery needed the ring for some reason. Possibly seating the bullet.

[ljnowell]

I was always under the impression that the ones with the single line, towards the top were for regular bullets, and the ones with double lines, or more near the bottom were for factory flush seated wadcutters.

I have 45 colt, 45acp, 38spl, 357 mag all with the same thing.

[TOM RENZO]

Can I cannelure a pistol case?
Yes, short straight cases like the 9mm and 45 ACP can be cannelured to keep the bullet from shoving back into the case during feeding. A light cannelure is all it takes. (too deep a cannelure will shorten case life and is unnecessary).

Gentelman i hope this is of some help Thank You

[Lost Sheep]

I always thought it was a racing stripe

Decorative, but serving no function. However, the notion 68fan voiced about it being there to prevent setback (or seating a bullet too deep) might have merit. Is there a narrowing of the diameter at that point on the inside of the case?

Lost Sheep (visiting his parents in Yuma, a far cry from Alaska....it's HOT)

[briandg]

Out of the thousands of .38 special cases that I have handled, I have seen hundreds of these cannelures. Many of them were so close to the case mouth that they would have been in the center of the bullet shank. Others were towards middle, end, doubles, so forth. Some of them were reeded, some of them were not reeded. If you look inside the case, you will find that there is only the tiniest protrusion, and they will probably not do squat for preventing bullet setback. In fact, if they could prevent bullet set back, why wouldn't Semiauto rounds have them?

There is absolutely no use for them. They are a decorative feature that may have had some actual purpose at some point, but they are decorative, and that is why they have been eliminated in modern ammunition.

[Mal H]

You are all looking at the roll marks after they have been fired. In many cases, factory ammo will have the marks and they are quite deep. After firing, I imagine any mark is going to be ironed out by the pressure so there is no telling how deep it was on the unfired brass. On the other hand, they are also shallow on some factory ammo.

I have some recent manufacture Winchester .44 Mag that has the "roll mark" (for lack of a better term), but it isn't broken (dotted) like most. I would compare it to what the case would look like if you took a copper pipe cutter with a dulled blade and rolled it around the case. The indentation is deep, but it is too far below the base of the bullet to think it would prevent setback.

Another example is some .45 Colt that has a broken roll mark, and, again, it is deep.

On some .45 ACP Federal Hydra-shok I have, the roll mark is there, but it is faint and couldn't possibly create an indented ring inside the case like the above two examples. (This is "modern" ammo, so I guess it hasn't been eliminated entirely, brian.)

There may be more than one use for the markings. Setback prevention is a possibility, but as I, and others, have said, they are usually too far down the case to think that was the intention. If the roll mark is near the top, I can see how it would be a substitute for, or an extra added strength, crimp.

If the roll mark isn't indented at all, it may be an aid in the manufacturing process. Maybe each case is spun to check for run-out. Who knows?