Crimp Very Low On Case

[ArrowJ]

I assume this is a factory applied crimp, and I have seen them before. My question is why would it be so far down on the case? Cannot imagine a 38 Special with a bullet that long, and if it were to prevent setback it would not stop the bullet until it was already inside the case. I know this is a beginner level question, but relatively speaking I still am.

Also, I searched the Internets but cannot find a comprehensive discussion of crimps. Everything seems to be roll vs. taper for reloading. Anyone have a link that covers the ones you see on military and commercial ammo?

[runfiverun]

think of it as a stop for the base of the boolit.
take your calipers and measure the case walls down to that point I think things will clear themselves up for you.

[17nut]

Good in levers where bullets are banged rearwards under recoil.
Started when the switch from BP to smokeless took place.
Especially good for bullets without a crimp groove.

[ArrowJ]

Well there are two crimps and the first one is ½" down the case while the second is almost ¾". It just seemed unlikely to me that a bullet for a 38 Special would be long enough for the bottom to come in contact with either of those.

[corbinace]

That is wadcutter brass.

At least that is what I have always used it for.

The wadcutter bullet seats all the way into the case and will be that deep.

[ArrowJ]

That is one long bullet. I did not realize WC were that long! Thank you for the clarification. Any idea why there is a second crimp?

[BAGTIC]

It might be because all wadcutters are not the same length. A hollow base wadcutter will be longer than a solid base of the same weight.

[Rp-]

Just processed a bunch of 38s and wondered this myself. When I buy bullets ill have to look into that.

Thanks for the info

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[John Boy]

It's called a cannelure and here is the definition for it ... https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cannelure