What's with the two "lines"

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Prof Young

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See pic below. Found these in some range brass. 39 special. What's with the two lines. I've seen one line before, but not two.

Life is good.
Prof Young
 

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Wadcutter brass. Good stuff to have if you load wadcutters.
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Its good stuff to have loading any bullet. The second cannelure on the case is just to ID it as the target load. The brass is otherwise no different.
 
The first cannelure below the mouth of the case marks where the base of the bullet was in the original load. This is a holdover from the 19th century when a deeply rolled groove at that location actually stopped the bullet from being seated too far (or not far enough, as compressed black powder loads often performed best). I don't actually know what kind of loading equipment they used in the factories then, but suspect it may have been dozens of stations with something resembling a wine corking press. Perhaps someone can come up with a photo.
 
Note: Not all wadcutter brass has 2 cannelures. Winchester and Remington do, but with Federal there is just a single cannelure located just north of mid-case instead of just below the case mouth as with regular loads. CBC brass has a single cannelure just south of mid-case and the headstamp has a "c" and a "v" opposite each other. GFL (Fiocchi) has no cannelure, but the headstamp says "Wad Cut.". I cast my own HBWC's, so with these bullets being seated so deeply I only use wadcutter brass. Hope that helps.

Don
 
The lines are for use of optical lasers for QC. The bottom one is for check of powder fill. The top one is for the showing of the area where the base of the bullet would be. That was told to me by a commercial reloader that worked for Remington for 45 years until he retired.
 
Must be a modernized application for the case cannelure, as cartridges made long before there were lasers had them. If you look at Lake City M852 cases, they have a cannelure way down just above the head to provide rapid indication they were for match use only and not for combat. Way below any powder or bullet level. So these have been used for different purposes at different times.
 
The good old "Learning Curve"

See pic below. Found these in some range brass. 39 special. What's with the two lines. I've seen one line before, but not two.
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I know you meant .38 special and thank you for starting this thread as I too, have learned something new. ….. :)

Now then, have to ask; Are other calibers marked in like manner? :confused:

Be Safe !!!
 
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I've had several different brands and calibers that have had cannelures on the case. After a few reloadings they tend to go away.
 
Didn't Remington produce 38 Special wadcutter ammo a few decades before a laser was invented? If the bottom cannelure was acting as a powder level indicator, they must have been using a really bulky powder or using really heavy loads (?).

I agree with the fellers above that state first cannelure is for bullet depth "stop" and second (nearest the case head) is for identification. I had a few cases with two cannelures but can't remember the last place I saw them (I have been reloading 38 Specials since ;69)...
 
The lines are for use of optical lasers for QC. The bottom one is for check of powder fill. The top one is for the showing of the area where the base of the bullet would be. That was told to me by a commercial reloader that worked for Remington for 45 years until he retired.
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Irregardless of what the Remington retiree said, that is not the case (no pun intended). Taking a Remington wadcutter case and a Remington HBWC, the top case cannelure lines up with the lower bullet cannelure, and the lower case cannelure would be there to further prevent the bullet from dropping down into the case. Remember, these HBWC's are LONG and are fully seated into the case.

Don
 
Ooops . . . yeah 38 special

Yeah, I meant 38 special. Forgot to mention that in the same pile of range brass I found some unfired 38 special wad cutters, so that kind of makes sense. So much to learn, so much to learn.

Life is good.
Prof Young
 
Remington, UMC, Peters(?) and Winchester's brands put the double cannelure on their .38 Spl wadcutter ammo. Don't think anyone else did. Always heard it was just for ID not for any physical reason.

Started loading .38s in the early 70s, have had hundreds of them, still probably have a few boxes worth in my ammo stash. I think they stopped doing the double cannelure about 40 some years ago, possibly a bit longer.

I don't recall seeing it done on anything else but .38Spl wadcutter ammo.
 
He told me of that when I had a box of .38 Spcl. JHP that had the two lines like that. Also have a few .45 ACP CorBon cases with the same lines. Either way I do not care. When reloading they are reloadable. I have reloaded many with my home cast bullets.
 
A Remington rep told me that front cannelure just behind the bullet base was originally used on some lever action rifle cartridges in the under barrel magzine tube to prevent bullet setback from recoil.
 
A lot of disinformation here. The front case cannelure is NOT behind the bullet base. It is located in alignment with the rear bullet cannelure which is a little over 1/8 inch above the bullet base.

Don
 
USSR said:
A lot of disinformation here. The front case cannelure is NOT behind the bullet base. It is located in alignment with the rear bullet cannelure which is a little over 1/8 inch above the bullet base.

Don
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Thanks for this info. My info wasn't quite close enough; only 1/8th inch off.

I got my info in the late 1970's from that rep I shot matches with.
 
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