How's this crimp look?

[Larry Legend]

So, I more or less fell into a reloading setup last Saturday. Saw an ad, called, and the deal was on of those that are too good to pass up. Ended up with a full setup from a very nice guy who was moving away:

RCBS RS 5 single stage press
Lyman tumbler
Lyman powder dispenser
RCBS scale
Calipers
.38 special/.357 dies
and more miscellaneous parts and components than you can shake a stick at


So on Sunday I set everything up and scrubbed it all down, greased it, then set there with a "what now" kinda feeling. I didn't have anything else scheduled so I dove into my Speer and Lyman manuals to cook up a .38 Special load.

I ended up with 5.1 grains of Winchester 231, CCI match primers, and a 110 grain JHP bullet.

I was cranking along and realized two things; I've never done this before, and I don't even have a revolver to shoot these things out of.

So, to fix problem #1, I turn to the wise men (and women) of NES. How do these rounds look? I was most concerned about the seating depth and whether or not I was properly crimping on the crimp groove. The other question was whether I had too much or not enough crimp.

I was concerned I was over-crimping, since every few rounds or so there seemed to be a very thin circle of brass that appeared to have been shaved off the case.



Thoughts?

 

[saltydude]

I've noticed factory .38 & .357's tend to have a strong crimp on them.
I try to put a little less crimp than factory. Somewhere in the ball park yours are in.
The only thing I'm curious about in the picture is the little line that runs around the top of the case in the middle of the crimp.
Is it a sharp or burred edge? Or a reflection perhaps?

Edit: Re read the post. Yes I obviously noticed it.

Kind of hard to tell without a good side view.
BTW: The "crimp grove" is called the cannelure.

 

[EddieCoyle]

With a .38 Special and a fast burning powder, you've crimped them enough if they chamber in the gun.

Yours are fine.

The crimp becomes more important when you're using large charges of slow burning powder in a magnum revolver cartridge. There are two main reasons for a strong crimp on magnum rounds:

1. To ensure that the slow burning powder has a chance to fully ignite before the bullet leaves the case.
2. To prevent the bullets in the unfired rounds in the cylinder from pulling out of the cases under recoil.