Do bullets with and without cannelure differ in performance?

T

two-two-three

New member
Hey all! A couple of days ago I have come across Hornady 55 grain V-maxes at a gun store. After staring at the boxes (only a few) for several seconds I noticed they had different part #s on them and I was like [beeep]: 55-55, V-max - Vmax. Ended up being that one box was just a run of the mill V-max and the rest had cannelures on them, hence my question. I grabbed the regular box but wasn't sure about others. I remember I read somewhere some years back a comparison on similar (I think they were 69 or 77 SMKs) that the bullet without the cannelure grouped a bit better than the other. Please let me know how you liked either this weight or others (50, 60 gr.) Hornadays with the cannelure in general if you did and I 'll go and sweep those 55s as well if they are worth it. Thanks.
 
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It will really come down to the rifle. They're all individuals. However, I have never seen enough difference in a hunting round to worry about. Jmo.
 
While not a rule, some people prefer the cannelure if they crimp. Some people claim its gives greater neck tension so the bullet doesn't get set back when shooting out of a AR platform. I have never had a problem with it, to be honest...

Some people claim a crimped bullet is slightly less accurate than a non-crimped. I have never tested this in my load development...

Bullets for ARs get a medium crimp, bullets for non-ARs don't get crimped.
 


Cannelure bullets are made tube feed rifles. They are also are made for heavy recoil bolt rifles. Bullets can get bumped back in magazines from recoil.

45acp and 9mm need crimped so the bullet does not get jammed back in loading. This will cause a jam or a high pressure firing. The only round I do not crimp are shot in my single shot rifles. Those only get neck sized with a bushing die.

The Lee crimp dies ($15) are so easy to use. I crimp all of my other hand loads and I crimp all my AR loads 5,56mm, 6.8mm, 450B and 308. You do not have to have a cannelure groove to maintain good crimp on a bullet.
 


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