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Cannelures

Home > Characterization and Evaluation of Fired Projectiles > Physical Features > Base Construction > Cannelures
Type

As previously mentioned, there are two types of circumferential grooves:

  • Knurled
  • Smooth

Cannelures may or may not serve a functional purpose on a given bullet. They are very useful in determining the manufacturer and, in some cases, the stock number of bullets that are used only for specific purposes.

Number

It is useful to document the number of cannelures found on each type of bullet; this further limits the number of candidates when searching for similar examples in reference resources (primarily in a laboratory Standard Ammunition File [SAF]).

Location

Cannelure distance

Courtesy of Ronnie Freels

The location of each cannelure in terms of its height above the base of a bullet is another physical feature or set of physical features used as an additional filter to limit the field in searching reference files.

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