Cartridge Case Design
Some early cartridges. Case design may influence propellant burning dynamics and thus ballistics.
IN OUR SHOOTING world there has alw ys been a divergence of opinion when it comes to preferred calibres, bullet weights, loads and, last but not leas e virtues or otherwise of different ridge case designs. This leads to a moot question: what are the f ures that detract from or contribute to a good cartridge case design?
Does Shape Matter?
The first question that comes to mind is whether the shape of the cartridge is an issue to consider. In an article published in the 2017 edition of titled “Does Case Shape Really Matter?” Fred Zeglin notes that as early as 1946, most gun writers and ballistic experts had concluded that the shape of a cartridge case had no influence on velocity or pressure and that the internal ballistics will be identical when compared between different containment shapes of the same volume, holding the same bullet and charge. Parker Ackley, the renowned cartridge developer, advanced this observation further by noting that there
