There was a time, long past, when riflemen engaged in endless debates about crimping bullets, arguing the merits of various styles of crimp, different shapes of cannelures and crimping grooves, and the poundage required to get just the right grip on the bullet.

This was important to them for various reasons. The serious single-shot target shooter paid close attention because the case neck's hold on the bullet was critical to getting the exact pressures required for velocity and accuracy. Hunters using lever-action rifles with tubular magazines paid attention because a proper crimp was vital for reliable functioning, and shooters with hard-kicking rifles needed good crimps to hold the bullets in place and keep them from migrating under recoil.

Today, crimping has become considerably less important for some and completely unnecessary for others. In fact, for some target shooters, a crimp is a detriment, and they recoil in horror at the thought. Several generations of reloaders have come along who regard crimping as a relic of a bygone age, and a large proportion of component bullets now come from the factory with no cannelure at all.

There are still some important applications for crimps, however, and a crimp is one of those things that, when you need it, you really need it.

For example, with the ever-increasing interest in hard-kicking big-bore rifles for many different applications, reloaders are forced to crimp bullets. If the rifle is to be used for dangerous game, the crimp can become a matter of life and death. This applies to both bolt-action and double rifles.

In a bolt action, the cartridges in the magazine take a tremendous beating when the rifle is fired. The recoil hurls them against the front of the magazine box, and the impact can drive the bullet deeper into the case. To see just how damaging this impact can be, take a look at the peened front of a magazine box where it has been repeatedly hammered by big cartridges loaded with solids.

Many a hunter has received an unpleasant surprise when he attempts to chamber the last round from his magazine and finds it won't feed properly or seat in the chamber. This is especially true where a cartridge might find itself in the bottom of the box as the rifle is repeatedly fired, the magazine topped up, and then fired some more.

In Africa, I have seen professional hunters unload their magazines to check the cartridges, and find bullets driven in, hanging out, or moving in the case neck like a toggle switch.

With a double rifle, you have the opposite problem. Under recoil of the first shot, the bullet in the second barrel can migrate forward, striking the rifling. With a real kicker, the bullet can even be driven into the lands and wedged there.

This is no real problem if you then fire the second barrel; pressures will be a little high, but nothing serious. If you attempt to unload the rifle, however, the cartridge may come apart, leaving the bullet stuck in the bore, you holding an empty case, and powder spilled down into the action. That can put the rifle out of commission entirely.