Definition:

The shoulder of a cartridge is generally conical in profile and forms a transition between the case body and the case neck.

The shoulder is important because it is the portion of a bottleneck cartridge case on which the cartridge headspaces (except in the case of rimmed bottleneck cartridges). In other words, it controls how far the cartridge goes into the chamber.

- Russ Chastain

Glossary Index