I believe it is important to understand the development of the modern cartridge because you never know what caliber firearm you will be working on or how the cartridge is fired. Knowing how the priming compound is ignited in conjunction with the way the cartridge is struck may be vital to understanding the basic operation of the firearm you are working on and may solve an issue.
Knowing how the cartridge is made and fired will help the person using or repairing the firearm better understand what may be going on with the gun. At the very least, reading the headstamp on the cartridge will ensure that you are loading the correct ammunition when test firing a firearm. This little bit of knowledge has helped me a lot regarding my work as an RSO at a live fire facility. Too many times I have seen people try to load the wrong caliber into their firearms and it will either jam because the ammunition is too large, or it will lock up the action because the smaller caliber expanded and cracked the casing in the bore of the barrel. When someone asks for help on the range because their firearm is not cycling correctly, I will often check the type and caliber of the ammunition they are using first.
Understanding modern cartridges and their operation can be the difference between safe usage and catastrophic failure. Trying to fire a .300 AAC Blackout through a barrel chambered in 5.56x45mm often results in a seized up and cracked bolt carrier group, a swollen upper receiver, and everything blowing out through the baseplate of your magazine. .300AAC Blackout and 5.56x45mm use an almost identical rim and case dimension but the .300AAC Blackout is too large of a projectile to push through a 5.56x45mm barrel and so once the primer is struck and the gun powder ignites the pressure looks for the fastest escape and if your lucky that is through the magazine. Knowing the similarities in case size and the dangers involved in using the wrong cartridge would make me more cautious when handling the firearm and its ammunition.
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