Berdan primers?

[Dr Falken]

In looking for .308 ammunition, I seem to come across European mil-surplus more than not, unfortunately they are mostly Berdan primed, and I'd like to reload. Interestingly, I came across a Berdan primer puller in the Midway catalog, and then there was a posting on INGO about buying Berdan primers. Can Berdan brass be messed with, or, can you remove the anvil on the brass and use Boxer primers, or is any of this worth thinking about?

 

[Delmar]

In looking for .308 ammunition, I seem to come across European mil-surplus more than not, unfortunately they are mostly Berdan primed, and I'd like to reload. Interestingly, I came across a Berdan primer puller in the Midway catalog, and then there was a posting on INGO about buying Berdan primers. Can Berdan brass be messed with, or, can you remove the anvil on the brass and use Boxer primers, or is any of this worth thinking about?

I heave seen a nice article about that here... Berdan to Boxer Conversion Method - Handloading - Military Surplus Ammunition and Handloading - ParallaxBill's Curio & Relic and Military Surplus Firearms Forums - Message Board
There are some nice photos as well.

 

[Dr Falken]

Thanks for the link Delmar, I'll check it out.

 

[Delmar]

I found a guy on youtube who actually made a decent easy to use tool for removing Berdan primers. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scieFHxVthA]YouTube - Berdan Primer Removal Tool[/ame]

When I finally get around to buying a Mosin I will make a video on reloading berdan primers similar to the one I have on youtube. Except this one won't be using matches and will be using a jig that hold a ten or more primer cups at at time.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7nphPRG6JA]YouTube - reloading primers[/ame]

 

[rimfire_crazed]

A lot of the south african and british .308 surplus that you'll find will be just as accurate as anything a beginning reloader will be able to assemble. I have a shooting buddy that was averaging .45moa at 100yds over the life of a case of South African surplus through a remington 700. If you're buying case quantities, it'll be just about the cost of match grade reloads per round.

I personally wouldn't mess with Ber'damned brass. A couple of cases of .308 will go a long way. If you can consistently shoot 3/4 inch groups at 100 and hold 2MOA out to 400 yards, then it might be worth your time to mess with match grade handloads.

(This is very much in conflict with most of my feelings about factory and surplus ammo - it just seems that the quality of the .308 that is being seen on the surplus market is way better than any other milsurp stuff I've bought in recent years)

 

[Delmar]

I personally wouldn't mess with Ber'damned brass.

It will be fun!

 

[jp828108]

I personally wouldn't mess with Ber'damned brass.

might as well figure out if there would be some decent way to reload it though, to know if it's worth picking up or not.

 

[CarmelHP]

If you want to reload with "Berdamned" primers, then you either have to remove the fired primer with water pressure or a lever. Both are considered by most to be too much of a PITA. If you convert the cause to use Boxer primers by punching out the fired primer and anvil creating a central flash hole, there is some concern that the new hole plus the remaining flash hole causes too fast a combustion resulting in pressure spikes and possible danger/damage. I think it's not worth it.

 

[shibumiseeker]

If you want to reload with "Berdamned" primers, then you either have to remove the fired primer with water pressure or a lever. Both are considered by most to be too much of a PITA. If you convert the cause to use Boxer primers by punching out the fired primer and anvil creating a central flash hole, there is some concern that the new hole plus the remaining flash hole causes too fast a combustion resulting in pressure spikes and possible danger/damage. I think it's not worth it.

I agree. It's useful information to have for TEOTWAWKI, but way too much of a PITA and risk for non emergency use. Dr. Falken, for your bolt action rifle you should be able to get 30-40 conservative loadings from each case, that's 600-800 shots from one box of 20. Once you get that semi-auto that may change some

 

[downzero]

It's a waste of time either way.

 

[Delmar]

I agree. It's useful information to have for TEOTWAWKI, but way too much of a PITA and risk for non emergency use.

I'm guessing you didn't watch the first video I linked to. That guy's method looks as simple as removing boxer primers.

Dr. Falken, for your bolt action rifle you should be able to get 30-40 conservative loadings from each case, that's 600-800 shots from one box of 20. Once you get that semi-auto that may change some

 

[Delmar]

It's a waste of time either way.

and I'm pretty sure that you didn't watch my second video, or you would know that I'm the kind of guy who doesn't consider it a waste of time to prove to myself I can accomplish something.

 

[shibumiseeker]

I'm guessing you didn't watch the first video I linked to. That guy's method looks as simple as removing boxer primers.

No, I did watch the video. Removing the primer is easy, I've seen that type of homebrew punch or similar versions all over. What CarmelHP said about reloading it with a boxer primer is what I'm talking about. Drilling out the flash hole. There are a couple of good reasons the flash holes are the sizes they are, and going through the trouble and the risk to save a few bucks isn't my idea of good ROI. As I posted, it's useful to know how to do so, but not worthwhile to do so under normal conditions.

 

[Delmar]

No, I did watch the video. Removing the primer is easy, I've seen that type of homebrew punch or similar versions all over. What CarmelHP said about reloading it with a boxer primer is what I'm talking about. Drilling out the flash hole. There are a couple of good reasons the flash holes are the sizes they are, and going through the trouble and the risk to save a few bucks isn't my idea of good ROI. As I posted, it's useful to know how to do so, but not worthwhile to do so under normal conditions.

I doubt I will ever mess with them on a regular basis, but I really enjoy trying things and finding new ways to do them. Also experimenting is best done in the absence of emergency, so when the emergency comes I'm ready. I'm not going to replace berdan with boxer, by the way, I'm going to play with reloading the berdan primer. I'm working on a method that I am pretty sure will be faster and easier than anything I have done before.

 

[shibumiseeker]

I doubt I will ever mess with them on a regular basis, but I really enjoy trying things and finding new ways to do them. Also experimenting is best done in the absence of emergency, so when the emergency comes I'm ready. I'm not going to replace berdan with boxer, by the way, I'm going to play with reloading the berdan primer. I'm working on a method that I am pretty sure will be faster and easier than anything I have done before.

I am 100% with you there! I practice all sorts of skills that may come in useful someday but that I wouldn't do right now. It's a hobby for me, so once I have figured out how to make a workaround I then go back to the usual way because I'm inherently lazy (which is one of the mothers of innovation). Just because I can start a fire with a bowdrill doesn't mean I'm not going to gather some dry tinder and toss some flammable fuel on the pile 99% of the time

 

[Delmar]

I am 100% with you there! I practice all sorts of skills that may come in useful someday but that I wouldn't do right now. It's a hobby for me, so once I have figured out how to make a workaround I then go back to the usual way because I'm inherently lazy (which is one of the mothers of innovation). Just because I can start a fire with a bowdrill doesn't mean I'm not going to gather some dry tinder and toss some flammable fuel on the pile 99% of the time

Delmar's Post of the Day!

 

[451_Detonics]

Only time I have bothered messing with reloading Berdan primer is to reload some brass 12 gauge hulls...other than that it is just not worth it.