Are berdan primed cases reloadable?
How tough is it to reprime berdan primed cases? Doable just need the right tool? Impossible?
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Need the right tool. You can by a can opener style one to pry the primer out or build a small hydro one that pushes it out. Either are pretty slow method compared to Boxer.
Big problem is finding primers to put back in. Also most Berdan stuff is steel basically making it non-reloadable but I have seen some guys doing it.
I thought I read a thing a while back about trying to drill out the primer pockets in the Berdan to use Boxer primers but was not sure if the anvil would work.
Interesting fact. The Boxer made in Europe is more common in the US and the Berdan made in the US is more common in Europe.0 -
I've seen auctions for both the hydro and can openner tools within the last week or so. Also one guy that has the hydro deprimer has a drill gig.
Years ago we had a 303 brit rifle, factory ammo was hard to find,surplus ammo(berdan) was sometimes available, brass was non existant. We either fireformed 30/30 to reload with a case life of about 2 rnds or drilled out berdan cases by hand and used boxer primers. Drilling and using boxer primers sort of works. While we are now used to the cheap steel cased berdan ammo, brass berdan cases were very common when the cheap ammo was surplus ammo from Europe and the middle east.0 -
quote:Originally posted by 5mmgunguy
How tough is it to reprime berdan primed cases? Doable just need the right tool? Impossible?
Yes, its absolutely possible to reload Berdan primed cases.
As mentioned, its even possible to reload steel cases, though this is really not advisable as steel is not so easily worked as brass, and case failure is more probable. Personally, I wouldn't do it short of an emergency.
Repriming the cases is easy. You just have to find Berdan primers (which can be difficult to find).
Its DE-PRIMING them that's hard.
Apart from the flash-hole design, one thing making de-priming Berdan cases harder is that the milsurp cases often have crimped-in primers.
There are three common ways. One is using a tool that punctures the primer then lets you pry it out. You can make one of these yourself, and with practice you can de-prime a couple of cases per minute this way.
Another is with the hydraulic/water pressure method. You kind of make or set up a special die to hold the case, fill it with water, then rap on a piston on top with a mallet to force out the primer.
Last method is using a special Berdan depriming die made by RCBS. I haven't tried it, but supposedly it works pretty well *once you have it set up properly*.0 -
quote:Originally posted by 5mmgunguy
How tough is it to reprime berdan primed cases? Doable just need the right tool? Impossible?
To me, the ability to reload is a primary survival skill. That means all cases that you may find, especially brass cases.
Berdan can be done, manually, semi automatically, and automatically.
A little ingenuity goes a long way.
I deprime berdan at the same time as I size it. I have a modified rock chucker just for that purpose. I have a sizing die with the decapper removed an a hydraulic line welded to the top of it in it's place. The arm is converted to a hydraulic press arm (pull arm removed)
The catch pan has filters for the reservoir and the whole thing mounted inside a splash shield. All I have to do is open the hatch switch out cases, punch the button again.
There are a myriad of similar operations, but I would advise not to use air. For gases, it takes a stronger pressure spike than you get on firing the round to get the primer out when it's crimped military style. With the primer unsupported it can blow out sending pieces of it flying, and distorting the case head.
Picture the difference between pin pricking a balloon full of water vs. a balloon full of air. so whatever system you end up using, make sure you don't try pneumatic.0
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