Rescuing Berdan-primed cases

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Unkl Chuck

New member
Aguila Blanca, I've seen the conversion kit, but since modern, Boxer, brass is available for all of my firearms, I haven't tried it. My bigger concern would be that most Berdan primed ammo found in the USA is at least mildly corrosive and I prefer to keep corrosive ammo out of my antiques [and everything else as well]. If there was no other brass available for something I wanted to shoot, well....
That's my humble opinion for what it's worth. Good Luck.
 
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akinswi

New member
Unkl Chuck said:
Aguila Blanca, I've seen the conversion kit, but since modern, Boxer, brass is available for all of my firearms, I haven't tried it. My bigger concern would be that most Berdan primed ammo found in the USA is at least mildly corrosive and I prefer to keep corrosive ammo out of my antiques [and everything else as well]. If there was no other brass available for something I wanted to shoot, well....
That's my humble opinion for what it's worth. Good Luck.
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Unkl Chuck,

Except GP11 7.5x55 swiss brass that stuff is very good brass.

Why cant you wet tumble that old milsurp brass that should get rid of the corrosive properties
 
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44 AMP

Staff
Why cant you wet tumble that old milsurp brass that should get rid of the corrosive properties
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The brass isn't corrosive. The corrosive part of "corrosive primers" are chemical salt compounds, created when the round is fired, and deposited on the gun steel everywhere the powder gas goes. What these salts do is absorb water from the air, and hold it against the gun steel which creates rust, over time. This rust is the corrosion we're talking about. And the time can be as short as a few days, depending on conditions.

The amount of chemical residue on the fired cases is low, comparatively speaking, its not in contact with the gun steel, and any kind of cleaning, including hand wiping essentially removes it from the brass.
 
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Scorch

New member
This is not a new idea, people were doing this back in the 1980s. My take on it is spend $50 on new brass. Or if brass for your rifle is not available, buy a set of forming dies and convert existing/available cartridge cases to your case of choice.
 
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Unkl Chuck

New member
When one could obtain Berdan primers, one method of de-capping involved filling the case with water and using a dowel as a hydraulic piston to force the primer out. Another method used some sort of pick to pry the fired primer out. I've never tried either. I did start loading with 8X57 to use in a mil-surp Mauser and learned about Berdan primers early on.
I've seen enough corrosion in old brass to be suspect of any corrosive agent applied to the case. I suppose that one could adequately wash and clean the mil-surp stuff then deal with the Berdan issue, but why? Good 8X57 brass isn't as inexpensive as it once was, but it is available.
 
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Jim Watson

New member
Another method used some sort of pick to pry the fired primer out.
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I've done it. A friend has a .450 BPE express rifle and it came with some Kynoch brass, Berdan primed, of course. Primers were available at the time, so we attacked it with a low tech approach. We clamped the sizing die in a vise upside down and dropped a case in. Then dug the primer out by driving an awl into the indent at an angle to miss the anvil, and prying the primer out. We improvised a priming punch, I don't recall just how. There are Berdan priming punches to seat them just right, if you are doing a lot. But he got some Bell brand Boxer primed cases after a few sessions with Kynoch.

In England where Berdan primed old line ammo was common, there were several approaches that I read about in British magazines, back when a free Englishman might own a pistol or heavy rifle.
 
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akinswi

New member
Wasnt there a method to push the old primers out using water? I tend agree with buying new brass, alot of milsurp 8mm ammo I have seen the necks will split after firing due to long term storage not all but some.

I have seen it with the Yugo from the 50s and I have some turkish 8mm from 1939 and 1942 they almost always split.

But my GP11 7.5x55 swiss brass is beautiful just staring at me with those God awful berdan primers. This tool may be a nice project down the road because I hate too toss that brass
 
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44 AMP

Staff
If you can't get the right Berdan primers, that beautiful Berdan primed brass is just decoration.

I've seen the "pick" tool, it does work. The hydraulic method also works, but its messy (and you really need a dowel that fits closely, but not TOO tight.

One upon a time, there was a gadget made that you put the fired Berdan case into and fired a regular Boxer primer to blow the Berdan primer out of the case.

Once upon a time, that was cost effective. Today...not so much...:rolleyes:

Except for a handful of ultra rare obsolete big game rounds, which were only made with Berdan primers, there's no point in trying to reload Berdan primed brass when there are Boxer primed cases available, somewhere, even if the cost seems barking stupid, in the long run its worth it to have reloadable brass with Boxer priming.
 
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zeke

New member
Certainly agree about using boxer primed cases if the cases and primers are available, and if you can afford them. However having the rcbs pick tool, some modified hand tools and stash of berdan primers for 308 have kept me shooting through several shortages, when others stayed home. Likely they will get used again.
 
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