Unexpected Berdan primed brass.

[Blindstitch]

I went to the range last week and shot up some old 303 british ammo I had in a box that said reloaded by a company in Wolverine, Michigan.

Well 10 minutes ago I learned the hard way that it wasn't boxer primed and broke the tip off my expander decaping pin. Is there any use for this brass now besides scrap?

 

[kilimanjaro]

You can drill it out and use large primers, I believe, but I inspect all my .303 brass other than Winchester, Federal, Prvi, or S&B, for Berdan priming and scrap it.

I'd rather give it to a Berdan reloader, they do exist out there, but it's scrap until I find one.

 

[Mobuck]

I'd check the rifle bore in case those primers were also corrosive. In past times it was not uncommon for a small company(or individual) to pull FMJ from military ammo and seat hunting bullets. I hunted deer for years using 30/06 SL 54 with Hornady 150 spire points seated.

 

[Blindstitch]

Mobuck,
That is one hell of and idea that seems extremely plausible for someone to pull the bullets. The projectiles were 150 grain spire points silver in color.

I did a full clean on the rifle and put it away since it's not one of my go to rifles.

 

[F. Guffey]

There is nothing about the Berdan primer that is unexpected, I have been going through 8,000 cases I acquired Monday, 303 and 8mm57, all with Berdan type head stamps, about 100 in all, very few have been fired. If I want 8mm57 I form them from 30/06, I almost said 303 take up space then I though about my 1905 Ross and P 14s.

F. Guffey

 

[Jim Watson]

What was the headstamp?
All or many the same?
Are the "silver in color" bullets FMJ or JSP/JHP?

 

[F. Guffey]

There is nothing about the Berdan primer that is unexpected,

With one exception, I have one R-P 270 Winchester case that uses Berdan primers.

F. Guffey

 

[Blindstitch]

The brass says K2 1942 VII

I thought the silver in color bullets were fmj. Sure didn't have a soft tip. The box is generic but it says on a label sticker 303 B 150 SP and has Remanufactured Ammo stamped on the box in several locations.

Only had the one box that I wanted to shoot up since it was given with the purchase of the rifle.

I was also given two boxes of 7mm mauser by a brand I think called Hansen that said something like repackaged yogoslavian ammo and one box of 8mm mauser reloads. I don't have a 7 or 8 mauser so they're sitting in the closet.

 

[Blindstitch]

I found a similar headstamp online and it suggests this.

K2 1944 VII - Imperial Chemical Industries Kynoch Factory at Standish UNITED KINGDOM

 

[wogpotter]

Its British made & Mk VII (7) so it is 100% guaranteed to be corrosive.

The "silver" color is cupro-nickel jacketing instead of the usual gold colored jacket material. It was rumored to be much harder on barrels & way harder to remove than more modern jacket alloys.

You could use it to make action proving dummies. Just resize with no decapping pin, drill transverse holes to positively ID it & epoxy as well as seat the bullets. Just remember to put the epoxy in the case neck, not on the bullet & then stand tip down overnight.

 

[Jim Watson]

Ammo description does not match the label.
Looks like you have real Mk VII ball, a 174 gr FMJ loaded with Cordite and corrosive Berdan primers.

I hope you cleaned the gun well, with something wet like Windex or water.

 

[gyvel]

That is one hell of and idea that seems extremely plausible for someone to pull the bullets.

Not only is it plausible, it was SOP in the 50s, 60s and 70s during the heyday of imported surplus.

And, per other posts here yes, it is most definitely corrosive, so I would take out your .303 ASAP and check the bore. The best way to clean corrosive priming is with hot, soapy water, after which normal cleaning procedure may be used.

Corrosive priming consists of potassium perchlorate which leaves potassium chloride salts (sodium chloride's first cousin, aka table salt) in the bore. Residual salts are hygroscopic, meaning they attract moisture. The moisture, in turn, forms oxides with the steel (aka rust). A lot of military ammo was primed with corrosive priming because it has a longer storage life than non-corrosive lead styphnate priming. (Supposedly.)

Since salts are highly soluble in water, the hot soapy water dissolves those residual salts and removes them from your bore.

As I said, don't waste any time in checking the bore of your .303; I could tell you more than one tragic story about .303s that had mint bores until someone fired highly corrosive British ammo in them after being told that ammo made in the 50s was non-corrosive. (One in particular of a friend of mine who bought a mint, unfired No.5 jungle carbine in the 60s and was assured by the idiot gun store owner that RG 55 ammo was non-corrosive.)

Cleaning with the usual petroleum based products DOES NOT WORK.

 

[gyvel]

Regarding the primers, the British .303 pretty much used a 6mm primer, so there is no "drilling it out" to accept a large rifle primer. There are people who reload Berdan primed brass (myself included), but Berdan primers have not been easily available since the 70s (they were actually cheaper than Boxers). I still have a few thousand 6mm primers, but recent surplus imports have made reloading Berdan stuff impractical and not cost effective anymore.

Your best bet is to sell it for scrap, but only after you reclean your rifle with hot water.

 

[pathdoc]

All .303 British milsurp is corrosive and Berdan till proven otherwise. Also I think it's chlorate salts rather than chloride, but the significance is the same.

 

[gyvel]

Potassium chlorate is an explosive in its own right. Potassium perchlorate yields water, carbon dioxide and potassium chloride when detonated.

 

[Blindstitch]

Ok the rifle is clean again. Or more depending on how you look at it.

I bought this rifle for $100 last month and it shoots great. It was just an extra I picked up just in case with the purchase of others. But it's clean and back in the safe till who knows when.

 

[Blindstitch]

Just found a picture of ammo exactly like what I shot.

 

[gyvel]

The stuff is perfectly OK to shoot as long as you remember to use the hot soapy water process to clean the bore, followed by "regular" cleaning.

In fact, you will probably find it to be quite accurate.

 

[Blindstitch]

It was very accurate but now it's done and gone. I have some PPU just in case I want to use it but I prefer shooting my 30-40 krag instead.

 

[gyvel]

For S & G's, compare a .30-40 case to a .303 sometime and see how similar they are.