Berdan primers aren't really worth fooling with unless you have the special decapping tool. Not worth it for only 50. I have a lifetime supply of it for 30/06. The first ones I ran into were about 30 years ago and my (not recommended) solution was to put them in the drill press and drill out a center primer pocket and pry what was left of the old primer out. Very time consuming but it was all I had back then.
Decapping problem
- Thread starter John@redmt
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John@redmt
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One of my claims to fame is that I can weld most anything. I think I will conjure up some kind of shop art and Tig braze them together with a silicon bronze filler.
I agreed with the replies suggesting throw it away. There's a set up that can be purchased where a hammer is used with a special punch then you'll have to ream the crimp out of the primer pockets as well. That's if the brass is not Berdan primed. Another variable is the case thickness variations and higher pressure
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Most likely the primer is crimped. You will need to remove some of the metal to loosen up the primer and then swage it before you can install new primer. I have old 30-06 military cases like that and I also broke a decapp pin.
redleg1013
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I'm not particularly fond of this guy but it is at least a workable idea.
As far as the penny wise pound foolish; if one isn't familiar with the term, google can be very informative. Be that as it may, it means that one is stingy with small or minor purchases but frivolous with large purchases, and I think maybe misapplied in this sence as there is no mention of how the cases came into your posession.
But that is beside the point of you have a batch of berdan cases. Can they be made serviceable? (yes) Is such effort of a value to you? (only you can decide that)
As far as the penny wise pound foolish; if one isn't familiar with the term, google can be very informative. Be that as it may, it means that one is stingy with small or minor purchases but frivolous with large purchases, and I think maybe misapplied in this sence as there is no mention of how the cases came into your posession.
But that is beside the point of you have a batch of berdan cases. Can they be made serviceable? (yes) Is such effort of a value to you? (only you can decide that)
I don't think the response was meant to be an insult; it might have been brief, but not an insult. And you asked in your OP, "Should I just dump the brass?" ; and...essentially that is what he told you! From your question, I am not sure if you are new to reloading? I think that what he is saying that after all the work that you have to go through to get the brass to where you can reload it, the effort really is not worth it for what you are getting for a finished product. Military brass has crimped primers that are difficult to remove. I answered some of this question in a previous post to your OP, I have big fingers and was typing from my iPhone so was brief with the reply. If we were at a state where brass was unavailable and a premium or for a special caliber that was hard to find brass for, then I would agree with you but it is not at this time. Also if your brass was "match brass", I might consider doing the work, but.....not for 50 rounds of military brass. I've been reloading for many years, when I get to my range, I always look in the discarded brass bucket to see what is in there for left-over brass. If it's military brass, whether it is rifle of pistol, I don't even bother. Unless you have the right tools, trying to deprime with a regular sizing die you are either going to break depriming pins or bend the depriming rods and this "will" happen if you try it. And if you bend the depriming rod with an expander plug on it, you could end up with a stuck case. If the brass is Berdan primed, meaning there are two flash holes, which I doubt because it in all likelihood is American brass, then you will not be able to deprime the brass at all, "unless" you choose to use a hydraulic process with water and a piston; again not worth the effort. Once that you have this brass deprimed, you will then have to either swage the primer pockets (additional expense for swaging tool) or ream the primer pockets out with a primer pocket uniforming tool to bevel the primer pocket. Now your brass is ready to reload; however, military brass oftentimes has thicker brass, meaning less powder capacity, thus you have to be careful for pressure spikes. So for 50 rounds of military brass I wouldn't make the effort to mess with it either. And....that's my experienced, humble opinion.
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crkckr
Well-Known Member
I don't even 'trash' the brass filings from trimming cases... I've been collecting (bad) brass for so long I'm not sure when I started, but I've got a 5 gallon bucket full of the stuff that I need to take to the recycler. Prices are pretty good, from what I've seen. We'll see when one of these days I get around to taking the stuff in.
Berdan primers are the bane of most reloaders, along with those oddball aluminum cases. Unless you have a really obsolete case, they are just not worth the effort. Drilling them out is NOT the solution as the web around the anvil is a bit weak and may not properly support a boxer primer. I've also decapped older mil-spec brass where the wall of the primer stayed in place and the top simply broke off (usually due to corrosion). Pretty hard to get a new primer in! Also, all mil-spec brass has the primer crimped in place and that crimp must be removed (or swaged) before you can get a new primer in. Look inside the case, if you see 2 small pin holes in the case head, that's a berdan and it's scrap (but definitely not trash!).
Cherrs,
crkckr
Berdan primers are the bane of most reloaders, along with those oddball aluminum cases. Unless you have a really obsolete case, they are just not worth the effort. Drilling them out is NOT the solution as the web around the anvil is a bit weak and may not properly support a boxer primer. I've also decapped older mil-spec brass where the wall of the primer stayed in place and the top simply broke off (usually due to corrosion). Pretty hard to get a new primer in! Also, all mil-spec brass has the primer crimped in place and that crimp must be removed (or swaged) before you can get a new primer in. Look inside the case, if you see 2 small pin holes in the case head, that's a berdan and it's scrap (but definitely not trash!).
Cherrs,
crkckr
Oxobrianne 272
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Oxobrianne 272
Active Member
- Joined
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- Messages
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S&B round of that date is very likely to be Berdan primed - two flash holes. Incidentally the berdan type is an American design that used to be used until recently for military brass in Europe whereas the Boxer design - one flash hole - is a British design.
Huggy
Well-Known Member
Like you, I'm not a fan of watching this guys videos. They can be almost painful at times, redundant, condescending and FAR too "Hillbilly-ish" for my liking (No offense to the Hillbilly folk amongst us, of which I am a guilty party), but the concept of how he achieves his decapping has merit.
As others have mentioned, decapping Berdan cases seem to be too much of a PITA for my money but you gotta do what you gotta do, I suppose.
Notwithstanding the overly labor intensive methodology involved, unless you are also going to mill out the raised portion of the case which forms the anvil, you'll need to find a source for the actual Berdan Primers as well.
I've read over the years that they ARE available but you cannot use the words "inexpensive" or "easily or readily obtained" in the same sentence, either.
That may not still be the case these days and I have no need to research to verify but for my money, time and effort I don't even bother outside of saving them for scrap value.
All that aside, I suppose if we were to find ourselves in a Grid Down, Fecal Matter striking the oscillating and air moving device situation, reusing Berdan cases MIGHT be of value. However, if you stockpile enough supplies of loaded ammo and/or reloading supplies for "regular" brass, it wouldn't be a major issue anyway. At least IMHO.
Overnout
