Steel case 7.62-54R Idea

[mithnight]

Hi all


7.62-54r brass is hard to come by where i live. I can get the steel cased stuff but its berdan primed and costs $16 for 20 rounds. With berdan primers almost non existant I was worndering if you could conver the steel cased to boxxer.

I've tried other methods but they haven't worked out so I thought I would try an new method I heard about.

Deprime the steel cases, smash the anvil flat and close off the two vent holes. Then weld the primer pocket shut. Put it in a lathe an cut a new pocket.

Would you recomend doing this or is this just a bad idea.
thanks.

[fryboy]

sounds like a bit of work for very little gain .... some guys have been known to sort of do it to brass berdan primed cases , no brazing however , they've drilled a flash hole in the middle ( some even have tried shotgun primers ) and reamed for a regular primer , i wouldnt use such a case for anything but light cast loads however .... no matter how cheap or expensive we can make a case the cost is nothing compared to safety of life and limb ..
not sure how the welding would affect the case head's integrity either which is also another aspect to consider

[jhrosier]

I knew a fellow who would decap berdan cases and flatten the anvil.
Then he would seat the old primer backwards in the pocket as a bushing and drill a new flash hole.
The berdan primers are different sizes and I don't recall which ones he would convert this way, but they held a standard boxer primer when finished.

Jack

[Russel Nash]

I have read on another forum how to reload steel cases. Depending on your de-capping die you might be able punch right through the bottOm of the case and take out the anvil at the same time. Then when you go to insert a new boxer primer you just glue it in with primer sealer or clear finger nail polish.

[Skrenos]

Where do you live that 20 rounds of x54R steel cased ammo costs $16?

[mckutzy]

He must be from Canada. We are able now to get some cheap surplus and new manufactured ammo in that cal now.
I would think that welding the primer pocket shut on a once fired steel case might just upset the whole head, no telling really what could happen to the metal and what the heat could do.

[KCSO]

Quickest fix I have found is to convert to shotgun primers. I made a reamer and I drill out the pocket and ream and presto 209 primers! These seem to work fine for all cast loads up to 16-1700 fps.