Berdan to Boxer & Steel Shells

[MacFan]

Why, when 7.62x39 steel cased ammo is so cheap?
Just curious to see if I could do it easily and I always seem to be ankle deep in the stuff at the range.
I chose the cleanest cases I could find with no burrs, nicks or serious dents. The cases are drilled for a new centered flash hole from the inside using the drill bushing to keep things going straight. I drill through the steel case and stop before it goes through the Berdan primer. I can then use a regular depriming tool to remove the old primer. Red Army and Wolf are the easiest to modify, Tula the worst because of a large chamfer surrounding the primer pocket. I stake the original primer pocket down to .208/.209. Cases are sized with a very light coat of lithium grease. They shoot perfectly and it's cool to know it can be done easily. I've gotten a few reloads out of the steel cases with no apparent degradation.
I'm going back to loading brass now. :-D
The pics should tell the story.

Oh yeah, 22.5 grains of H4198, Winchester large magnum pistol primers and powder coated and GC'd Lee CTL-160-2R bullets. (BTW, the Winchester primers are short enough to fit in the shallow primer pockets)

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[Echo]

Interesting post. I don't have a 7.62x39, but have given it some thought. Your staking tool makes sense - I see you are using the Lee press. Any problem with the power needed to stake the steel case?

[MacFan]

The Lee press works OK. I made the bore in the 7/8-14 punch holder extra long so I could get the staking punch up high enough to allow the press to do the staking near the bottom of the lever's stroke where there's the most leverage.
If I was going to do a bunch of conversions I'd buy an extra press.
I should note both the shell holder pin and the staking punch are 0-1 and hardened. The staking pin is .250 dia.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Mac Fan: There have been several threads on modifying and reloading steel cased ammo. Lots of info available.

If push came to shove it would be something a lot of people would try.

You might try just neck sizing the cases and seeing if they will chamber in your guns as it would make your dies last longer. Most times steel cased ammo doesn't set the shoulder back on the cases very much if at all when fired.

Randy

[MacFan]

Hey Randy, yup I've read a bunch of posts and threads, figured this added a slightly different, and possibly easier wrinkle, if someone has the tools to do a little lathe work. If not, I've wasted your time and I apologize.

[SciFiJim]

Hey Randy, yup I've read a bunch of posts and threads, figured this added a slightly different, and possibly easier wrinkle, if someone has the tools to do a little lathe work. If not, I've wasted your time and I apologize.

The time was not wasted. I don't have a lathe, but it is an interesting take on how to do it.

It looks like it would also work well on berdan primed brass cases as well.

One of the methods is to use a ball bearing to swage the primer pocket down some and then use a regular large primer pocket swager to set it to the correct size.

Your method looks like it would have more control of the amount of swaging taking place.

[MacFan]

The time was not wasted. I don't have a lathe, but it is an interesting take on how to do it.

It looks like it would also work well on berdan primed brass cases as well.

One of the methods is to use a ball bearing to swage the primer pocket down some and then use a regular large primer pocket swager to set it to the correct size.

Your method looks like it would have more control of the amount of swaging taking place.

Hi SciFiJim, I tried the ball bearing swaging route first, it's a pretty standard way in machining to close down an oversize (read screwed-up) hole.
I didn't like the amount of force needed to close down the primer pocket. Sooo, I went to staking with a straight punch. It is less force and controlling the size a bit more foolproof.
I found very early that first separating the shells by maker made sizing the pocket accurately in one step much easier.
Agreed, if I had any Berdan primered brass I wouldn't hesitate converting it this way.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Mac Fan: Simply indicated that there was a lot of info on this subject here at the site and if someone wanted more it was available.

I liked what you did and especially the part about only drilling thru the primer pocket and not the primer so that you could use a regular depriming die to remove the Berdan primer, which is the biggest PITA when dealing with these cases.

Randy

[wcp4570]

MacFan
I like your method better than some of the others, only drawback is I don't have a lathe. The process looks straight forward. I have converted steel cases before using the drill out method leaving the outside of the existing primer then drill the flash hole and finishing by using the RCBS small crimp removal. This is a lot of work to produce a reloadable steel case. This is good knowledge if times get worse and you could not get brass. Thanks for sharing.

wcp

[MacFan]

Just for laughs here's another way to remove those pesky Berdan primers.
It takes some practice to get the pins lined up with the flash holes but after a couple you develop a feel and it goes pretty quick.
I set the shell inside a 1/2 inch 1/4" drive socket, a light smack or two with a hammer knocks the primer out. The pins are spaced .140 apart... the average after measuring four or five different brand shells on an optical comparator.
98988

[Hang Fire]

Just for laughs here's another way to remove those pesky Berdan primers.
It takes some practice to get the pins lined up with the flash holes but after a couple you develop a feel and it goes pretty quick.
I set the shell inside a 1/2 inch 1/4" drive socket, a light smack or two with a hammer knocks the primer out. The pins are spaced .140 apart... the average after measuring four or five different brand shells on an optical comparator.
98988

You did good with your tool, thx for posting.

[MacFan]

A little update to this process:
I started using anhydrous lanolin thinned with isopropanol to lube steel cases when sizing... which I know is not news to anyone on this forum. What I never knew was what an excellent rust preventative lanolin is. It works on steel cases and also my machines out in the garage.
I love Eezox for rust prevention but the cost gets a little hard to handle at times. I'll save the Eezox for my guns and use lanolin on other stuff.

[JeffG]

Very nice. It's time to go visit my friend the machinist, I want a tool for drilling the priming hole from the inside for 8mm Mauser. I like your ideas.