Berdan brass

[Danth]

I've got a bit of Berdan brass I thought might be ok for converting to scarce Boxer calibers. There's info online how it's done using a bushing made from copper tubing or 22lr cases. I've found some of the brass will accept LR primers without a bushing. Maybe the bushing allows a SR primer to be used. IF so, what is the advantage in doing so? Also, is there a small hole drilled between the existing flash holes to accept a decapping rod?

[ipopum]

I have never found any Berdan brass that had a flash hole. All boxer brass will have a flash hole.

[elmacgyver0]

I have never found any Berdan brass that had a flash hole. All boxer brass will have a flash hole.

Won't work without flash holes.
Berdan has two, one on either side of the anvil.

[fgd135]

Gotta remove that Berdan central "hump" before using boxer primers, whether they fit or not, or you will possibly detonate the boxer primer as you seat it.

[Danth]

The berdan flash holes will ignite the powder, but you then cannot reload using a boxer decapping rod. Can you drill a small hole between the existing holes for the boxer decapping rod?

[uscra112]

There was a long discussion on here about converting 7.5x55 Swiss Berdan brass. Trick was to drill the top off the fired Berdan primer with a 1/8" spotting drill, drilling deep enough to eliminate the Berdan anvil. Do not drill thru! Now drill a central flash hole. (Having a lathe to do the drilling makes this far easier.) Lastly swage the remains of the Berdan primer against the sides of the primer pocket using the tool designed to swage back the crimp on military small rifle primers. Voila! You have a case that works fine with regular Boxer SR primers. I did a couple dozen 7.5x55 cases myself to prove out the process, but having a large supply of Norma boxer brass I only reloaded those converted cases 3 times. The SR primers still fit fine on the 3rd reloading.

I'm given to understand that not all Berdan primers are the same diameter, so this may not work for you, but it's worth a look-see.

[M-Tecs]

I'm given to understand that not all Berdan primers are the same diameter, so this may not work for you, but it's worth a look-see.

Yup. Here are the sizes http://dave-cushman.net/shot/berdan_...imensions.html

[Stewbaby]

With a Squirrel Daddy hardened pin in a Lee decapper, you can deprime Berdan and create a centered flash hole of sorts (that might could be cleaned up) but I don’t know if it would affect performance. I’ve just done this to prove the concept (or when a Berdan case slips by lol)

[kywoodwrkr]

This is a good informative place to go to:
https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...ckets-to-Boxer

[Omega]

With a Squirrel Daddy hardened pin in a Lee decapper, you can deprime Berdan and create a centered flash hole of sorts (that might could be cleaned up) but I don’t know if it would affect performance. I’ve just done this to prove the concept (or when a Berdan case slips by lol)

I wish I had gotten that lucky, I bent two of those before I realized I had a mess of berdan mixed in with my other 7.62x51 brass, I thought it was just the primer crimp. So I did a better job of sorting and used them for something better.

[NuJudge]

A good bit of Berdan brass has one central large flash hole. Most that I have seen is 8x57, post war Romanian and Czech, and some others. Much of the Berdan brass one encounters has .217" diameter primer pockets, with two tiny flash holes, but as noted by others, there are a bewildering variety of other diameters, but also heights, hardnesses and explosive strengths. Most seem to not be crimped or sealed in, but some are, making spent Berdan primer removal practically impossible, the worst being South African .303 and some European 7.62x51.

Problem one for you will be getting the spent Berdan primers out. I used to mostly use the Lachmiller/RCBS pry-out tool, but now I mostly use hydraulics, using a custom made tool that resembles a M-die. If you can't get primers out, none of the rest of these concerns will matter.

[elmacgyver0]

Hydraulically decap the primers and then reload them. I hear it's the only way to go.
Have not done it myself but guys on Aardvark Reloading MeWe group say it is the way to go.
I'm still waiting on chemicals, so I do not have any personal experience yet.

[salpal48]

The Beast Way to Remove The center out of Berdan case is with the kit sold by 22reloader.com.

[uscra112]

The Beast Way to Remove The center out of Berdan case is with the kit sold by 22reloader.com.

Unless you do have a lathe, in which case the spotting-drill method is much easier. I'm a little surprised that Larry Gibson missed that. Does HE not have a lathe?