Primer Cup Foray

[P Flados]

It seems these formulas always have very exact down to the half grain or so quantities.
The scale I used measures to the grain but that's it.
I have more accurate scales but decided to dedicate this one to my "chemistry set".
The EPH 26 formula I used goes as follows.
11.6 grains LH (lead hypophosphite)
11.6 grains LN (lead nitrate)
7.5 grains NC (nitrocellulose)
2.5 grains Glass
1.7 grains aluminum

Well, I just rounded everything up to an even number.
This formula is non-corrosive, very energetic, throws lots of sparks and flame, at this point, unless some unforeseen circumstance occurs, this will be what I stick with.
Lots of other formulas out there that are probably just as good, but why argue with success.

The exact quantities of the components were established based on making 100 SPP/SRP per batch. The concept was make just enough dry mix for one batch and use it all up at once.

I note you are using the "hot" version of EPH-26 with more NC and less Ground Glass (GG) than the original.

Early on, I just mixed up a little more than I needed and saved the left over dry mix in a white plastic pill bottle. For all of the EPH-2x mixes, they a real close to 1/3 LN, 1/3 LH and then 1/3 of "everything else". Having LN and LH the same is important. People have experimented with different blends of the 1/3 of the "other stuff" - GG, NC & AL. I eventually settled on a very simple EPH-20 type mix where I started with 10 LN, 10 LH, 5 NC, 5 GG. I then made it even easier on myself and pre-mixed a bottle of 50% NC, 50% GG. Now when I get ready to assemble some final mix, all three items are just kept to equal weights. For an EPH-26 type mix you could "pre-mix" say 75 gr NC, 25 gr GG and 17 gr AL and then do your final mix with the same approach.

For 100 LPP, I have information that it will take 55 gr total. Lets say LRP takes 60 gr per hundred. Mixing up 60 gr (enough for 100) would just be 20 LN, 20 LH and 20 of the pre-mix "other stuff".

And by the way, your test fire sequence sounds very familiar. Even the planned "I know nothing, I know nothing at all" part.

On another note, one of the least "nailed down" aspects of EPH-2x is your NC powder. I am curious as to what powder and process are you using.

[2TM101]

I'm waiting for someone to make and sell the empty primers and anvils. They are just little pieces of copper that could be made and sent anywhere without restriction. Having to salvage anvils out of used primers is what is keeping me from getting into this, I've been making percussion caps for years now that are very bit as good as the commercial product at this point. But the anvil part is still keeping me from trying to do this.

If only there was a good way to reload berdan primed cases. Those are basically just percussion caps as the anvil is part of the case. But there is no good way to deprime them that I know of. Come up with that and Berdan primed cases will go from the ones nobody wants to the ones everybody asks for.

[elmacgyver0]

I'm waiting for someone to make and sell the empty primers and anvils. They are just little pieces of copper that could be made and sent anywhere without restriction. Having to salvage anvils out of used primers is what is keeping me from getting into this, I've been making percussion caps for years now that are very bit as good as the commercial product at this point. But the anvil part is still keeping me from trying to do this.

If only there was a good way to reload berdan primed cases. Those are basically just percussion caps as the anvil is part of the case. But there is no good way to deprime them that I know of. Come up with that and Berdan primed cases will go from the ones nobody wants to the ones everybody asks for.

You can make the cups yourself with tools you can buy. The anvils at this point not so much. There are tools available to recondition the used primer cups.
Most of the anvils come out in the cleaning process and it is pretty easy to separate the rest, I do a lot of this while watching TV, of course you need your full attention when working with the chemicals.
It is not for everybody, you need to judge that for yourself.

Powder:
I used Bullseye and ground it with powdered glass in a ceramic mortar and pestle.
I bought the powdered glass online, didn't want to mess with grinding up lightbulbs.
I think the real secret is to get all the components ground as fine as possible.
I do the lead stuff in a glass mortar like dish I got at a yard sale.
I used a plastic swizzle stick for the pestle, although I have a glass pestle coming from Ebay.
I do the final mixing in the glass mortar and when I'm satisfied with that, I add the German Dark Aluminum powder and mix well.
A lot like cooking, just follow the recipe.

[WRideout]

I'm waiting for someone to make and sell the empty primers and anvils. They are just little pieces of copper that could be made and sent anywhere without restriction. Having to salvage anvils out of used primers is what is keeping me from getting into this, I've been making percussion caps for years now that are very bit as good as the commercial product at this point. But the anvil part is still keeping me from trying to do this.

If only there was a good way to reload berdan primed cases. Those are basically just percussion caps as the anvil is part of the case. But there is no good way to deprime them that I know of. Come up with that and Berdan primed cases will go from the ones nobody wants to the ones everybody asks for.

When I was fooling around with trying to convert 7.5 Swiss cases to Boxer primed, I decapped a quantity just using a case filled with water, and a tight-fitting steel punch through the case mouth. Works fine. There are hook-type primer removal tools around, but I have not used one.

Wayne

[elmacgyver0]

When I was fooling around with trying to convert 7.5 Swiss cases to Boxer primed, I decapped a quantity just using a case filled with water, and a tight-fitting steel punch through the case mouth. Works fine. There are hook-type primer removal tools around, but I have not used one.

Wayne

I've only been able to spray water all over the place and never budge the primer.

[MUSTANG]

Most of the Berdan that I have seen have heavy Primer Crimping or multiple Stab Crimps on primer pocket area. This has resulted in me not being able to use the Hydro Primer Removal (Water in case and tight fitting punch) successfully. I have probably 1200 to 1500 burden primed .308 I have picked up at ranges over the years. Would love to be able to extract the Berdan Primers and remanufacture the Berdan Primers - but No Bueno so far. I am successful in remanufacturing Boxer Primers (SP/SR/LP/LR) and having success with a couple of primer formulas.

Making new Boxer Primer cups from 0.017" galvanized steel available from Home Depot is good to go. Some day when I get that Round Tu-It; will explore having someone make me small and large anvil punches to make Primer anvils.

[elmacgyver0]

I took my sheet metal/wire gauge with me to Menards and picked up a 28-gauge galvanized panel that is perfect for making the cups.
I ordered a parallel jaw plier on Ebay to seat the anvils, so far for me using a plier works best for anvil seating. It seems everything I bought for making primers came with no instructions, I have a setup that was 3D printed I got on Etsy, but have not got it to work yet, perhaps the instructions are buried on MeWe somewhere.
I will be exploring getting those Berdan primers out (intact) in the near future.

[Bmi48219]

….Some day when I get that Round Tu-It; will explore having someone make me small and large anvil punches to make Primer anvils.

In the late sixties dad bought a 7.5 Swiss rifle. Back then you could buy berdan primers. He had limited success using hydraulic pressure to deprime the cases. A machinist made him a couple dual pin depriming punches that worked ok. I recall him loading 7.5 Swiss ammo that was every bit as brutal to fire as the surplus stuff we found at gun shows.

[elmacgyver0]

The primer cups I have been making seem soft although the thickness seems right as they hold the anvils securely.
I may try to temper them by putting them in a metal cup, heating and then quenching in water, don't know what it will do to the galvanizing.

[HamGunner]

I had a couple hundred good brass cased Berdan primed 7.62x54R that had the larger sized Berdan primer and they deprimed ok with my homemade hydraulic tool. I also had plenty of the smaller primed cases as well, but they were not as easy to deprime, plus most of them were copper washed steel and I just did not want to mess with them anyway.

I reprimed the large primer cups after punching out the dent with a hammer and punch. I filled and tamped down my version of the EPH-2X primer compound and just before the compound sealer has dried, I also place one Legend brand toy cap gun cap disc on top of the priming compound and tamp down again. I suppose the paper cap gun cap is not necessary, but I feel much better about the compound staying in place with some sort of paper on top, although any thin piece of paper would likely work as well. I don't think a tiny bit of Armstrong mixture will corrode things up much.

I use my Arbor Press to prime the already resized cases by placing a flat rod inside the case for the press to bare on the inside case base, since I do not have a priming tool the correct size for the large Berdan primer cups. This has worked well.

I also knock the firing pin dent out of large center-fire primed cups and use the Arbor Press to replace the anvils on my reprimed large pistol and large rifle primer cups. This also has worked out well, but I have not attempted the smaller primer cups. I am sure it would be just as easily done, but my 72 year old fingers just do not handle such small detailed work.

I had been saving up spent primers for years, but unfortunately I had just been dumping any brand and any size into the same coffee can. That requires a lot of measuring with a caliper to separate the large rifle from the large pistol cups, but it has worked out okay with just a bit more tedious time involved. I now have been segregating and saving my spent primers by size at least.

I hope this is only an experimental process and primers once again become plentiful and not so costly. One can at least hope so.

[elmacgyver0]

I had a couple hundred good brass cased Berdan primed 7.62x54R that had the larger sized Berdan primer and they deprimed ok with my homemade hydraulic tool. I also had plenty of the smaller primed cases as well, but they were not as easy to deprime, plus most of them were copper washed steel and I just did not want to mess with them anyway.

I reprimed the large primer cups after punching out the dent with a hammer and punch. I filled and tamped down my version of the EPH-2X primer compound and just before the compound sealer has dried, I also place one Legend brand toy cap gun cap disc on top of the priming compound and tamp down again. I suppose the paper cap gun cap is not necessary, but I feel much better about the compound staying in place with some sort of paper on top, although any thin piece of paper would likely work as well. I don't think a tiny bit of Armstrong mixture will corrode things up much.

I use my Arbor Press to prime the already resized cases by placing a flat rod inside the case for the press to bare on the inside case base, since I do not have a priming tool the correct size for the large Berdan primer cups. This has worked well.

I also knock the firing pin dent out of large center-fire primed cups and use the Arbor Press to replace the anvils on my reprimed large pistol and large rifle primer cups. This also has worked out well, but I have not attempted the smaller primer cups. I am sure it would be just as easily done, but my 72 year old fingers just do not handle such small detailed work.

I had been saving up spent primers for years, but unfortunately I had just been dumping any brand and any size into the same coffee can. That requires a lot of measuring with a caliper to separate the large rifle from the large pistol cups, but it has worked out okay with just a bit more tedious time involved. I now have been segregating and saving my spent primers by size at least.

I hope this is only an experimental process and primers once again become plentiful and not so costly. One can at least hope so.

I would not use the toy caps; they are pure poison to your barrel and not needed.
I think primer may be more available, but I doubt if the price will drop much.

[P Flados]

I filled and tamped down my version of the EPH-2X primer compound and just before the compound sealer has dried, I also place one Legend brand toy cap gun cap disc on top of the priming compound and tamp down again. I suppose the paper cap gun cap is not necessary, but I feel much better about the compound staying in place with some sort of paper on top, although any thin piece of paper would likely work as well. I don't think a tiny bit of Armstrong mixture will corrode things up much.

After activating, EPH-2x mixes undergo a chemical reaction and the result is a hard pellet. It is kind of like wetting cement and then letting it cure. Testing showed that paper discs on top of EPH-2x reduced performance. All regular EPH-2x users that I know of skip the disc.

Because the "cured" EPH-2x pellet is hard and brittle, I would also recommend inserting your Berdan EPH-2x primers into cases before it cures.