Reloading steel 7.62X39......

[leadloader]

pd ive heard of this being done by many people and have at least to my knowledge not heard any horror storys of a primmer causeing personal injury...with that beingsaid i seen a few boxes of primers on your bench in the picture noticed none were mil spec is the slamfire risk greater with the epoxy/ nailpolish?

[PDshooter]

pd ive heard of this being done by many people and have at least to my knowledge not heard any horror storys of a primmer causeing personal injury...with that beingsaid i seen a few boxes of primers on your bench in the picture noticed none were mil spec is the slamfire risk greater with the epoxy/ nailpolish?

No slam fires..........But when I release the slide I make sure the barrel is down range!

[fatelk]

I've tinkered with this same little project as well--I love tinkering.

I understand that. Sometimes I like to tinker just for the sake of tinkering. I've tried it all- the boxer conversions, the steel cases (berdan and boxer, from .223 to .45), even pulling the anvil out of boxer primers. For me, it was all a complete waste of time, other than to say I could do it. I guess that's reason enough. Just be careful.

I won't recommend this kind of tinkering to someone else, and sure wouldn't vouch for the safety of it, but I admit I get a bit irritated when someone tells me me how stupid and dangerous I am ("You'll shoot your eye out!"). I'm responsible for my own safety, and using some common sense, this kind of tinkering is not the dumbest thing I ever did by any means.

I'm actually impressed by the minimal amount of piling on here. I suppose it's because most of us boolit makers are tinkerers by nature. On some boards the slightest deviation from "lawyer-approved-official-reloading-manual" practices brings down post after post of stern condemnation.

[leadloader]

No slam fires..........But when I release the slide I make sure the barrel is down range!

thats the best way to be safe... i do it with mil spec or not

[perotter]

I saw a video on youtube myself one time.....a guy was doing steel case through his normal sizer and just letting the decapping pin punch a hole in the case so it could punch out the primer. Then he would just reload it like normal.

Have extra pins on hand for when you want to reload normal. Don't I ever made it to 75 rounds before the pin broke. This was with Mal 308 brass & not steel. I have 1000s of these.

[cast367]

PDshooter
You have a PM

[deltaenterprizes]

I've tinkered with this sam little project as well--I love tinkering. My conversion to boxer primers involved a propane torch, a little silver solder to tin the pocket, and a bit in my drill press to open up and reform the newly sized boxer primer pocket. Worked great--tight fit, no gas cutting, and ran through carbide dies without a glitch there-after. The down side? VERY TIME CONSUMING, but if I ever get in a pinch and my box primed brass runs out, I can still keep the AK fed.

Where did you get 7.62x39 CARBIDE dies?

[Rangefinder]

Delta>>> Now you really had me stumped!! Bought a bunch of reloading stuff from an old shooter's widow a few years ago. In the mess were RCBS and Dillon dies. .40S&W, 7.65 Browning/.32ACP, both Carbide---(nice, I can use those), .357/38SP, also carbide (Sweet!), .44 mag/SP in carbide (hmm, don't need those, traded for a scope), Dillon .223 and Dillon .308 both carbide (good deal--had a buddy reloading .308 and was happy to get a care package), and 7.62x39 (well, not reloading for it at the moment, but who knows--could be useful)... Was glad I kept 'em when ammo prices went insane and I did start reloading for it...

Long story short:
Every set I had an interest in enough to glance at when I bought them was carbide, so I never gave it a second thought until you asked me about it. Now I just searched to Hades and back because 'I know I have 'em, so why isn't anyone carrying them???' searching, and then went out to the shop to look close again, and holy-hell if I didn't just assume the whole lot was carbide and let the thought wander away! Nope--steel dies... Guess we know that acronym about 'assume'...

HOWEVER: I DO know Hornady makes a carbide .30 neck expander for RCBS dies...

[azcruiser]

I don't recommend doing this that being said .Get yourself one of those paper whole punches .Take the paper circle that comes out of the whole and center it over the primer pocket that has been center punched or drilled poke the decamping pin through the paper then seat your primer.Kind of like a paper patched bullet only your doing it to the primer . Trick is the paper thickness not to thick not to thin ?maybe tin foil ? Invest in a good set of safety glasses

[rbstern]

I am wholly in favor of reloading the steel cased stuff, particularly with cheap cast boolits. I experimented a bit with this, and found it too time consuming to pop the primer, convert the berdan case to a boxer case, and then fit/glue the new primer.

Well with it if you have Berdan primers. I'm going to pick some up the next time Grafs gets the Tula back in stock.

[matm0702]

I don't reload these but I do pull the FMJ rounds out and replace them with Hornady 123 grain softpoints. I hunt with a Mak 90 and don't wish to waste precious
brass while hunting hogs. I use a Lee factory crimp to restore neck tension on the new bullets. Reloading them after being once fired would be more aggravation than it's worth.

Mike