Will a bore scope do the job easily?

[dverna]

I have thousands of 5.56 and 7.62 range brass to process. I am looking for a simple way to segregate Berdan primer cases.

Will a bore scope work? Is there a better way?

If a bore scope will do the job, does it have a decent depth of field?

Any suggestions on a good unit? I have an old Iphone 5 or Android phone I can use, but wonder if getting one with a monitor would be a better way to go.

[Rich/WIS]

On cases the size of 7.62 a bright flashlight will usually provide enough light to see the base of the case and the difference between berdan and boxer brass is obvious. Have never tried this on 5.56 but OTOH don't recall ever seeing berdan primed 5.56. Until you check a foreign headstamp is suspect.

[MUSTANG]

I clean all my cases well using Ultrasonic or tumble in stainless pins (before drying and polishing in a later step). I then place them in a reloading block mouth up; take a small powerful flashlight and view looking down in each case (eyes are getting to where I use a magnifying glass for this anymore). I pick any 2 hole Berdan out of the tray and put them in a separate container for "Maybe I Will Do Something with them Some Day". I then dump all the Boxer primed cases into a larger container for additional processing. Do this for both 308/7.62 and 223/5.56 cases.

Using a bore scope or a suitable bore camera to me seems more costly (although I have a cheap bore cam that goes with my computer) and would take longer overall than my process.

[ReloaderFred]

I just use a small, powerful LED flashlight. You can look in lots of cases quickly by just taking a fistful and shining the light down inside them and moving your hand so you can see.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[Winger Ed.]

When I scrounge a bunch of range brass-- so far, I haven't found any Berdan primed .223/5.56.
I used to find the Berdan primed 7.62s after I bent a de-cap rod.

Now days, I look into the various spent cases of military brass with a pen light.
When I find one, I dig through the rest looking for that head stamp and pull them out.

I'll never try to reload Berdan primed cases, so I smash the mouth shut with pliers,
and toss them into the scrap brass bucket.

[wildwilly501]

I have a Teslong just tried it without a tip on worked fine.I also did it with a small bright flashlight it worked fine too.223 cases you can see more detail with the bore scope but wasn’t any problem with the flashlight.Unless you’re looking for a reason to buy a bore scope I’d just use a flashlight

[JimB..]

If you’re going to be looking at each one anyway, first sort by headstamp first and then check a handful from each of the foreign headstamps.

If I was going to do this with a borescope I’d mount the borescope vertically on the bench and set each case on it, it’d be pretty fast that way. Even faster if you drill a block of wood to center the case on the borescope.

[country gent]

I always used a bright reading lamp behind my shoulder gave enough directed light without obstructing view into the case. If your vision is part of the issue maybe try a set of + reading magnifiers glasses. Easy enough to find what you need take a few cases in the store with you and keep trying till you find the best set.

I have used my hawkeye with the 90* attachment to look a brass for head separation lines, but its awkward to handle.

They used to make a little prism that would slide in a receiver and chamber to check bores that with a good reading lamp might work well also.

[M-Tecs]

I look at headstamp first. Easy to sort out the LC, Winchester, Remington etc. The questionable ones get inspected with an LED light from the case mouth. I have a three bore scopes (Lyman, Teslong and a Hawkeye) and all would be too slow and cumbersome for that application.

[dverna]

Thanks guys.

My eyes are so bad sometimes I cannot read headstamps on some of these cases. They are all supposed to be once fired. Some were so bad I had to tumble them for 2-3 days...mostly LC cases too. I know they are once fired as the primers are crimped. Like a dufus I mixed some with range pickups I got from a buddy who shot a lot of cheap blasting ammunition. Quite a few of those are Berdan.

Went to check some cases a couple of hours ago and found one 5.56 case had hard crap in the bottom. A bit of caked corn cob and a piece of paper towel which had got shredded up after 3 days of tumbling (I had wetted the paper towel with mineral spirits to keep the dust down). That gives me concern. In 50 years of cleaning cases I have never seen anything like it...but I have never processed such crappy stuff before. Sorting by headstamp will not tell me if I have crud in the case and I am running near full loads on the 5.56.

The LED light ReloaderFred suggested worked on the 7.62 cases but not very well on the 5.56 cases. I will try a more powerful light and see if that helps. I might be better off selling/trading the 5.56 cases to someone who wet tumbles and getting clean commercial cases.

Thanks again for the suggestions.

[M-Tecs]

For headsteamps I use something like this.

https://www.amazon.com/Magnifying-8-Diopter-Magnifier-Adjustable-Workbench/dp/B08Z7H8TKC/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1X6VK1IPQHBUJ&keywords=magnifying%2Blight&qid=1645394811&sprefix=magnifying%2Blight%2Caps%2C100&sr=8-5&th=1

https://www.amazon.com/Magnifying-Veemagni-Stepless-Dimmable-Magnifier/dp/B09DPRMBZJ/ref=sr_1_3_sspa?crid=1X6VK1IPQHBUJ&keywords=magnifying+light&qid=1645394811&sprefix=magnifying+light%2Caps%2C100&sr=8-3-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFCNEJDMEVXNlpOTkcmZ W5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTAwNTM4NDk0TDczRDdXTFRaMDcmZW5jcnl wdGVkQWRJZD1BMDc3Nzg5NjFXQjdUWFY5Mjk5M0Ymd2lkZ2V0T mFtZT1zcF9hdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3R Mb2dDbGljaz10cnVl

If you are worried about more with corn cobb stuck in them you a dip stick to check.

[Winger Ed.]

For sorting and dealing with the 'problem children'--

I wear a pair of those el-cheapo 2X glasses from the grocery store.
To read a dirty head stamp, I rub it on a piece of old blue jeans to rub off the crud, and that leaves the letters & numbers dark.

For dirt in the bottom of rifle cases-
I look into the questionable ones and poke around inside it with a stiff wire like from a metal clothes hanger.

After a batch is washed, I de-prime, size, trim, and tumble.

After that, I stand 'em upside down in a loading block to inspect primer pockets, and poke the last little piece of media
out of the flash hole with a sewing machine needle.
As I pick one up to prime it, I look to see light all the way through the case.

Then Prime, and stand them up right in a block ready for the power charge and seating.

So far,,, not bad surprises.

[lightman]

I mostly depend on reading the headstamp and using a good flashlight. I have plans to add a lighted magnifying glass to my bench like the one that M-Tecs linked.

[tazman]

Plus 1 on the Teslong bore scope. They work well with my 22 LR rifle bores and with the mirror off the end of it, it should do your job easily.
I got one last summer for around $60. A couple of other members did also. They work easily with a laptop. I haven't tried it with my phone yet.

[Bentstick]

They work well with PH also, my eyes were shot when first got my Teslong, since cataract surgery without glasses it works for me on everything I use it on not just bores

[rockshooter]

don't forget that a good first step involves a magnet
Loren

[John McCorkle]

Can you pick a few known berdan primed cases and note the headstamp....I've sorted all my 556 by headstamp for years....takes a while but I get better consistency...I bet you'll be able to sort out 90% or more just by headstamp sorting

Sent from my moto g power (2021) using Tapatalk

[fast ronnie]

On cases the size of 7.62 a bright flashlight will usually provide enough light to see the base of the case and the difference between berdan and boxer brass is obvious. Have never tried this on 5.56 but OTOH don't recall ever seeing berdan primed 5.56. Until you check a foreign headstamp is suspect.

I've run into several.Most of them have had a red sealer around the primer. Have broken several primer pins on them, but a flash light will usually let you see them after cleaning with pins.

[pworley1]

I just use a flashlight. You don't have to see the tiny berdan holes, just just have to not see the boxer hole.

[country gent]

Since the problem is poor vision I would start by going to rite aid wall marts krogers that sell the reading glasses with a few cases in my pocket and try the magnifiers find a set that works and use them. Some of the head band magnifiers are handy to have around too for fine tasks.

I have a pair I use now for reading vernier scales on calipers and other tools. I also use them when polishing to see the fine lines and how even they are.

The nice thing is I think they are under 15 - 20 dollars. Unlike bifocals the power is in the lenses so you dont end up with holding your head at a funny angle

[farmbif]

ive found that one of those desk lamp magnifiers with light around the magnifier on arms that move in almost every direction are just about as helpful as a bore scope
but if you have 1000's, there's really limited ways to go through it one piece at a time or find the burden stuff and identify others by headstamp.
might want to keep a spare lee decapping die on hand just in case you get it jammed up in a shell as I have done totally destroying decapping spindle in die

[Half Dog]

I use a RCBS Rockchucker to deprime. After depriming a few I learned what a boxer primer feels like as it’s being pushed out. Anything different, whether its due to sealant or Berdan primed, got put aside for a better inspection later.

I hope this helps.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

I use an Optivisor that has LED lights mounted on it. Amazon list a Magnivisor that has LED lights and a magnifier. There are quite a few headband magnifiers with LED lights available. I use them any time I am doing fine detail work, stoning sears, looking into rifle and pistol actions, works for headstamps and flashholes too.

[William Yanda]

Won't the headstamp be clue enough? Just asking, I have no idea if one company made both Boxer and Berdan primed brass.

[JimB..]

The borescope idea is growing on me. Not just for looking for berdan primers, but even for sorting by head stamp. Having the borescope mounted to the bench with a cradle to hold each piece in perfect alignment and focus will reduce eye and back fatigue. It’ll be slower than picking up 5 cases and looking at them as a group, but it’ll be faster than looking at them one at a time, tilting them to get the right light, etc.

[Idz]

I de-prime before cleaning and use the two finger approach with a Lee universal de-priming die on a small LEE press. With a light touch of two fingers on the lever I can easily tell if I hit a solid Berdan head, pebble in the case, case inside the case, or firm military crimped primer. I haven't broken a decapper pin doing thousands of cases.

[imashooter2]

If you have thousands, segregate out the known boxer headstamps and put the rest on a shelf for a rainy day of looking into the necks behind a bright flashlight.

[higgins]

I put the cases in a loading block and look inside with a focused beam small flashlight. Dim the lighting in the room and you'll be better able to see inside the case; the twin flash holes of the Berdan case will be obvious.

About twenty years ago there was some Berdan-primed 5.56 surplus on the market, but I don't remember the headstamp. I haven't seen a Berdan 5.56 in many years, but that doesn't mean they're not still out there.