Anyone Reload Berdan Primed .308 Winchester?

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What velocities are you getting?

Zeke,

I have not had a chance to check the velocities. I only shot a few rounds with each powder before the cases started sticking in the chamber.

 

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I'm wondering if the berdan brass is made of a lower quality of brass. Or maybe too good quality of brass.

It appears to be a good quality brass but until I can get a few loads on a case it is hard to tell for sure. This is what I have found for the Head Stamp:

Hirtenberger Patronen-, Zündhütchen-und Metallwarenfabrik A.-G., Hirtenberg, Niederdonau, Austria

Awhile back I was having problems with 327 Magnum cases sticking in a Ruger revolver and found it was caused by the loads being too weak. Increased the powder a little and no more stuck cases. I don't believe this is the problem with these loads though as they kick harder than a heavier load using the same bullets in boxer primed brass. Maybe something to do with the Berdan primers? I've loaded and shot hundreds of Swiss Berdan primed brass and have not had any cases stick in the chambers of these rifles. I did have a few cases that separated due to head space problems with one of these rifles. I'll load up some lighter loads and try to get back out to the range next week. We'll see if that does it. If not, it was an interesting experiment. Wonder if they reload much Berdan primed brass in Europe.

 

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Just wanted to report my final findings on reloading this Berdan brass. I lowered the starting load to 37.8 grs of Varget and loaded 5 each of 37.8, 38.3, 38.8, 39.3 and 39.8 grs. I was afraid that 37.8 grs. may be too light but this wasn't the case but after discussing it with Walkalong I decided to give it a try. It was pouring down the rain and windy but I still managed a 5-shot group under an inch with the first group. Due to the weather I really didn't get to do a fair assessment of the remaining loads but based on the 1st group I plan to load the remaining cases that I have prepped with 37.8 grs of Varget. After I shot the 1st 5 I skipped over to the hottest ones that I had loaded at 39.8 grs to see if they were too hot. The good news is there were no problems with the brass sticking in the chamber or any other signs of excessive pressure. The bad news is the group expanded to over 2.5 inches. Loading this Berdan primed brass is not something I would recommend to others doing but since I still have several thousand of these primers on hand I wouldn't refuse any of this HP brass if offered. My shooting buddies thought I was wasting my time but I think they were a little impressed with the first 5 shot group (not so much the second group).