Berdan reloading

[ATAShooter]

I was at the range... A fellow was shooting surplus 308 that was Berdan primed ( I think thats what they are called when they have 2 small flash holes in bottom, it did, I looked), anyway, He said he runs them thru a std full length sizer to decap them:confused, knocks off primer pocket burs then reloads them.... Now, I ain't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but if there's no center flash hole for the decapper to go thru, how in the heck does he punch the primer out using a std full length Lee die? The reason I ask, is that he was trying to actually be nice and give me some cases, but I told him I wasn't equipped to reload berdan, That's when he told me the stuff above. I just don't see it happening using a std full length lee die to decap it, yet he swears he's done it for years. Now, if you go to an extreme, and say, punch a hole with the die, how could you get proper primer seat depth? I'm bumfizzled on this one...

 

[snuffy]

FOS

He's FOS! Up to his eyeballs! Maybe he was trying to have some fun with you, seeing how much he could BS you, but he's WRONG!

It take a special hooked decapper to get the berdan primer out, then the primer cups are expensive and hard to get. There's a hydraulic primer remover, but it's a PITA and messy. Some old calibers are ONLY available in berdan primed cases, so in those applications it's worth the bother to reload them.

 

[Meplat]

I was at the range... A fellow was shooting surplus 308 that was Berdan primed ( I think thats what they are called when they have 2 small flash holes in bottom), anyway, He said he runs them thru a std full length sizer to decap them:confused, knocks off primer pocket burs then reloads them.... Now, I ain't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but if there's no center flash hole for the decapper to go thru, how in the heck does he punch the primer out using a std full length Lee die? The reason I ask, is that he was trying to actually be nice and give me some cases, but I told him I wasn't equipped to reload berdan, That's when he told me the stuff above. I just don't see it happening using a std full length lee die to decap it, yet he swears he's done it for years. Now, if you go to an extreme, and say, punch a hole with the die, how could you get proper primer seat depth? I'm bumfizzled on this one...

I have ACCIDENTLY gotten a few rounds of Berdan primed brass mixed in with my Boxer primed range handgun fodder, and with a good hard decapping pin, have actually punched a "Boxer" hole in the Berdan pocket. Being inverterately curious, and not seeing how this could be dangerous, I have then reprimed and loaded the case and fired it with no problems. With the two extra flash holes, I seriously doubt that shot to shot consistency was very good, but they DID work.

Having dispensed with that though, I can tell you that even with hardened decapping pins, it only takes a FEW Berdan primed rounds to break a pin. Certainly not worth the problems imo. I got a ton of brass from a relative who is a RO for a training academy, ergo the Berdan stuff. I now inspect not only the usual suspects in a piece of brass, but shine a flashlight into the case to make sure there is only one holey thing down there before I proceed. I used to just glance in to make sure no dirt, pebbles or spiderwebs were in there, and place them in the shell holder for pistol rounds. Replacing decapping pins, or worse yet, finding I have just run out of decapping pins in the middle of a loading session is just too much trouble.

Since all of my rifle rounds are loaded with sub MOA accuracy in mind (didn't say they all made it, just that they were all loaded with that in mind), all my brass for them is accounted for from first firing to final case trim. Therefore, the Berdan thing isn't an issue with them. If I had taken as much time and care with my high volume paper/plinker rounds, then it would have never been an issue with the handgun stuff either. Not that I have ever been careless in reloading anything, but take a thousand rounds of brass, mix twenty or thirty rounds of Berdan in, and you CAN miss 'em if you are not specifically looking for the snake bite marks. I look for them now.

 

[The Bushmaster]

Snuffy is ABSOLUTLY CORRECT!!! That guy is more then FOS!! If he had convinced you of what he said he could have broken the decapping pin in your resizing die...

Snuffy also stated the only two ways, that I know of, to remove berdan primers...

 

[ATAShooter]

Thanks, I thought it sounded fishy.... I had always been told by old timers that it's ok to shoot the berdan surplus stuff, but chuck the hulls.

 

[The Bushmaster]

You are most welcome...There are a lot of straight shooters out there and there are a few crooked shooters out there too...Ya just got to watch for'em

 

[LandShark]

This may be slightly off topic, but, I've seen a home-made punch to decap berden stuff. It was made for some old nitro express caliber, and had no collet, just 2 pins tacked to the end of a steel rod. It was in a book about double rifles, I cannot recall the title right now.

 

[Meplat]

This may be slightly off topic, but, I've seen a home-made punch to decap berden stuff. It was made for some old nitro express caliber, and had no collet, just 2 pins tacked to the end of a steel rod. It was in a book about double rifles, I cannot recall the title right now.

I've used homemade Berdan decappers out of curiosity's sake from wooden dowel rods that fit tightly into the case mouths, filling the case with water, and giving the dowel a good whack with a rubber mallet. Works with enough whacks and squirted water, but not very well....as snuffy said, messy and not terribly efficient or fun. Not nearly worth the trouble for any caliber I own.

If I had an arm that the only cases I could find for were Berdan primed, I'd prolly go to the trouble. Then again, I might just sell that sucker and find something in a more Boxer friendly caliber.

BTW....is it just me, or does anyone else find it odd that the Berdan priming system was developed in America and is mostly used overseas, while the Boxer system was developed in Europe (England, I believe) and maily used in the US?

 

[The Bushmaster]

I don't find it odd...Just ironic...Not the first time that we Americans have screwed something up and sold it over seas...

 

[Meplat]

I don't find it odd...Just ironic...Not the first time that we Americans have screwed something up and sold it over seas...

LOL...you speak truth.

Heck, I hear they even show Alec Baldwin films in foreign theaters.