Have brass but can not travel!!

[three0three]

I too had a stash of Berdan brass. I drilled out the primer pocket and reprimed them with shotgun primers, fireformed the cases in my .410 Ishapore, and they work quite well.

wait, you fireformed .303 into a .410?

[Bruce_in_Oz]

Primer primer:

The standard Brit, Oz, Indian/Paki, South African Berdan primer size is .25 inch.

The commercial primer for the job is the RWS 6000. (I hope they still make it; I am down to my last couple of hundred.) Not sure if the Alcan equivalent is still available in North America.

Careful of the weird Portuguese stuff, it has a very large slotted anvil with a small central flash hole.

Over the years, I reloaded tens of thousands of Berdan cases; .303, 30-06, 7.62 NATO, 7.62 x 39, 6.5 x 55, 8 x 57 etc, both brass and steel. Why? Because it was there at little or no cost. Sadly, the price of RWS and other Berdan primers seems to have got out of control lately.

As for quality, we once conducted a trial of Aust. 7.62 NATO brass. Gave the game away after the trial ten cases survived ten cycles of full length sizing and being spat out of L1A1s, H & K 91s, SiG AMTs and AR-10s etc. Only caveat was to closely monitor length and trim accordingly.

The biggest problem with the .303 stuff with the large (.25") primer is that the original primer is mercury based. Upon ignition, free mercury is blasted into the brass case material where it immediately starts to react and degrade the crystal structure. Even with annealing, most cases will crack badly around the shoulder and neck after the first reload. Thus I only use that style of case for practice ammo or "rough shooting" fodder. Among the best .303 Berdan brass I ever used was a pile of Belgian made stuff ,(pour Bren, on the packet), from the 1950s. This takes the RWS 5608 (mil spec) or RWS 5627 (commercial, thinner, nickel plated cup) primer, which is the same as for 6.5 x 55, French .30-06. most 8 x 57, 7.62 x 39 etc.

Hydraulic decapping is definitely an outdoor sport! However, once the original primer is out and the crimp removed by shaving or forming with a punch, the RCBS Lachmiller tool works very well and is much less messy and noisy.

If you are really keen, all that Russian and Chinese "large primer 7.62 x 54 (yes, even the steel cases) can be reloaded. RWS make (or made) a primer for that stuff too. It is a whisker over the 6000 in diameter, but is is the same primer as used in a lot of the larger British and European "express" cartridges.

Go on, get whacking!!

[Mk VII]

I agree with the RWS #6000 (6.34mm) size. I do not know of anyone else who still makes this size, which appears to be equivalent to the old Kynoch #126 (the 'normal' Berdan size for most centrefire cases is Kynoch #81). I have been unable to persuade anybody to import any more of these here and I have only a few hundred left.
I have reloaded many thousands of blanks using this primer in the past - mainly because the cases could be had for little or nothing. I drilled a hole in the cap and hooked it out with a tool ground from a screwdriver. The ring crimp was removed with a special reamer with a clearance hole in the middle, and I wish I could find another one of those too. Repriming was done with a steel spigot and a metalwork vice (the usual priming tools won't work). I had a star crimp made by a firm, now gone, in Scotland (the CH Tool & Die Co also makes these in America). I made a lot of money like this.

[Pattern14]

wait, you fireformed .303 into a .410?

Yes. I drilled out the the primer pockets and reprimed with CCI 209 shotshell primers and fireformed the .303 cases into straight walled cases using 2400 powder and loaded them with .36 Cal. ball with an overshot card sealed with white glue. These were fired in an Ishapore .303 rifle bored out to .410 smooth bore. All the balls hit the target at 30 yds and a few at 100 yds. Low noise, no recoil.

[Bruce_in_Oz]

I agree with the RWS #6000 (6.34mm) size. I do not know of anyone else who still makes this size, which appears to be equivalent to the old Kynoch #126 (the 'normal' Berdan size for most centrefire cases is Kynoch #81). I have been unable to persuade anybody to import any more of these here and I have only a few hundred left.
I have reloaded many thousands of blanks using this primer in the past - mainly because the cases could be had for little or nothing. I drilled a hole in the cap and hooked it out with a tool ground from a screwdriver. The ring crimp was removed with a special reamer with a clearance hole in the middle, and I wish I could find another one of those too. Repriming was done with a steel spigot and a metalwork vice (the usual priming tools won't work). I had a star crimp made by a firm, now gone, in Scotland (the CH Tool & Die Co also makes these in America). I made a lot of money like this.

Spot on Mkvii.

Initially, I did all my primer seating by placing the primer in a flat steel plate and gently tapping the case down over it using an approx .30 cal pin with a copper mallet.

Then I discovered the Lee Auto-Prime. Greatest thing since bottled beer!

The "small" large rifle (5608/5627 etc) happily function in the flipper tray and a slightly shortened ram.

The 6000s required some creative modifications to the ram and tray, but it beats whacking them with a hammer.

My other "enhancement" was to machine up a primer pocket punch. With the case standing inverted on a .30 cal pin, the punch (with an anvil clearance hole in the middle), simply pushes the crimp brass back to a nice radiussed profile like new. I made a similar tool that does "standard" Berdan cases, as well. I am now looking at making myself a set of de-crimping punches to suit my RCBS primer pocket die set.

Before I discovered "Hydraulics" I damaged a lot of anvils digging primers out of once fired cases, but once they are out, and the pocket de-crimped, further recycling is easy with a hook tool.

Don't even think about using the RCBS Lachmiller tool on heavily crimped (Oz) 7.62 NATO. It WILL wreck the tool.

[iringtwice]

hey, you wanna sell that POF?

Sent you a PM three0three.

[three0three]

I have searched my catalogs and the net for two days now and I can not find a source for berdan primers, not even the wrong size berdan primers LOL

I am willing to put in the labor to rescue my brass from being scrap but I just can not find a sourcefor those damn ignitors.

luckily, i am going to be working 50 hours a week for the next 2 months which will keep me from making it to the scrap yard therefore enabling me to keep up the search for the berdan grail

[Bruce_in_Oz]

I have searched my catalogs and the net for two days now and I can not find a source for berdan primers, not even the wrong size berdan primers LOL

I am willing to put in the labor to rescue my brass from being scrap but I just can not find a sourcefor those damn ignitors.

luckily, i am going to be working 50 hours a week for the next 2 months which will keep me from making it to the scrap yard therefore enabling me to keep up the search for the berdan grail

In my "New! Revised" 3rd edition of Frank Barnes "Cartridges of the World" circa 1972, there is a whole chapter on primers. Page 305 contains a table of Eley/Kynoch, RWS and Alcan Berdan primers.

For .25" for .303 Brit there are:
RWS 6000, Eley/Kynoch 41 and Alcan 250B.

In Australia, I have only ever seen the RWS product in shops, and then not for a while now.

Your mileage may differ.

I found a small stash of RWS 1584 primers at a gun show a while ago: great for reloading European .22 Hornet cases or Oz Mil 9mm Para brass!

[Skip]

A friend of mine gave me 2K of Berdan primers that nicely fit the 7.62X39 and Turk 8MM brass. They come 250 primers per sleeve.

[Bruce_in_Oz]

A friend of mine gave me 2K of Berdan primers that nicely fit the 7.62X39 and Turk 8MM brass. They come 250 primers per sleeve.

They also fit the FN .303 brass!

The RWS 6000 come in cheesy cardboard sleeves of 150. Old stock is in green cardboard, later stuff is grey, like the pic.