Reloading Steel Cased Ammo

[zeus45c]

I have been looking into reloading and found this on you tube. I remember seeing some unanswered questions about reloading Wolf ammo so I thought this may help. I tried using search so if this is a dupe, my bad.

[Requiem]

This guy was basically saying at about 4:35 that he reloads from a berdan primer to a boxer primer... how so? People on here have generally said that berdan primer cartridges aren't reloadable mostly because you cant get the primer out. O.o

I got a few hundred berdan primed brass (.308 Portuguese surplus) cases I was hoping to reload if possible but when I found out they weren't I said I might as well toss em. But this gives me hope to change them from berdan to boxer primers... O.o

[Full Clip]

Use Loc-Tite to keep primers in? Erg, that sounds like a recepie for disaster.

[USN CHIEF]

I could not follow the guys logic in the video. But I too have about 500 .308 berdan primed cases that I have decided to keep just in case I ever can figure it out how to reload them or make them boxer cases. But it seems like too much work.

[CHS]

This guy was basically saying at about 4:35 that he reloads from a berdan primer to a boxer primer... how so? People on here have generally said that berdan primer cartridges aren't reloadable mostly because you cant get the primer out. O.o

I got a few hundred berdan primed brass (.308 Portuguese surplus) cases I was hoping to reload if possible but when I found out they weren't I said I might as well toss em. But this gives me hope to change them from berdan to boxer primers... O.o

The built-in anvil of a berdan-primed case will get in the way of a boxer primer being seated, and will likely detonate it.

You would have to get rid of the anvil with some sort of reamer first.

[Linus]

I remember seeing a video somewhere about reloading berdian primed brass where they just drilled out a flash hole over the anvil, removing most of the anvil by doing so, then deburring the hole which removed the rest of the anvil form the case. After removing the primer with an RCBS Berdan Decapping tool of course.

[What Just Happened?]

The poster of the video says that he uses the decapping pin to punch out the berdan hammer / anvil by pushing really, really slowly. Only works on the 7.62x39 cases because the .223rem cases break. And yeah, the berdan primers are a bit larger, so he uses loktite to keep the boxer primers in.

[fairfaxjim]

The poster of the video says that he uses the decapping pin to punch out the berdan hammer / anvil by pushing really, really slowly. Only works on the 7.62x39 cases because the .223rem cases break. And yeah, the berdan primers are a bit larger, so he uses loktite to keep the boxer primers in.

Why!!

[RRangel]

Is it really worth the trouble?

[What Just Happened?]

Doesn't seem worth it to me. Wolf was $6/box (~$0.30 per round) and PMC was $8.50/box (~$0.42 per round) at the Costa Mesa gunshow. That's a difference of $0.12 per round. Reloading rifle ammo already requires a number of steps...

[Beelzy]

Some folks simply have way too much time on their hands.

[Army GI]

The poster of the video says that he uses the decapping pin to punch out the berdan hammer / anvil by pushing really, really slowly. Only works on the 7.62x39 cases because the .223rem cases break. And yeah, the berdan primers are a bit larger, so he uses loktite to keep the boxer primers in.

Yeah, you guys need to pay attention to detail.

Plus the guy is right about arfcommers being dip****s.

[Santa Cruz Armory]

Not all of the Wolf .223 is Berdan primed... I've deprimed, sized and trimmed a bunch of wolf steel cases, but haven't reloaded them because I have LOTS of brass .223 cases.

It's one of those projects for a rainy day. YMMV

[What Just Happened?]

Not all of the Wolf .223 is Berdan primed...

Yup, that's another point that the video poster makes.

[Tony Sopranno]

Doesn't seem worth it to me. Wolf was $6/box (~$0.30 per round) and PMC was $8.50/box (~$0.42 per round) at the Costa Mesa gunshow. That's a difference of $0.12 per round. Reloading rifle ammo already requires a number of steps...

Two months ago, I spent a lot of extra time pounding out primers from PMC brass with a hardened steel punch pin -- then chamfering the primer pockets, and in some cases re-drilling the pocket hole. It was a lot of extra work for about 200 brass casings.

...Lots easier just to buy new brass, when you need it.

A Question:

How many rounds do most people fire their re-loaded brass before tossing them in the range barrel? I've heard all kinds of numbers from 3 to 75 -- some say, just look for telltale signs of immanent failure, like neck cracks and shiny rings near the head.

I'm curious what others here are doing. My gut tells me after 6 or 10 cycles it would be real easy to miss a bad piece of brass, and that could spell disaster.