What to do with Berdan brass?

[bkjeffrey]

Basically, I hae several thousand pieces of Yugo 7.62x39 brass that is, or was, Berdan primed. What, if anything can be done with this stuff? I sure hate throwing away that much shiney stuff, but I cant imagine its reloadable.....is it? Can it be melted, sold, recycled...or maybe just glued together in the shape of stick men?

 

[Sport45]

Brass is worth some $$ at your local scrap yard.

 

[earlthegoat2]

They can be reloaded. The depriming and repriming process is just different. I dont know any details but it has been done plenty in the past.

 

[helotaxi]

They can be reloaded, but there currently isn't a source of Berdan primers. There are also several sizes of Berdan primer and you have to figure out which one you need. Not worth the trouble, especially considering the lack of availability.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

I reloaded some Berdan primed cases in 7.62x25 and two in 7.62x54R. Finding proper primers is hard: it is as though each factory has their own standard. I also used the messy hydraulic method of popping the old primers. Since S&B and PPU make Boxer primed reloadable brass in 7.62x25 and 7.62x54R that use standard US primers, I gave up on reloading Berdan primed cases. I had proven that I could if I really had to, but that's about it.

I took a one gallon ziplock bag of unreloadable brass (berdan primer, too-many-times reloaded brass, split necks, crushed, or odd calibers I don't reload) and got more for that gallon bag of brass than I got for two 33-gallon trash bags of aluminum cans. I run a magnet through the brass to pull out copper-washed steel cases.

I also make sure there are no misfired or live bullet cartridges get in the scrap box. The scrap dealer refused to take brass for six months after a live round got shredded in the scrap machine with frightening results.

Besides, spent brass at the range is a hazard to the guys who have to mow the grass. Or to bystanders like me when the other guys have to mow the grass.

 

[Smokey Joe]

Yep...

B. K. Jeffery--You CAN reload Berdan-primed brass. People on this forum regularly report that they do it. People of the type who insist on doing something peculiar, putzy, expensive, unnecessary, time-consuming, and difficult, (and requiring extra, expensive, hard-to-obtain tools and materials) simply because they want to, or because everybody else says that it can't be done, or because they are just stubborn.

The same kind of individual insists that reloading steel cases is easy, fun, practical, and no extra wear & tear on the machinery nor the operator.

I have relatives like that; I know whereof I speak.

Just because something CAN be done, is no reason in & of itself that it SHOULD be done.

Don't throw away that brass, though! As has been pointed out, brass at the scrapyard fetches a nice price. Don't worry about depriming, either: The primers on pistol and rifle cases are all-brass also, whether Berdan or Boxer. (Shotgun primers are steel.)

The only justification, to me, for even considering the reloading of Berdan-primed brass, would be if you were dealing with an old, obsolete, cartridge for which Boxer-primed cases were completely unavailable. Hardly the case (pun intended) with the 7.62x39.

With the $$ from selling the Berdans, you can buy a smaller number of nice new unfired Boxer-primed cases, and then you're in business.

 

[Shmackey]

B. K. Jeffery--You CAN reload Berdan-primed brass. People on this forum regularly report that they do it. People of the type who insist on doing something peculiar, putzy, expensive, unnecessary, and difficult, (and requiring extra, hard-to-obtain tools and materials) simply because they want to, or because everybody else says that it can't be done, or because they are just stubborn.

The same kind of individual insists that reloading steel cases is easy, fun, practical, and no extra wear & tear on the machinery nor the operator.

I have relatives like that; I know whereof I speak.

Just because something CAN be done, is no reason in & of itself that it SHOULD be done....

With the $$ from selling the Berdans, you can buy a smaller number of nice new unfired Boxer-primed cases, and then you're in business.

This. You could also smelt your own copper and zinc and carve individual cartridge casings with a tiny spork, but that too would be impractical.

 

[mdi]

Some folks ask a question and get the answer "why?". "It's a putzy idea. Impractical". I feel it's up to the individual to decide if it's impractical for him. After all, dag-nabbit, it's a hobby. Casting bullets can be called "impractical", 'cause you can get all size bullets quite easily and not cost prohibitave. Remember, the Wright Bros insisted on doing something putzy, expensive, and difficult.

If Berdan primers were available, I'd give it a try...

 

[Shmackey]

I mean ... Inventing human flight and reloading commie brass are two different goals.

 

[ranger335v]

"What to do with Berdan brass? "

Put them on key chains or use as pull weights on overhead fans/lights. Use in decorative displays. Don't bother to reload it tho, priming is a PITA.

Saying it CAN be done is no indication of how practical it is. People in countries where that's about all they have will use it because it's all they have to use. But?? Not many who have a choice will bother with it, and few of those who do use it won't bother for long even if they can find the primers. So, yeah, de-, repriming Berdan stuff is a 'learning experience' but some things just aren't worth knowing. IMHO.

 

[Hondo 60]

What to do with Berdan brass?

Take them to a recycler & get a buck or two

 

[Caliper_Mi]

I know some people will convert berdan brass to boxer. Most of the info I have seen is 7.5 Swiss, but might be able to do the same with 7.62x39 as well.

 

[Miata Mike]

I get about $1.50 a pound for scrap. Yellow brass. Scrap it and buy some other boxer brass is what I would do.

 

[evan price]

Sell it for scrap brass and buy some more ammo or Boxer primed brass.

Hurts sometimes, especially all that nice NATO-spec 7.62x51 brass that's been coming out- MEN, DAG, FNM, South African, etc. they are really purty cases....but it's just not worth the effort to A. Locate the correct Berdan primers and B. Deprime the Berdan primers. It's easier to put 'em in the scrap brass bins and sell them to the smelter.

 

[rondog]

The fine Swiss GP11 brass is what hurts me to throw in the scrap bucket. Those are some dang nice cases, shame they're Berdan primed.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Scrap bucket...

 

[Walkalong]

Scrap bucket...

Same here...

 

[Smokey Joe]

See above...

I know some people will convert berdan brass to boxer. Most of the info I have seen is 7.5 Swiss, but might be able to do the same with 7.62x39 as well.

with regard to "putzy and unnecessary."

I don't understand why this is still being seriously discussed--there are perfectly good, BRASS, BOXER-PRIMED, 7.62x39 cases all over the place. Every LSG store has some as American factory-loaded ammo, and every decently-stocked reloading-supplies store has it as new brass, and Midway, Natchez, and half-a-dozen other mail-order places also stock it. Plus, every shooting range has it in their scrap-brass barrel for scrounging.

Unless your hobby is converting cases from Berdan to Boxer (as opposed to reloading, hunting, or shooting) there is just no reason to bother with even considering doing it with 7.62x39 brass. That wheel has already been invented. So has the wheel of reloading Berdan-primed cases. If those are your hobbies, bless you--enjoy yourself--I have no quarrel with you. But if you do it just to get some brass to reload for your SKS, you really are wasting time, effort, and $$ better spent otherwise.

ETA--Convert Berdan brass to Boxer: Can't imagine how that might be done, but I've got better things to do than finding it out. Some knowledge is just not worth pursuing.

 

[Clark]

If your time is worth $400/ hour, like some lawyers* I have hired, throw the brass away.

I saw some vendors at open air markets in Mexico in 1972 that had just a couple crushed tin cans to sell. If you time is no more valuable then theirs, you have hit the jackpot with once fire Berdan brass.

*the real reason people hate lawyers

 

[Rollis R. Karvellis]

I'm quite certain that they can be made into bullets. If you go to CastBoolits, Stage page there will be plenty of info on the process.

 

[PCCUSNRET]

I happen to still have about 3K Berdan primers remaining from when PMC was selling them a few years back and that means I can reload about 3K more pieces of Swiss GP11 brass (BTW, last I checked the Swiss weren't listed a Commies) before it goes to the scrap bucket. I find it takes me about 3 seconds more per round to reload Berdan primed brass then it does Boxer primed brass (extra time is for removing the spent primers). No big deal if you have the right tools and as the fellow said, it ain't nothing but a hobby.

 

[Sunray]

"...converting cases from Berdan to Boxer..." A hobby that doesn't work.
Make some drawer pulls and pitch the rest. Trying to sell 'em for the scrap value is pointless unless you have hundreds of pounds. Cost you more to get it to a scrap yard than you'll get.
"...can be made into bullets..." Empty .22 cases can be made into bullet jackets. Rifle brass is too big and too thick. Tooling to do it is expensive as well.

 

[bkjeffrey]

I think using it as wrist-rocket ammo would be good fun!

 

[TonyT]

The local scrapyard is paying $1.30 /lb for cartridge brass. I save all my useless brass and drop it of when the accumulation warrants the trip.

 

[dbarnhart]

My scrap bucket is kinda like my own special piggy bank. Toss in a few unusable cases now and then, the next thing you know I've got 30 pounds of brass. Free money.