I while back, I acquired a couple tins of 7.62 x 54R. I have determined it is Albanian. It is brass cased (NOT copper washed steel) and berdan primed. There is a problem with it though. It is very difficult to chamber in most rifles. Carefully examining the cases has revealed what is causing this. The shouder is too far forward. Other than being an extreme pain to close the bolt (nearly impossible withsome rounds), it seems to fire and perform just fine.
I'd like to salvage it, so I had some ideas I'm hoping might work. I'd like to know if some more experienced individuals could tell me if doing so is possible, practical and safe.
One idea I have is to use a Lee Factory Crimp die. These are advertised to "resize" the case after assembly in reloading. I have never used one of these dies and have no experience with it. Would it be possible to take this ammo as is and run it through one of these dies? Is lube required with these dies?
The other idea I have is to disassembe them and reload. Once disassembled, could I simply remove the decapping pin from a sizing die and resize the cases with the berdan primers in place? These ARE brass cases and NOT steel. The do appear to be of very low quality though. I figured this would also allow a few powder charges to be weighed to determine how much variation there is (I would expect this to be rather inconsistent). At this point I could combine all the powder from the disassembled cartridges and then recharge with more consistantcy if desired.
If all this can be done, would it be possible to dissassemle other berdan primed ammo just to reload with different powder and bullets (only reusing the original case and primer)? Could it be done with steel cases too?
Boxer primed brass cased cartridges aren't exactly abundant. As far as I know, S&B is the only economical option. I've heard Winchester makes 7.62x54, but have never seen it. Would anyone know where it can be obtained if it does exist?
I'd like to salvage it, so I had some ideas I'm hoping might work. I'd like to know if some more experienced individuals could tell me if doing so is possible, practical and safe.
One idea I have is to use a Lee Factory Crimp die. These are advertised to "resize" the case after assembly in reloading. I have never used one of these dies and have no experience with it. Would it be possible to take this ammo as is and run it through one of these dies? Is lube required with these dies?
The other idea I have is to disassembe them and reload. Once disassembled, could I simply remove the decapping pin from a sizing die and resize the cases with the berdan primers in place? These ARE brass cases and NOT steel. The do appear to be of very low quality though. I figured this would also allow a few powder charges to be weighed to determine how much variation there is (I would expect this to be rather inconsistent). At this point I could combine all the powder from the disassembled cartridges and then recharge with more consistantcy if desired.
If all this can be done, would it be possible to dissassemle other berdan primed ammo just to reload with different powder and bullets (only reusing the original case and primer)? Could it be done with steel cases too?
Boxer primed brass cased cartridges aren't exactly abundant. As far as I know, S&B is the only economical option. I've heard Winchester makes 7.62x54, but have never seen it. Would anyone know where it can be obtained if it does exist?