7.62x54 - can this be done?

[FW]

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?

 

[Jim Watson]

A Lee Factory Crimp Die in a rifle caliber does NOT resize the finished round, that is only with the Lee Carbide Factory Crimp Die in pistol calibers.

You can probably pull down and reprocess the cases as you describe, and you can load them back with different components, too.

My main project along those lines is to make Mexican Match by pulling the FMJs out of .223 econo-ball and replacing them with SMKs. I was once given a sack of .30-06 blanks. I removed the wads, dumped the blank powder, sized out the heavy crimp for the wad, and loaded the primed brass with standard powder and bullets. It was second quality brass, heavily crimped to hold the wad, and did not last for many loadings, but it was free primed brass for the labor required.

 

[444]

I would say that you could do everything you described. The Lee Factory Crimp die does not require lubrication. If the shoulder is too far forward, I don't really think the factory crimp die will help. It only sizes the maximum outside diameter. I am not sure if they make one in that caliber, but a quick call to Lee would answer all your questions about the factory crimp die.
There are people who pull the bullets in berdan primed cases and reload them. One case I know of is in the 7.5 Swiss cartridge. From what I have read, the mil-surp bullets in that caliber are superb. The one case in particular I remember was where a guy was saying that the mil-surp ammo is the second most accurate load he found in his K31. The most accurate load he found was in a handload where he pulled the bullet from a mil-surp round, then used the mil-surp case, primer, and bullet with his own carefully worked up powder charge. If you decided to pull the bullets, you could simply loosen the decapping pin in your sizing die, and resize the cases leaving the primer intact.
I have loaded for that caliber using both S&B and Winchester headstamped brass. I bought it as factory ammo and reloaded it.
If you want new brass, Graff & Sons is having a run of new brass with their own headstamp made. The bad news is that it is not going to be available until August. I have my name on a waiting list for it. Not that it is connected, but they are also having a run of 7.5 Swiss brass made at the same time.

 

[Clark]

I got 1,000 rounds of .223 green tip reloads for $100 at a gun show down in Oregon.

The ammo would not chamber in one of my .223's.

It had not been small base full length resized, and maybe not full length resized.

So I bought a Lee RGB .223 die set for $12 and ground the neck off the resizing die. I then proceeded to resized the body of the loaded ammo. I removed that part of the die becasue I did not want to resize the neck when there was a bullet in it. The lead doesn't spring back.

This was a few years back, and I mentioned it on line, where I got plenty of "you will blow yourself up!" and "Sure, I've done that thousands of times."

So one caution, don't forget to lube the case. You don't want a loaded round stuck in the die

 

[Clark]