Berdan primers

[BillinNH]

Please educate me on Berdan primers. I know it is feasible to reload berdan cases as long as they are brass, and that berdan primers are more expensive and harder to come by, and that they need a special tool to deprime the fired cases. Please correct me if I'm wrong about this.

I was wondering how many types aof Berdan primers there are. For example are there several sizes (large rifle/ small rifle) and power levels (standard, magnum)? Are loads similar to those of boxer primed cartridges?

I was thinking of reloading 7.5x55 Swiss GP11 ammo, and wonder if it's worth the trouble. I also shoot 7.62x45R and 7.62x39.

A little of your experience could help me a llot.

Many thanks.

Bill

 

[The Bushmaster]

Worth the trouble??? NO!!! We sold the Europeans the berdan primed case idea and bought the Boxers from them...We got the better deal. Believe me....

 

[cracked butt]

For decapping, you don't need any special tools. Run the cases into a FL sizer die with the expander ball/ decapping pin removed. reinstall the expander ball without the decapping pin(if possible, but it really doesn't matter if you're careful), fill the cases with water and re run them up into the die until the primers pop out- you only need to run them far enough so that the expander ball goes partway into the neck.

 

[444]

I have participated in reloading thousands of 7.5x55 Swiss GP11 cases.
The cases were so nice, I couldn't bring myself to throw them away. I had a set of dies, since I had handloaded some Norma cases in that caliber. So, polished the cases to a high luster and then sized them without depriming. At some point I took the next step and bought the RCBS tool to deprime berdan primed cases and I deprimed them all. For some reason I had never attempted to buy berdan primers until this point in the game. I found that I couldn't find them anywhere. I posted about it, and all leads proved to be a dead end.
A couple years past.
I was at a vintage military rifle match when one of the competitors mentioned that ne had just purchased 5000 berdan primers from PMC. But, he didn't have a good way to deprime the cases. I told him that I had a few hundred sized and deprimed cases ready to go. I also struck a bargin with him: I told him that I would GIVE him the depriming tool if he primed my cases from then on.
Since then I have supplyed him with tons of empty cases and when I asked, he would supply me with a few hundred primed cases.

Is it worth it ?
No.
At the time I started this whole project, the only boxer primed cases on the market were Norma. They were extremly expensive as far as cartridge cases go. I bought about six to eight boxes of Norma factory ammo for $39.95/20 when I first bought the gun and that was my first source of brass. Now, virgin brass cases are avilable from Graff & Sons. I bought 500 and that will easily last me two lifetimes. I still shoot some of that Berdan primed stuff from my buddy but between that and the surplus, I haven't even opened the Graff's brass I bought. I just don't shoot the rifle enough. I probably fire the rifle less than 500 times a year.