Berdan Vs Boxer and advice on starting to reload

[D Boone]

Whats the difference and why can't you reload Berdan primed brass cases? I want to start reloading, but don't have the first piece of equipment. A buddy saved a bunch of brass cased ?Australian? 308 and I am wondering how to tell if it is Berdan primed and why? Any advice is helpful, as well as what tools/setups/kits should I be looking to buy? Should I buy a kit or components? I will be primarily reloading .308, 30/30, .223, 7.62x39, 9mm, 45acp, and .357/.38. What do I even need? Thanks

 

[rcmodel]

Boxer primed cases have a central flash hole big enough for the de-priming pin to fit through and knock the old primer out.
Berdan primed cases have two or more off-center tiny little holes. Impossible for a de-primer punch to remove them.

Look inside the empty case.
One central flash hole = Boxer reloadable cases.
Two or more off-center holes = Berdan non-reloadable cases.

Second reason is, you simply cannot buy Berdan primers in the U.S. anymore.

There is a Sticky thread at the top of this forum that will tell you what you need to buy to reload.

rc

 

[mkl]

What rcmodel said, plus:

If the case is attracted to a magnet, it is steel and almost certainly Berdan primed. In the very rare chance it is actually Boxer primed, you don't want to try reloading steel cases anyway.

When faced with a large pile of unknown cases (such as range pick ups), a pass over them with a powerful magnet will quickly identify the steel cases.

 

[Remo-99]

A buddy saved a bunch of brass cased ?Australian? 308

The 'AFF' and 'MF' stamped brass 7.62x51mm(308) cases I have are berdan primed and they're crimped in real good, they're a PITA to deprime even with berdan tools.
I gave up on the idea of reloading them and only reload boxer primed cases instead.

The 'ADI' 5.56mm(223) brass cases I have are boxer primed and reload easily, once the primer crimp is removed.

 

[Marlin 45 carbine]

since you will be loading .308 you need to check for crimped-in primers on mil-surp hulls. you'll need a swager or pocket reamer.
the 7.62X39 may or may not be worthwhile to re-load depending on the rifle you have and intended purpose of the ammo. some good hunting loads can be conjured up for the SKS and Mini30 and the bolt guns but for an AK or variant hardly worth the time.
you'll need a case-neck chamfer tool for sure loading rifle rounds.
my .02 is that you take up loading the straight-wall pistol cases first to 'get the hang of it'. Lee makes the powder-through-expander die which unless you're loading over 100 a week is sufficent for pistol. for sure buy a bullet puller you'l need it - just like everyone has.
welcome to the reloading page.

 

[Randy1911]

For loading rifle you will need a case trimmer. After trimming, deburr and chamfer. It is rare you need to trim pistol brass. A set of calipers ($30 @ Midwayusa) will be needed to measure the case. A good scale, since powder weight is the most important part of reloading. I have a RCBS 10-10. Get a couple of good reloading manuals and read, read, read.