Now I have seen everything!

[mugsie]

On a previous thread I was asking about S&B 9mm brass, and there were some conversations both pro and con. One poster mentioned that some 9mm cases, from other manufacturers, were in fact steel with a brass plating. He demonstrated by using a magnet.

Well, I went and looked at my range pickups. Lo and behold, what I found was a 9mm berdan primed case! I had never seen one in years of loading, but apparently they exist. I've attached two pics for your viewing enjoyment. (They were taken from my iPhone so cut me some slack)

Now I'll also need to not only cull for steel, but watch for berdan as well. Anyone else had a similar experience?

 

[ljnowell]

All the time. I sell once fired range brass from indoor ranges and cone across stuff like that all the time. I pick out as much as I can and include extra in every bag to make up for any I missed.

I find nickel plated steel berdan primed 380 a lot too.

 

[Mad Chemist]

Arrggghh!!! A thousand curses upon whomever is importing this stuff.

Dirty flash holes are not easy to see. I should just buy some extra decapping pins now, I'll need them eventually.

 

[Duvel]

Never seen such a thing!

 

[Hondo 60]

Nope, can't say I've ever seen Berdan 9mm

 

[Candyman87]

Definitely seen one or two in my day. That's one reason I sort by headstamp and only use certain known headstamps.

 

[Ironicaintit]

Ive got lots of that stuff. My dad picked up a lot of chinese subgun 9mm, and its berdan primed. Shoots great though!

 

[JamieC]

Yep, then get up, wander over to the tool box for the wrenches to put the pin back down. I don't see a lot of them, they do pop up from time to time.

 

[Average Joe]

I have run across them , but not too often...I still look inside, just in case.

 

[bobinoregon]

I traded for and old Star Astra pistol and it came with a bunch of berdan 9mm, pretty sure the headstamp is PS 1951. I could have the name backwards but the brass was berdan

 

[gamestalker]

I can't say I've ever come across Berdan primed 9mm before either.

GS

 

[Capt. Ct.]

Decades of reloading and I never ran across one.

 

[jmorris]

They are made by more than one manufacturer, all of the 9mm and 38 CCI aluminum cases I have looked at were berdan primed. Some steel cases as well.

I remember being shocked when I noticed that their 45 aluminum cases were not.

 

[Dudedog]

Seen a few. (I am talking about ones that appear to be brass, I have seen a bunch with steel cases)
Does not work if you try to deprime them.....kind of hard on the decap pin.:banghead:

 

[Shootshellz]

Yup, I have run across a few Berdan primed 9mm Luger cases. The Lee decapping tool that I deprime cases with has a strong decap rod that 'gives way' (instead of breaking) if it encounters a Berdan primed case. I just re-set the rod and continue depriming.

 

[drband]

^^^This. There's more & more out there.

 

[GBExpat]

... Well, I went and looked at my range pickups. Lo and behold, what I found was a 9mm berdan primed case! I had never seen one in years of loading, but apparently they exist. ...

Over the years I have seen a lot of Berdan-primed 9x19 cases. O'course, I have shot quite a bit of milsurp 9x19 mfd in Other Places.

 

[MARKMALL]

I am surprised at the amount of people who have never seen berdan primed 9mm. I come across it all the time.

 

[GRIZ22]

Surplus berdan primed was pretty common up to the late 90s. Haven't seen any since then.

 

[fguffey]

Arrggghh!!! A thousand curses upon whomever is importing this stuff.

I have new/old stock boxes of never fired ammo made by U.S. that can be picked up with a magnet because of the metal used for cases. I have 45 ACP that can be picked up with a magnet, the cases are brass.

I also have 9mm pistol ammo that came with a warning. The owner had no ideal what the ammo was and decided to fire a round or two in his shop. He claimed the bullet hit everything in his shop before it came to a stop, he had no ideal the ammo was loaded with a steel ball and sabot.

F. Guffey

 

[jmorris]

Brass and nickel plated steel cases are out there as well. If they can be picked up with a magnet they are steel, you can also check with a grinder as brass won't spark. If brass could be picked up with a magnet there would not be any of the special devices created to pick it up off the ground.

Off the top of my head some of the S&B 9mm are (some are not).

I get them out with a magnet before I tumble but had one get past me so now I keep a magnet on the case feed post that will catch any I manage to miss.

 

[kerreckt]

Military surplus 9mm is often Berdan primed. I have several thousand 9mm intending for use with SMGs and they are all Berdan primed. They are also quite hot and have very hard cups.

 

[refuse2bafool]

Before I started reloading I was shooting 9mm Blazer (not Blazer Brass) and I seem to remember they were Berdan. They were easily to identify because they were grey in color and not brass. One range I shot at banned them. The same range even had a policy that stated they would kick you out if you picked up brass left by others. They're closed now.

 

[Sunray]

That's just one issue with range pickups. You have no idea what has been done to it or how may times it's been loaded or anything else about it.

 

[bob4]

My press found one today.