Why corrosive ammo and berdan primers?

[coosbaycreep]

Is there some reason that so many countries used corrosive ammo and berdan primers for so long?

I know militaries don't worry about being able to reload, especially since a lot of the commie surplus stuff isn't brass cased anyway, but is there any other reason to go with berdan priming over boxer primers? Is it cheaper, more reliable, etc?

How about corrosive ammo? Is it cheaper to produce than non-corrosive? You'd think that whatever cost savings there is (if any at all) of corrosive over non-corrosive would be offset by the extra cleaning required, or damage to the bore of their guns. I'm sure most gun barrels are just shot out during war time, instead of rusted out from a lack of cleaning after corrosive ammo, but I still don't see why any military would use corrosive ammo when they don't have to.

 

[GunsBeerFreedom]

Berdan primers are cheaper, and corrosive primers have better reliability.

 

[9mmepiphany]

Berdan primers are both easier to manufacture and cheaper to produce. they offer potentially more uniform ignition, for a production round, and are easier for a factory to reload (which is what they do in Europe)

 

[KSCCHTrainer]

The main thing that makes ammo corrosive is the corrosive salts in the priming compound.

 

[Jim K]

Up to about 1935, almost all primers were corrosive. Then the first non-corrosive primers came out for civilian sale. But most military forces were reluctant to change because there was no history on the new primers, primarily on stability, so armies kept corrosive priming through WWII and into the 1950's. Many armies did not change over until much later, and a few never changed because they couldn't afford to replace their stockpiles of old ammunition.

There were some exceptions; all U.S. carbine ammunition was non-corrosive from the start, since the nature of the action makes cleaning difficult, and because the Army initially considered the carbine only as a wartime expedient so was not worried about ammunition stability.

Oddity: The Boxer primer, used in the U.S., was invented by an Englishman. The Berdan primer, used in most of the rest of the world, was invented by an American.

Jim

 

[rmfnla]

It's a terrorist plot to ruin our guns!

 

[Dionysusigma]

I always thought the Berdan primers in steel-cased ammo was to keep people from trying to reload it.

 

[JellyJar]

Dionysusigma..I believe you are right when it comes to aluminum case Blazer ammo.

 

[9mmepiphany]

I believe you are right when it comes to aluminum case Blazer ammo.

this is correct, Berdan primers were used with aluminum cases specifically to prevent reloading

the culture of reloading in Europe is different. they save up their fired brass and return it to the factory to be reloaded

 

[hso]

Jim Keenan is correct, all ammo used to be corrosive.

 

[shotgunjoel]

How do they reload berdan cases anyway?

 

[Expertowgunner]

One thing that ive heard is that Berdan primed corrosive ammo lasts longer on the shelf with more reliability than boxer primed ammo. Is this true?

 

[NavyLCDR]

How do they reload berdan cases anyway?

1. Tumble to clean case.
2. Pop out old primer.
3. Resize case, lubing if necessary.
4. Insert new primer.
5. Flare case mouth (if pistol).
6. Dump in powder charge.
7. Seat bullet.
8. Crimp.
9. Tumble to polish/remove lube.

 

[9mmepiphany]

the Berdan primers are forced out hydraulically. repriming is easier as the anvil is part of the case

 

[Mk VII]

There was a two-wire thing marketed at one time that had to be located in the flash holes to pop them out.
RCBS make a tool that pries them out from the side. Don't waste time trying to use this on military cases with crimped primers.
The Wamadet hydraulic decapper was sold at one time - I still have one http://www.dave-cushman.net/shot/hydraulic.html
Prime Reloading at one time marketed a hydraulic tool which used a small amount of water to pop them out, the downside was that you needed a different one for each cartridge type.

 

[Jim Watson]

I say there, it is good to hear from someone who recalls the heyday of British Reloading when there were actually some Home manufacturers. I am a mere Colonial but I read about such stuff in the old Handgunner, Ltd. magazine. The editor, Jan Stevenson is an Alabamian and Oxford scholar. Not to be confused with the notorious Oxford scholar from Arkansas.

There was another option at one time, the Power Punch. It put a spigot down over the flashhole and popped a primer to blow the fired Berdan cap out. So it consumed two primers per shot. At least it used common Boxer primers to do the decapping.