Berdan to Boxer conversion.

[Sniper Uncle]

I recently bought 500 rounds of 1x-shot 30.06 brass. It turns out, not only was about 35% of it military, needing to be swaged, but also there was about 8% Berdan primed. Not willing to lose this 8%, I set out to figure out a way to convert it to Boxer. I took a 5/64" drill bit---just about the right size for the Boxer flash-hole--- and drilled the primers, anvils, and case bases with the firing pin mark as a "center-punch" mark. Then, my case prep center provided me with the way to primer-pocket-uniform them, removing the last vestiges of the old anvil, and making the depth correct for new primers. I then gave them a quick and shallow bevel with my de-bur tool on the case prep center. Now they fit the primers very nicely. Pictures attached.

 

[Sniper Uncle]

One more pic that wouldn't fit....

 

[HemiDave]

Good info! Thanks for posting with pics!

My only concern would be the consistency compared to the boxer primed brass. Give us a range report when you can, please.

With brass availability so low right now, we might all have to consider this conversion!

Dave

 

[turbo54]

Wow, that's diligence.

I bet Sniper Aunt would have something fun to say about this...

 

[Sniper Uncle]

Good info! Thanks for posting with pics!

My only concern would be the consistency compared to the boxer primed brass. Give us a range report when you can, please.

With brass availability so low right now, we might all have to consider this conversion!

Dave

Thanks, Dave. That is also a concern of mine, but this brass was bought for my M-1 Garand, as I hear 3-4 firings is about max on brass with one of these. I figured I'd try them, keeping them separate from the others when loading, firing etc. No harm trying, and I'll use a conservative load, as the primer pocket actually has the two tiny holes in it too. I don't want to too light and have problems there though, so probably right at the low end of my data, or maybe a step or two higher. I have been using 43.5gr Varget with 165-168 grain Hornady bullets---three different types, and this is about mid way on the charts for charge weight. Can't hurt to try, and I don't want to willingly let 8% of my investment go to waste. I will report on them when I have tried them.

 

[HemiDave]

Safety first!!!

Dave

 

[ksthomas]

Or, you could just buy Berdan primers from Graf's and do them up that way. RCBS used to, and probably still does, make a decapping tool for Berdan cases, thus avoiding the whole, messy hydraulic method. Personally, I have a very difficult time envisioning how this could ever, possibly, under any circumstances be worthwhile for plain-Jane 30-06 brass, but that's you call. Life's just too short to mess with Berdan reloading, especially in such a common and readily available case.

 

[Sniper Uncle]

Or, you could just buy Berdan primers from Graf's and do them up that way. RCBS used to, and probably still does, make a decapping tool for Berdan cases, thus avoiding the whole, messy hydraulic method. Personally, I have a very difficult time envisioning how this could ever, possibly, under any circumstances be worthwhile for plain-Jane 30-06 brass, but that's you call. Life's just too short to mess with Berdan reloading, especially in such a common and readily available case.

I had quite a time finding these, with the current shortages, and I didn't spend too much time doing it. I am sure there is equipment available, but I figured if I converted them and they worked well, what did I lose?

 

[ksthomas]

Haven't checked on the tool lately, but I know they've had it out for many years. Never gone looking specifically for the Berdan primers, but I still see them frequently when perusing through Graf's and a few others. In some situations with odd-ball obsolete cases that haven't been produced in many years, AND for which there's no readily convertable parent case, I might be able to justify this. In 30-06, it sounds more like just a good excuse to play at your reloading bench . . . not that there's anything wrong with that! ;-)

 

[Sniper Uncle]

Oh, yeah, I'm going crazy at home, between jobs, so it is interesting to learn other things. I figured my time wasn't a problem. ;-)

 

[lightman]

I have successfully done it with 7.62 brass. Mostly just playing around, and wanting to see if I could. To me, its not worth the extra work, unless its all you have, then all bets are off. There is a lot of personal satisfaction in this kind of work. Forming cases form other calibers is interesting to me. Lightman

 

[Sniper Uncle]

Yeah, Lightman, that is what intrigues me too.

 

[Bill Larson]

like liteman........i`ve played abit with good discarded berdan primed cases.........i filled case 3/4 with water....machined a close fitting pin for case mouth...hit it with a hammer and ........viola.......deprimed it slicker than snot on a door knob...............

 

[Sniper Uncle]

like liteman........i`ve played abit with good discarded berdan primed cases.........i filled case 3/4 with water....machined a close fitting pin for case mouth...hit it with a hammer and ........viola.......deprimed it slicker than snot on a door knob...............

Great idea. Do the standard primers then work effectively to set off the powder charge? The total flash hole size seems to be smaller than the single hole of the boxer style.

 

[milo 2.0]

Uncle,
I understand the times are calling for a little more desperate measures, and a guy has to make due with what he has. And I'm glad you're getting into reloading so serious, but I'll gaurentee you a couple years down the road when shit lightens up, and your stockpile of consumables is greater, you'll look back and ask yourself, why did I do this?
Like buying crimped brass that you have to swage yourself, and for years every time you try to uniform the pockets your thumb and forefinger go numb, you'll want to pitch the shit.
When you end up spending 5 nights a week at the bench, just to maintain a supply, you'll change your tune!

 

[Sniper Uncle]

Oh, yes, definitely, Milo, I agree. When supplies are available and hopefully not too expensive, I wouldn't bother. But in this climate, and given that fact that I had time to "waste," and wanted something to do in an effort not to go crazy, It was a fun and rewarding venture. I was surprised how easy it actually was and how little time it took. In future, if availability eases, I will probably just stockpile those cases, and try to store them "in case SHTF" again with supplies.

I did find a way to uniform the pockets much easier. You just take a case neck brush and place a TINY bit of Imperial Size Wax on the primer pocket rim before swaging. "Double" swage, by turning the case between presses, and then uniform, being careful to watch the case go onto the uniformer evenly. This is a one time process, so a little time and care will pay off later. Both the swaging and the uniforming go much better, and I clean the cases again after sizing, so no wax will remain when the priming process comes. It makes the swaging and uniforming go twice as fast, and results are excellent.

 

[milo 2.0]

The turning trick makes sense, where were you years ago the winter I did around 5k .223 cases, they're still biting me in the ass! ! With the RCBS swagger none the less, hell, I didn't even know Dillon existed.

 

[Sniper Uncle]

The turning trick makes sense, where were you years ago the winter I did around 5k .223 cases, they're still biting me in the ass! ! With the RCBS swagger none the less, hell, I didn't even know Dillon existed.

I've been using the RCBS Swager. I also find I need to chamfer the opening just a tiny bit with the de-burr tool in my casemaster.