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Converting 7.62x54R Berdan Primed Ammo to Boxer primer.

14K views 68 replies 24 participants last post by  intruder196 
#1 ·
Here is the You Tube link. This does work. It is however labor intensive. I use the CBS Berdan primer decapping tool or the hydraulic method to remove the Berdan Primer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkKJfvMyuDg
 
#4 ·
Up on the Swiss forum, there are step by step instructions on how to convert GP11 brass (with the .217" Berdan primer) to take Large Rifle Boxers.

Involves the use of a hydraulic press at one point to swage down the size of the pocket.

You should easily find the threads with a search.

I figure the process shouldn't be that different for 54R cases (at least the ones with .217" primers, anyway).

My take on the procedure in the video is that it so time and labor intensive (to reload steel cases, to boot!) I would be better served by just shooting and reloading Privi brass.
 
#6 ·
For this conversion you must remove the Berdan primer. At that instant, it just seems simple and sane to just insert a new Berdan primer and carry on from there.

I never found a need for those electric powder dispensers...but when they develop a electric Berdan primer decapper. I AM IN!!!
 
#7 ·
If there was a reloading movie produced by the guys that made the Jackass series of
brain dead movies, this berdan brass conversion process would have billing status !

Next will arrive the guy who says he reloads steel cases and its just no issue to do so.

North Korea eagerly hopes you come join them in self abuse.
 
#13 ·
I am the "Guy" arriving here to tell you that converting these cases is easy with the right tools. I invented and produce the tool to easily convert these cases over from a berdan to a boxer primer. The video that someone posted up is a VERY time consuming way to convert them. The tooling and system I invented makes converting your casings very easy and can convert hundreds of them at a time. If you want more info on this process feel free to check out our website at www.russianreloads.com We currently make a conversion system for the 7.62x54R, 7.62x39, 5.45x39 and now 8mm Mauser is about to be launched. We will be also making kits for the Swiss rifle rounds in the very near future as well as a few other cartridges we have been getting a demand for. In the mean time here is a video that we made when we first launched the product and they have been selling around the world with many very happy customers that could not get berdan primers any longer but could easily find the boxer primers to do the conversions. The steel casings are VERY durable and can be reloaded in a magnitude of 10 times more than brass without any kind of annealing process.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ljdzo1HdNfE
 
#14 ·
It would be worth doing for certain calibers but NOT 54r and certainly not x39. Boxer primed brass is widely available and cheap for both of those, I buy it from the local scrap yard.

The real problem for those of us that reload those two calibers is the lack of variety and availability of projectiles, especially locally.
 
#15 ·
Well as ammo is plentiful people balk at it and just say ......Oh I can get surplus and shoot that all day..... But when you are trying to find it to reload it is a different story. All it takes is one little hicup in the system and suddenly you cant find "Brass" I realized this during the last ammo rush and suddenly there was NO brass anywhere. It is finally becoming available again after a few years. I tell people if you plan on using actual "Brass" then stock up now. Because tomorrow it might not be available.

The good thing about this system is that Once you have it then you no longer are under that threat of never being able to get actual brass. You now suddenly have an endless supply of steel casings to reload. The steel ones are far more durable than the brass are once they are converted. You no longer have to worry about annealing the cases. You rarely ever get any neck splits or let alone an actual case failure. I have reloaded thousands of rounds in these and I think I have encountered maybe 10 split necks and only one actual case rupture at the neck. I would say that shows how durable they actually are. I have a number of the casings that I first converted and have reloaded them over 30 times and they still keep on chugging along. No Annealing and only a neck resizing. So yea when its plentiful get it. Because the way things are looking now..... Its only a short period of time before they will pull an all out Imported ammo ban and that will make them Impossible to get. Why do you think that asshat leadership in Washington signed onto the UN Small arms treaty? If you have been paying attention you would have seen them banning the import of Surplus 5.45x39 ammo... and if you also noticed that round was never made in any kind of Reloadable brass. The prices have shot up in a huge way and is very hard to even get that ammo. I made a system so that those steel cases are now fully reloadable. I no longer have to scrounge and try to find brass to reload....its the farthest thing on my mind now. But to each their own. Nobody sees the need for it until they need it.....then suddenly its not there because everybody else decided they needed it as well. Just sayin. Believe me when I tell you this.... Just try to find certain sized "Berdan" primers now........ Oh wait...they were banned from import from Russia. So suddenly those supplies are gone... Those that laughed at me back when they could actually find some online can no longer get them.... Just think if they do a ban on any ammo coming in from outside the country. Do you think that the American manufacturers are going to be making those rounds? They can hardly keep up with production of the NATO standard rounds.... let alone re tool to fill the gap in for the former Eastern Com Bloc rounds. Suddenly everybody will be scrambling to try to reload those calibers and what small amount of actual Brass ones there are out there will be non existant in the market.
 
#23 ·
Enjoy the berdan primers while they last........there will not be any more coming into the country anytime soon due to the banning of many Russian things this administration has done. And it is funny that I have been getting a HUGE demand for the 7.5 x 55 and 6.5x55 swiss so that one is coming out soon..... We will be having a new system coming out and hopefully our prices will be dropping because of some new manufacturing.....but that could be the end of summer before that takes place.
 
#24 ·
I think the best investment is to purchase milsurp ammo of all calibers while it is here and available. Hoarding and stashing is the best option. As mentioned, buying spam cans for less than 25 cents a round is cheaper than what you can buy bullets and powder.

Can anyone list (if any) common brass calibers that can be reformed into 7.62x39, 5.45x39, 7.62x54? It would be better to buy once fired brass that is boxer primed (if there is any).

I do know that I am using 30-06 brass and reforming it to 8x57.
 
#25 ·
i think the seller is missing "economies of scale"
your tool cost more than replacing my brass with boxer primed brass...which nearly lasts forever when annealed.
we shoot milsurplus when it is cheap.....spending nearly $200 to shoot a $100 rifle is not what most do.

i am on the other end of the scale....mainly match bullets and lapua/norma brass....but i do not plink, i compete.
 
#26 ·
Reloading Berdan Cases (I won't say "Brass", as I include Steel cases as well) is a simple and quick way to save Money if (1) you have tons of Berdan Milsurp cases to use (2) you have access to Thousands of Berdan Primers, (3) you are Not "Boxer Obsessed". Luckily in Australia, I fall into all three categories, plus my first handloading experiences in the 1960s were evenly divided between Boxer (M1 Carbine, .30/06) and Berdan ( .303 Brit, 7,9mm German).
I developed techniques for both types of rtelaoding, and always made sure I had "sufficient " Berdan Primers for all sizes ( as were available in the 70s and 80s) Total stock, is about 500K, with 400K .217, the rest spread between .177, 199", .250" and .254"...Given that I manufacture Movie Blanks iusing AMA, FN, Z, S&B, PPU, French, and Aussie Berdan Cases, I am well supplied, but only Just.

As to decapping, I use both Hydraulic ( for Lightly crimped/uncramped Primers) or the Chisel/icepick system for hard or tightly crimped Primers.
Chisels/icepicks are made from 4 inch Ramset Masonry Nails ( Hard, cheap, and easily ground to shape.).

Hydraulic uses a "Universal system Rifle (.444" to .560" diameter cases/rims ) and a smaller unit for Pistol and small rifle cases ( 9mm, 7,62, and even 5,56 cases).

Now for "conversion" of Pockets ( ie, .217" to .210 Boxer: The Process is feasible and useful with Brass cases ( 7,5 swiss, etc) but is a bit more labour intensive on Steel cases.

Conversion of .250/.254 cases (British and Russki) is more Problematical...a Pocket sleeve adaptor, or a new Pocket insert is required, or drill out to #209 or #245 Shotgun primers... The .217 Ball-Pocket-swage method won't work on the Bigger Brit/Russki cases.

Small rifle/Pistol cases, again, a Pocket Swager to reduce the .177" Berdan to .175 Boxer is feasible; the Only really tool-intensive work is opening out .199/.204" cases to .210 ( Dutch and Italian cases). But that is relatively easy. (Lathe required.)

Why do it? Only in "Dire straights" ( No ammo at all in that calibre, drought of Berdan Primers, "legal" Objections, etc.) Of course, one will do it because "it can be done" ( Human Nature).

I personally, hate seeing anything go to waste which with a little work (Not necessarily Profitable in Money terms) can be turned to further use....My wife decries me as an Obsessive Hoarder ( of "really useful stuff" ) but doesn't complain when it pays the household bills. I do "dump" several tons of true waste each year ( brass swarf & trimmings and spent primers etc to the Metal merchant, Cardboard to the Paper recycler, Plastics Idem ( found a useful end to shredded shotshells)...only mushy wet cardboard, rotting timber, and floor sweepings go to Land Fill.

Clean cardboard and CocaCola Cartons get recycled into Cartridge and Bullet Packaging, Timber Dunnage from containers into good quality Shelving and Shelf Boxes,( even replica Ammo Boxes); Pine & Hardwood Offcuts into all manner of Workshop accessories; Sawdust into Environmentally-friendly Oil absorber ( spills, etc).

But that is my (quirky) take on things...why not save a bit of money when you can...unless you take too much time doing it ( "Time is Money" too).

Doc AV

Down under, where Obummer is a temporary flyspeck on the Local scene ( a couple of visits only).
 
#27 ·
I have nothing productive to say, other than, I've converted berdan... the brass is from rounds well over 100 years old, and I needed the brass to make cases for a even older cartridge (.41 swiss)
I find that drilling out the primer, then unifroming/swaging the primer pocket is less hassle than digging the damn things out...
otherwise, I'm just here to watch... these are fun...
where is that popcorn eating emoticon
 
#29 ·
Bravo to RR for addressing this problem, I hope you do well. As of now it may not make sense to reload Russian steel but it may in the future. I don't reload but I save the brass (now I'll save the steel also). I just got my last super cheap batch of 54R and may never see this price again, or run out.
 
#32 ·
A while back Albanian and Chinese 7.62x54 was plentiful and cheap .. 29.95 a spam of 440 and a lot of people didn't like it, ugly wrinkles on the cases, the Albanian maybe 4 or 5 in a spam can had rim thickness issues... but both were brass case and take the .217 berdan primer, the Chinese was lead core .. and they shot well enough.. occasional flier.. but, taking the long view, that was what I bought and stacked deep... Still isn't really economical to reload 7.62x54 IMHO, but the day will come.. and the way things are going it will be powder not brass that will be hard to get, Primers last a long time.. and I have enough for a few years of shooting or a lifetime of hunkering down. Graf & Sons did a run of Boxer brass for 7.5x55 Swiss for a real decent price 8 maybe 9 years ago stocked up.. .303, grabbed all the HXP I could. The opportunities were there and at prices that were never going to go lower.. if you know anything about ammo and the materials they are made of..
Folks can't do much about that now.. but the lesson is still good today, from time to time crazy deals come up, if it is a caliber you shoot or plan on shooting.. buy it cheap and stack it deep.

And if there is a big enough demand , somebody will make or source berdan primers, sanctions don't last forever.. powder will come back at some point
 
#66 ·
I bought that same brass case 54r that you did. Didn't shoot a lot, 50 rds, just out of curiosity, as I was already working on a spam can of steel case. It's been awhile but I recall no delays, a little dirtier than Russian, but mostly noted that the wrinkles smoothed out , fire formed, so that you'd never know they were ever there. No cracks, so must be good annealed brass? I know zilch about reloading, but how hard is it to reprimer , staying Berdan? Is the hassle because it isn't all one unit like the Boxer? Thanks. Pat
 
#33 · (Edited)
I see this product as filling a real need.

Just ask those people out there desperately trying to keep their VZ52 running, and can't get hold of Berdan primers what they think of the potential of this product for them. EDIT: the same philosophy also goes now for the 5.45X39 shooters

Personally I would prefer to convert my 7.5X55 GP11 brass to Boxer than go through all the rigamarole of trying to find and play with the soon-to-be-Unobtainium Berdan primers, and I see this as resolving a LOT of issues for me in 7.62X25 as well.
 
#34 ·
I jest because of the unabashed sales promotion that I was watching. There is a definite need for products that give flexibility to our ammo supply. If it works well, it could be worth it's weight in a crunch. How soon some forget. Stock up while the supply is here and research alternative methods. Knowledge is the key. Heck, I keep a old Lee loader for 54r and have produced a lot of ammo tap, tap, tapping. It works well and I can throw it in my pack if needed. IMHO.
 
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