7.62mm x 51mm Berdan brass

[Colt Carbine]

Does anybody reload Berdan brass cases?

Any value in these besides scrap brass?

I'd hate to scrap these if there's a need.

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[HighlandLofts]

I did by a beridian decapping tool buy do.not intend to.reload any to soon

They use different primers then the boxer primers.

 

[GWS]

There is a way.
Without a decapper, you can use a .3" (or close) dowel in a bucket of water
Fill the case with water insert the dowel in the neck and tap/hit with a hammer
Hydraulic pressure will pop the primer out (This actually works! )
Then you are supposed to drill out the primer pocket which also gets rid of the anvil (knob) in the primer pocket Now you have a single hole that works with the Boxer system
Ultimately, It's a lot of work. Kind of post-apocalyptic, there ain't no other options type of work.
Sell the Berdan brass for scrap and use the money to buy ammo or dinner or flowers for your wife.

 

[arakboss]

You can convert them to use boxer primers but 308 brass is cheap so probably not worth the effort.

Berdan Military Case Loader (Foreign & Domestic)

Built by gun enthusiasts for gun enthusiasts, Sharpshooter now proudly offers a complete new system to reload Berdan/military cases using your current reloading press and dies. This system is die brand specific INSTEAD of caliber specific! Thus, ALL calibers can be re-primed with the purchase of...

sharpshooter-22lr-reloader.myshopify.com

 

[Deerhurst]

As others have said, not really worth the effort.

 

[Colt Carbine]

There is a way.

Ultimately, It's a lot of work. Kind of post-apocalyptic, there ain't no other options type of work.
Sell the Berdan brass for scrap and use the money to buy ammo or dinner or flowers for your wife.

I guess I should have asked this question sooner, I might have saved myself some work.

Scrap it is, I appreciate the response.

 

[Legion489]

Sweden used to (and may still) reload their military brass cases at the military factories. They ran the cases through a water bath, which filled them with water (obviously), and then there were plungers that came down and fit in the cartridge mouth, with an outer sleeve to hold the case in place and keep the water pressure from swelling it. The water pressure pushed the primers out of the cases, they were dried, probably resized if the outer sleeve didn't resize the case, and reprimed, loaded with powder and bullets, thus ready to fire again. This can be done easily at home, and is not especially hard, but can be a bit messy, but doing it on a hot day can be rather fun with water spraying everywhere.

If you don't want to go water power, there were (possibly still are) manual decappers from RCBS, and at one time, others. probably imported. Or you can make your own decapper from a screwdriver that works about as well and possibly quicker, once you figure out how to do it, which IS sort of a trick. Not really hard, but definitely (or at least probably) not something you will be doing on your first try, at least not without being shown how first. Manual tool OR screwdriver.

A third method, and by far the easiest way, is to use a regular primer in a (usually metal) sleave to blow/blast them out. Since primers are about as common as honest politicians right now, this probably isn't something most people would consider viable at this time.

A fourth method is to make a punch with an offset pin (a length of paper clip works quite well for the primer punch pin). Buy or turn a (usually) metal rod for each caliber (say .22, .308, .311", .313", .323", etc), drill an offset hole just large enough for the paper clip "punch" to fit in, and trim to length. It should be long enough to push the primer out, but not too long, as it shouldn't be long enough to bend easily. Drop the rod in the case, turn it until the punch drops in a primer hole and smack it with a hammer, just like the Lee (wack a mole) Hand Loader sets.

There may be other ways to deprime berdan cases, but these are the ones I know of off hand.

The Sharpshooter "kit" looks do-able, but if you have any sort of access to equipment (say a metalworking/machining night class) it would be easy enough to make your own equipment and knocking out several sets, for all the different dies set you might have, would probably pay for the class easily.