reloadable vs non reloadable

[tlfreek]

what does non-reloadable brass look like? is there a designation on it or is it rim fire cartridges?

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[spengo]

what does non-reloadable brass look like? is there a designation on it or is it rim fire cartridges?

rimfire brass is non-reloadable
steel cased ammo (not brass) is *mostly* non-reloadable (I say mostly because some crazy dudes do reload steel)
berdan primed ammo is also *mostly* non-reloadable (usually it says on the box)

Here is a diagram showing the difference between berdan and boxer primed ammo:

 

[tlfreek]

awesome thanks Spengo.

so is the reason why Berdan is not reloadable is because you cant get the primer out like on a boxer style? just curious what makes it non reloadable.

 

[spengo]

awesome thanks Spengo.

so is the reason why Berdan is not reloadable is because you cant get the primer out like on a boxer style? just curious what makes it non reloadable.

Berdan primed cases are reloadable. It's just a pain in the butt, requires special decapping tools, and requires the use of Berdan primers (as opposed to the Boxer primers that we find in gunshops here).

 

[pdx lefty]

rimfire brass is non-reloadable
steel cased ammo (not brass) is *mostly* non-reloadable (I say mostly because some crazy dudes do reload steel)
berdan primed ammo is also *mostly* non-reloadable (usually it says on the box)

Here is a diagram showing the difference between berdan and boxer primed ammo:

Thanks Spengo, I have been curious about this myself!

Lefty.

 

[Jamie6.5]

I have a friend that makes brass 7.62 berdan primed cases reloadable for cheap. He fills the case with water and uses a polished rod that just fits the casemouth, about 7.65, to force the water through the flash holes.
After the primer is removed he drills a boxer flash hole using his drill press.

Gets them cheap too!

 

[smurf hunter]

I have a friend that makes brass 7.62 berdan primed cases reloadable for cheap. He fills the case with water and uses a polished rod that just fits the casemouth, about 7.65, to force the water through the flash holes.
After the primer is removed he drills a boxer flash hole using his drill press.

Gets them cheap too!

That implies that boxer and berdan primers are the same dimensions. Is that accurate? If so, that is a cool trick.

 

[Partsproduction]

I've been saving my berdan cases. We have 3 CNC lathes so drilling would be extremely fast, but I wonder, basically the flash hole will be twice as much area theoretically, so what's the downside of that? Of course we are talking pistol in my case, so there probably is none, but if one is shooting match rifle I bet it's a huge factor.

 

[AMProducts]

Typically berdan primers are of different size than boxer primers. Occasionally, they will be close enough in size that they will work, but this is on a manufacturer by manufacturer basis. I know some people who reload 7.5x55 swiss G11 ammo, and they go to the trouble of special ordering the crazy swiss primers to reload them with. For the most part, reloading berdan cases is nearly pointless, there is so much existing infrastructure for reloading boxer cases i can't think of a single reason to do it. The guy who drills out the flash holes and the like... if he sold the berdan brass for scrap, he could take that money and go buy some really nice lapua brass.

 

[Partsproduction]

I've been saving .30 Luger berdan brass for SHTF times, doesn't occupy much room and there's no downside to being prepared IMO. You're right about primer sizes, I need to look into that, while drilling the hole a solid carbide BB could open it up a tad, hard to put metal back quickly though if the hole is too large.

Please keep in mind that many of us just like being able to do things that others consider to be undoable, it's a good feeling fixing something that has "No consumer repairable parts within".

I used to enjoy fixing plastic and zinc parts, just because I figured out how to do it. Welding the plastic and riveting the zincrap.

Lately I figure plastic and zinc products are just junk and leave it at that.

Occasionally though a $250 appliance can get a number of extra years doing that though, I wish the American consumer would wise up and stop accepting junk.

 

[AMProducts]

I hear you on the accepting junk... my clothes dryer is older than I am, and when the timer on it went out, the service department told us it was too old and they no longer had a replacement part. So I hooked up a standard 110V timer (like the ones they use for lights) and it works just fine again.

As it turns out, .30 Luger is exactly the same as the 7.62x25 tokarev cartridge, except for the amount of powder they put in each. Also, starline sells new .30 luger brass last time I checked. I can't think of a single thing that would cause me to get motivated enough to drill out berdan primers, but .30 carbine is about the most unusual cartridge I shoot... and I have tons and tons of brass for it. I think I would try reforming brass from another cartridge before I tried reloading berdan.

 

[Gunner3456]

One of you guys is going to kill himself.

Not by reloading, but by wiring dryers.

 

[smurf hunter]

One of you guys is going to kill himself.

Not by reloading, but by wiring dryers.

I was up at 11:00pm last night fixing our dryer. 220v is a pretty exciting experience if you're not careful.