Reloading the 7.62x39 story

fstdraw · Nov 23, 2021

So if you don't mind a short story on reloading the 762 Russian, here it is. T'was the night.....oh not that one, sorry. OK, so I'd been having problems with my Berdan primed cases being slow to ignite. Every single one was a "click, bang" as opposed to "bang". Unnerving as you can guess. Boxer primed, no problem...accurate, easy recoil, casings gently deposited at 8:30 to 9:00, ten feet out (I'm left-handed) all sweet from my newest AR build. Steel or brass Berdan primed loads were a flop. Most guys suggested primer depth or case prep as the problem. OMG, I had these cases looking better than new...and still crap ignition and preformance. Same AA-1680 powder, bullet depth, two different brands of Berdan primers (PMC and Tula) correct primer depth. I read everything on line I could find. Then I found a 15 year old post on another site and this guy was having the same problems as I. His powder, AA1680, was clumping, like it was wet. He thought that was the problem. I know that's not my problem so upon further reading, he too was using AA1680 powder. I looked up other powders and found that 4227 is a popular powder as well. I loaded up several and out to the woods I went. 4227 completely eliminated the delayed ignition, but didn't produce enough gas to operate the rifle. Then I found Reloader # 7, ahh. No delay in ignition, no problems ejection or feeding and it's accurate! It was the powder all the time that was the issue. Ball powders don't seem to ignite well with the 2 small flash holes in Berdan cases. Extruded powders do very well in the Berdan cases, vola!

Now I'm happy (I've got tons of Berdan cases prepped) and I can develop better loads.

Stomper · Nov 23, 2021

fstdraw said:
So if you don't mind a short story on reloading the 762 Russian, here it is. T'was the night.....oh not that one, sorry. OK, so I'd been having problems with my Berdan primed cases being slow to ignite. Every single one was a "click, bang" as opposed to "bang". Unnerving as you can guess. Boxer primed, no problem...accurate, easy recoil, casings gently deposited at 8:30 to 9:00, ten feet out (I'm left-handed) all sweet from my newest AR build. Steel or brass Berdan primed loads were a flop. Most guys suggested primer depth or case prep as the problem. OMG, I had these cases looking better than new...and still crap ignition and preformance. Same AA-1680 powder, bullet depth, two different brands of Berdan primers (PMC and Tula) correct primer depth. I read everything on line I could find. Then I found a 15 year old post on another site and this guy was having the same problems as I. His powder, AA1680, was clumping, like it was wet. He thought that was the problem. I know that's not my problem so upon further reading, he too was using AA1680 powder. I looked up other powders and found that 4227 is a popular powder as well. I loaded up several and out to the woods I went. 4227 completely eliminated the delayed ignition, but didn't produce enough gas to operate the rifle. Then I found Reloader # 7, ahh. No delay in ignition, no problems ejection or feeding and it's accurate! It was the powder all the time that was the issue. Ball powders don't seem to ignite well with the 2 small flash holes in Berdan cases. Extruded powders do very well in the Berdan cases, vola!

Now I'm happy (I've got tons of Berdan cases prepped) and I can develop better loads.

How are you popping out the spent Berdan primers to reload new ones?

fstdraw · Nov 23, 2021

I use the "Hydraulic" method, using a hammer and a 1/4 " socket extension to seal and apply the pressure needed to pop the primer out. Fill case with water and blame! That's for the steel cases. Brass cases are more difficult. I pry out the primer using a decapping tool or just a nail set, sharpened a bit, and a hammer. Once you get a system down you can do several a minute. Once the original primer is out, getting out primers on subsequent reloadings is very easy. Two or three reloadings for steel and many more for brass. I don't need to crimp for steel, light crimp for brass, as usual. I've not had to remove any crimps on the primer pockets.