Preping Berdan Primed brass

[rudibabe]

For those of you who spend the time and still have pleasure in reloading Berdan primed brass,this thread's for you. I do wonder though how many are still interested.
I've been hand loading Berdan brass for nearly seven years and never had a miss-fire
but there is bound to have a "rule of thumb" as to how deep to set the primer in the pocket. You don't seat these primers like you do a Boxer primer,(seating too deep,
the priming mixture contacts the anvil and you get a brain rattling POW!!- seat too
shallow and you could get a miss-fire). I set my primers .005" to .007" below flush
and no deeper. At any rate, I'd like to communicate with anybody on the subject.
.

 

[SimpleGreen6]

I've been reloading Yugo 7.62x39 Berdan brass and the occasional steel case for a couple of years now. I love it.
Years back when the Tula Berdan primers came around I grabbed a case. In my research of reloading Berdan I came across a picture of an RCBS Universal Hand Priming tool that was drilled and tapped for a screw and lock nut that functioned as a mechanical stop.
I modified my hand priming tool the same way and it's worked well ever since.

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[BRD@66]

OP, welcome 2 TGT.

 

[benenglish]

Ditto. Welcome to the OP and anyone who is willing to go to the trouble of reloading Berdan brass.

SimpleGreen6 - Was that priming tool made that way by RCBS?

 

[SimpleGreen6]

Ben - No I got the idea from Dryflash3 on another forum. You basically drill and tap your priming tool handle so that you can add a round head screw with a lock nut behind it. This functions as a stop for the priming lever and allows you to control the depth of primer insertion.
I actually tapped mine lower than what is shown in the picture. My screw and nut are tightened flush against each other and the handle. I then carefully filed away a thou or 2 to get the exact depth I wanted however I can't remember what that depth was off the top of my head.
I basically checked the depths on Yugo M67 and several factory Russian rounds to get a ballpark idea of how deep I wanted to seat my primers. You can also measure the top of anvil to cartridge base and then measure the primer you're using to figure out the best seating depth. I'm using Murom primers and I assume many of the Russian factory rounds have the same primers in them so I was comfortable with my chosen seating depth.
However, I have 3 boxes of Tula KV-24N primers that have a dimple in the center of the priming compound and 1 case of the same primers but a later lot # that don't have a dimple.
I've been loading the primers without the dimple so I suppose I will have to adjust my seating depth once I run out and switch to the older ones.

 

[benenglish]

What an elegant solution to a long-standing problem. Thanks for the picture and explanation.

 

[motorcarman]

About a year and a half ago I posted about this.

https://www.texasguntalk.com/threads/berdan-primer-removal-tools.82484/

Several ways to get results.

bob

 

[SimpleGreen6]

Berdan primers for 7.62x39 are around again if anyone is interested. Link below..

https://fedarm.com/product/primers-berdan-762/

They've also had LR and SR Russian boxer primers in stock.

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