Depriming Berdan using the hydraulic method

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bryan35

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Has anyone had success using the hydraulic method with the 7.62x39 steel cases?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0q0E4GtSa4



I cant get the primes to pop on the 39's. they are Romanian made.

The 7.62x54 Czech made are'nt a problem.

I used a cut off bolt head which fits slightly snugger on the 54's than the 39's. Thinking that maybe they glued the 39 primers on?
 
I haven't tried reloading them. I've read that they can be reused once or twice. Not sure if I will ever need to since they are cheap to buy right now. In the future who knows?
 
might be the primer sealer is better on them and holding the primer in. i used the hydrolic meathod on some 357mag aluminum cases by CCI but they don't seal the primers.

how tight of a seal is your ram in the case mouth?

another person posted here about reloading 7.62x25mm and using a small punch he got off ebay. not sure how well it would work with the longer necked cases.
 
I've done it for kicks on 7.62x54r.
Used a drill bit that fit nice and close. Put the shank into the case and hit the cutting edge with a hammer. Some come out easy and some didn't come out at all.
 
I had a lot of problems trying to find shafts of the right diameter to fit various (berdan) cases that I wanted to experiment with. (READ: total frustration!)

I came up with this solution which a local machine shop made for me ($60 cash for both cylinder & piston)

I now use a brass cylinder that any case of 0.500" diameter or less fits completely inside like a "cup". (the brass rod was salvaged from a "damaged propeller shaft")
There is a centered hole in the bottom of the "cup" about 0.250" diameter to eject the primer.
There is a relief channel at the very bottom edge of the cup from the 1/4" ejector hole to the outside wall of the "cup". this allows water and primer to gush out.
I have a stainless steel rod ("piston") (0.499" dia) with a lip on one end to limit its travel into the cylinder.
The length of the cavity inside of the brass cylinder with piston fully inserted is longer that the longest case that I might want to de-prime.
I stand the cylinder upright (primer hole down), drop in a case (usually Swiss 7.5x55 GP11) pour in water to the brim and insert the S.S. piston.
One good SMACK with the rubber mallet and the primer is GONZO! Any and all primers - live ones, dead ones, crimped ones, Berdan & Boxer. Never had a failure. Ever.

The nicest thing about this method is that there is never any damage to the case because nothing touches it but water.

My wife makes me do this in the garage on the concrete floor by the floor drain (OR ELSE!)

I have a pdf drawing of this device as submitted to my local machine shop. If anybody wants a free copy, PM me with your email address and I'll send it to you...

And if you need either type of Berdan Primers, talk to Henry at Budget Shooter Supply - he is THE MAN!
 
K-C said:
I had a lot of problems trying to find shafts of the right diameter to fit various (berdan) cases that I wanted to experiment with. (READ: total frustration!)

I came up with this solution which a local machine shop made for me ($60 cash for both cylinder & piston)

I now use a brass cylinder that any case of 0.500" diameter or less fits completely inside like a "cup". (the brass rod was salvaged from a "damaged propeller shaft")
There is a centered hole in the bottom of the "cup" about 0.250" diameter to eject the primer.
There is a relief channel at the very bottom edge of the cup from the 1/4" ejector hole to the outside wall of the "cup". this allows water and primer to gush out.
I have a stainless steel rod ("piston") (0.499" dia) with a lip on one end to limit its travel into the cylinder.
The length of the cavity inside of the brass cylinder with piston fully inserted is longer that the longest case that I might want to de-prime.
I stand the cylinder upright (primer hole down), drop in a case (usually Swiss 7.5x55 GP11) pour in water to the brim and insert the S.S. piston.
One good SMACK with the rubber mallet and the primer is GONZO! Any and all primers - live ones, dead ones, crimped ones, Berdan & Boxer. Never had a failure. Ever.

The nicest thing about this method is that there is never any damage to the case because nothing touches it but water.

My wife makes me do this in the garage on the concrete floor by the floor drain (OR ELSE!)

I have a pdf drawing of this device as submitted to my local machine shop. If anybody wants a free copy, PM me with your email address and I'll send it to you...

And if you need either type of Berdan Primers, talk to Henry at Budget Shooter Supply - he is THE MAN!
Click to expand...

Similar to this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgoiE_krxC8
 
Years ago I wanted to reload Berdan primed 9mm Steyr pistol cases. All I did was fill the case with water, put it in my Rockchucker with the correct shellholder, installed a case mouth expander die with the correct diameter plug (can't remember which one but probably a 38 Spec), raised the case into the die and the primers popped out like a ripe zit. The case expanding dies are a perfect fit so you get full advantage of the hydraulic effect. I'm sure you can find a 7.62 case mouth expander. The only question is how much more extraction resistant does the primer sealant make the primer? You will only find out by trial and error.
 
bryan35 said:
I haven't tried reloading them. I've read that they can be reused once or twice. Not sure if I will ever need to since they are cheap to buy right now. In the future who knows?
Click to expand...

dry them quick as they start to rust after firing and water activate it... reuse is twice max... they split at the neck... 50% split after first reload/shot. I even converted some (about 50 of the 7.62x54R) from Berdan to Boxer and same results. Now I chase the brass with boxer primer... but it can be done in a pinch and its very time consuming
 
I tried it and use a machinists pin punch. just to see if it would work. I have Romanian, did 10, 7 worked. as a blacksmith type(hobbyist) i think that if the deprimed casings were heated red hot then quickly and carefully resized, you might get more reloads. don`t have the die, so have not tried it, and don`t think you`d want to do more than 10 in a row before allowing the die to cool, i don`t know if they are heat treated. you also don`t want drop the casings in water to cool, try cold wood ash, and allow a slow cooling in case the steel is of higher carbon content. just a thought, and if i ever get a die for these, i`ll try it.
 
Lespem1 said:
dry them quick as they start to rust after firing and water activate it... reuse is twice max... they split at the neck... 50% split after first reload/shot. I even converted some (about 50 of the 7.62x54R) from Berdan to Boxer and same results. Now I chase the brass with boxer primer... but it can be done in a pinch and its very time consuming
Click to expand...
I have been playing with this a little bit . I treat the corrosive primed steel cases like black powder cases, I bring a jug of water to the range with me and toss them in the water . When I get home I wash them , rinse and dry on low heat in the oven . I have far better luck with the drill and pry out method than the hydraulic . I think the pry method is fine if you plan to convert to boxer primed , I would stick to the hydraulic method if you are going to reprise with berdan primers , less likely to damage the anvil in the case
I haven't tried reloading any of these case soon but I plan to play around with the idea this winter
 
The case have crimped primers? Steel cases are not reloadable anyway. Even if you could find the right diameter Berdan primer(no Large/Small Rifle with Berdans). Regardless of the nonsense seen on You Tube. The mild steel is not elastic like brass is.
 
sunray said:
The case have crimped primers? Steel cases are not reloadable anyway. Even if you could find the right diameter Berdan primer(no Large/Small Rifle with Berdans). Regardless of the nonsense seen on You Tube. The mild steel is not elastic like brass is.
Click to expand...

why even bother posting... useless info and wrong most of the time.
 
dnepr said:
I have been playing with this a little bit . I treat the corrosive primed steel cases like black powder cases, I bring a jug of water to the range with me and toss them in the water . When I get home I wash them , rinse and dry on low heat in the oven . I have far better luck with the drill and pry out method than the hydraulic . I think the pry method is fine if you plan to convert to boxer primed , I would stick to the hydraulic method if you are going to reprise with berdan primers , less likely to damage the anvil in the case
I haven't tried reloading any of these case soon but I plan to play around with the idea this winter
Click to expand...

The 50 (7.62x54R) that I reloaded and shot in my M44 were for me to find out if it was doable or not to reload steel casing and also to see if I could convert from Berdan to Boxer primer. It's all doable but time consuming and very low return on time investment. After shooting them, 50% of them were trashed and all of them had fractured necks. I had fun trying the experiment but doubt that I'll spend any more time doing it again.

Brass with Berdan primer pocket is a different story (like 7.5x55), that has a good return on time investment.
 
Lespem1 said:
The 50 (7.62x54R) that I reloaded and shot in my M44 were for me to find out if it was doable or not to reload steel casing and also to see if I could convert from Berdan to Boxer primer. It's all doable but time consuming and very low return on time investment. After shooting them, 50% of them were trashed and all of them had fractured necks. I had fun trying the experiment but doubt that I'll spend any more time doing it again.

Brass with Berdan primer pocket is a different story (like 7.5x55), that has a good return on time investment.
Click to expand...
Kinda what I am expecting , I have a case of gp 11 , a case of romanian 7.62x39 brass cased surplus and some berdan primed 303 Brit .if I can make the steel cases work great, if not and all I do is sort out the methodology for my berdan brass so be it . I do shoot a fair bit of reduced power cast loads so I am curios how steel case will stand up with such loads ,
 
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