Hell of Reloading : Steel cased and Berdan primed
- Thread starter pomelum
- Start date
I've been reloading for both my SKS rifles for several years now about eight to be exact. If your reloads don't shoot more accurately that surplus or commercial Russian ammo does your doing something wrong,mine certain do.
I load everything for 90 to 170 gr. sub-sonic to 2K fps. cast bullets I cast myself as well as the traditional 123 to 150 gr. bullets of various styles and mfg. There is no surplus ammo down here in the states other than some of the Yugo stuff that show up for a time,all we get is either commercial American,Russian of Prvi ammo. The 1K rd. cases are about impossible to get and are approaching the $270 to $300+ range normally it runs around $225 per 1K case the last I bough was $200 per 1K rds. of Golden Tiger FMJ I keep that and several hundred rds. of Bear ammo stashed back for a rainy day.
As far as reloading cost go,well that just depends on what you component cost are. I take full advantage of buying in bulk whenever possible and being that I cast all my own bullets for my SKS rifles the cost is much cheaper than using commercial jacketed bullets plus you can use different powders like Alliant 2400,Unique,Reloader #7 in much lesser amounts or Surplus WC844 ie H335 to push those loads around 1450 to 2K fps. depending on what your shooting.
This is basically my cost to load 100 rds. of 170 gr. gas check ammo.
As far as berdan primed ammo goes I'm saving my cases I have both brass as steel. The thing to note about berdan primed 7.62 x 39 ammo is that both brass and steel case ammo use the same size berdan primer .217" the problem with using standard LR primers is that there only .210" in dia. thats alot of wiggle room when you have 40K PSI pushing back on the primer. We do have a source of Tula .217" berdan primer from Powder Valley down here for reloading those cases and there not expensive around $22 per K but the hazmat and shipping fees don't make it worth wild unless your ordering other powder and primer at the same time which I don't do but once in a blue moon. I'll probably pick some up one day if there still there just to have.
My friend DryFlash3 has been reloading Berdan primed steel case ammo for quiet some time with various bullets with excellent success I would pretty much call this a Tutorial on how to do it correctly. Aside from using the more expensive RCBS tool I use the hydraulic method.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0q0E4GtSa4
http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_6_42/3...te_on_where_to_get_Berdan_primers__pg_2_.html
I load everything for 90 to 170 gr. sub-sonic to 2K fps. cast bullets I cast myself as well as the traditional 123 to 150 gr. bullets of various styles and mfg. There is no surplus ammo down here in the states other than some of the Yugo stuff that show up for a time,all we get is either commercial American,Russian of Prvi ammo. The 1K rd. cases are about impossible to get and are approaching the $270 to $300+ range normally it runs around $225 per 1K case the last I bough was $200 per 1K rds. of Golden Tiger FMJ I keep that and several hundred rds. of Bear ammo stashed back for a rainy day.
As far as reloading cost go,well that just depends on what you component cost are. I take full advantage of buying in bulk whenever possible and being that I cast all my own bullets for my SKS rifles the cost is much cheaper than using commercial jacketed bullets plus you can use different powders like Alliant 2400,Unique,Reloader #7 in much lesser amounts or Surplus WC844 ie H335 to push those loads around 1450 to 2K fps. depending on what your shooting.
This is basically my cost to load 100 rds. of 170 gr. gas check ammo.
As far as berdan primed ammo goes I'm saving my cases I have both brass as steel. The thing to note about berdan primed 7.62 x 39 ammo is that both brass and steel case ammo use the same size berdan primer .217" the problem with using standard LR primers is that there only .210" in dia. thats alot of wiggle room when you have 40K PSI pushing back on the primer. We do have a source of Tula .217" berdan primer from Powder Valley down here for reloading those cases and there not expensive around $22 per K but the hazmat and shipping fees don't make it worth wild unless your ordering other powder and primer at the same time which I don't do but once in a blue moon. I'll probably pick some up one day if there still there just to have.
My friend DryFlash3 has been reloading Berdan primed steel case ammo for quiet some time with various bullets with excellent success I would pretty much call this a Tutorial on how to do it correctly. Aside from using the more expensive RCBS tool I use the hydraulic method.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0q0E4GtSa4
http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_6_42/3...te_on_where_to_get_Berdan_primers__pg_2_.html
antiqueguy
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- windsor ontario
I've been reloading for both my SKS rifles for several years now about eight to be exact. If your reloads don't shoot more accurately that surplus or commercial Russian ammo does your doing something wrong,mine certain do.
I load everything for 90 to 170 gr. sub-sonic to 2K fps. cast bullets I cast myself as well as the traditional 123 to 150 gr. bullets of various styles and mfg. There is no surplus ammo down here in the states other than some of the Yugo stuff that show up for a time,all we get is either commercial American,Russian of Prvi ammo. The 1K rd. cases are about impossible to get and are approaching the $270 to $300+ range normally it runs around $225 per 1K case the last I bough was $200 per 1K rds. of Golden Tiger FMJ I keep that and several hundred rds. of Bear ammo stashed back for a rainy day.
As far as reloading cost go,well that just depends on what you component cost are. I take full advantage of buying in bulk whenever possible and being that I cast all my own bullets for my SKS rifles the cost is much cheaper than using commercial jacketed bullets plus you can use different powders like Alliant 2400,Unique,Reloader #7 in much lesser amounts or Surplus WC844 ie H335 to push those loads around 1450 to 2K fps. depending on what your shooting.
This is basically my cost to load 100 rds. of 170 gr. gas check ammo.
As far as berdan primed ammo goes I'm saving my cases I have both brass as steel. The thing to note about berdan primed 7.62 x 39 ammo is that both brass and steel case ammo use the same size berdan primer .217" the problem with using standard LR primers is that there only .210" in dia. thats alot of wiggle room when you have 40K PSI pushing back on the primer. We do have a source of Tula .217" berdan primer from Powder Valley down here for reloading those cases and there not expensive around $22 per K but the hazmat and shipping fees don't make it worth wild unless your ordering other powder and primer at the same time which I don't do but once in a blue moon. I'll probably pick some up one day if there still there just to have.
My friend DryFlash3 has been reloading Berdan primed steel case ammo for quiet some time with various bullets with excellent success I would pretty much call this a Tutorial on how to do it correctly. Aside from using the more expensive RCBS tool I use the hydraulic method.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0q0E4GtSa4
http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_6_42/3...te_on_where_to_get_Berdan_primers__pg_2_.html
we get all kinds of surplus up here for the x39 and 54r(although the 54r seems to be getting hard to come by) i dont shoot any surplus any more just keep it for times like this (i also keep my cases i clean them to keep them from rusting)
the supply of tula .217 berdan primers is not bad here but they cost a bit more ive seen the standard LR primers used before with berdan brass this may help http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?253962-GP11-Brass
Plenty of 54r surplus here as well from Russian and Bulgaria at least there was till all the panic buying started taking place,we get nothing form the Chinese at all anymore. I have plenty of the Russian 70's/80's steel core ammo that I stashed back and I reload and cast for the 54r also. I guess we both have our pluses and minuses as far as Guns and Ammo goes in our countries.
The brass case GP-11 cases work pretty well for doing a conversion to boxer primers it's a bit of work but it's good brass and worth the trouble. The brass can be swaged down into the primer pocket to give you a tight fit not so much with the steel case ammo. I might consider doing the steel case Boxer primer conversion for my 7.62 x 39 cast lead Subsonic loads,they only shoot a 90 gr. SWC and 2.7 to 3.0 grs. of Alliant Bullseye at about 800 to 900 fps.
KV24N is the 7.62x39 (.217" ) Low cup size, for 7.62x39 cases ( all makers); it is filled with a smaller charge of priming composition, suitable for Fast Powder of the smaller case. It will give erratic results with the slower Powders of Larger capacity cases.
KV762N is the Nato (.217") size and correct Cup height for all .217" Berdan Pocket cases of "European Military Rifle" calibers (7.9mm, 7mm, 7.65mm, 8mm Steyr, Euro .30/06, Euro .303 Br., 7.62R Albania, Czech, etc. 7.5MAS, 7.5 Swiss, 6.5 Swede, 7.62 Nato.)
Another conversion method for over sized berdan primer pockets.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkKJfvMyuDg
The brass case GP-11 cases work pretty well for doing a conversion to boxer primers it's a bit of work but it's good brass and worth the trouble. The brass can be swaged down into the primer pocket to give you a tight fit not so much with the steel case ammo. I might consider doing the steel case Boxer primer conversion for my 7.62 x 39 cast lead Subsonic loads,they only shoot a 90 gr. SWC and 2.7 to 3.0 grs. of Alliant Bullseye at about 800 to 900 fps.
KV24N is the 7.62x39 (.217" ) Low cup size, for 7.62x39 cases ( all makers); it is filled with a smaller charge of priming composition, suitable for Fast Powder of the smaller case. It will give erratic results with the slower Powders of Larger capacity cases.
KV762N is the Nato (.217") size and correct Cup height for all .217" Berdan Pocket cases of "European Military Rifle" calibers (7.9mm, 7mm, 7.65mm, 8mm Steyr, Euro .30/06, Euro .303 Br., 7.62R Albania, Czech, etc. 7.5MAS, 7.5 Swiss, 6.5 Swede, 7.62 Nato.)
Another conversion method for over sized berdan primer pockets.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkKJfvMyuDg
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