Berdan II bolt disassembly

[Nabs]

Hey gents,

I need some help with this one.

I am working on cleaning up an 1880 dated Berdan II that needs some TLC. I got her completely disassembled with exception of the bolt. With the help of a bolt diagram I found on Gunboards, I got all the screws off, the extractor, and the bolt head, but the two main pieces seem to still be together and held in place by the firing piece and main spring. It looks like the firing pin goes through the front bolt piece and is threaded into the rear piece. I tried to unscrew the firing pin from the rear piece and it does move but only a little bit. I don't want to force anything but I would prefer to get the bolt apart for a proper cleaning. I haven't been able to find a guide or advice online so I am hoping someone else on CGN may have had better luck and can share their experience ?

Thanks to anyone who can shed some light on this.

 

[Lanceleader]

I don't have a Berdan but maybe the pictures in that russian PDF can help you ? PDF

 

[Nabs]

Hi there Lanceleader, thank for the pdf, I will certainly have to use Google translate to help with the Russian text but it looks like it may have some good info. It is interesting to see the two bolt pieces separate, I will probably leave them together as my Berdan cleaned up decently and works pretty good.

Out of curiosity, has anyone taken the plunge and reloaded for these ? I have seen some loads referencing using 348 Winchester and reforming that for the parent case but there isn't too much detail out there. If anyone has tried it, have you paper patched your bullet or just left it bare ? I appreciate any additional info to help get this old girl out for some range time.