Berdan primed .303 brass

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Warren.B

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Hi all.

New to reloading .303British & have been hoarding my brass. Finally managed to get a LEE set together for hand-loading. Ran my brass through the press & removed the primers last night. Ended up with some cases with the following head-stamps that are berdan primed. I did not know this until they pushed the tool up out of the press. Love the LEE for that.

DAC 50 7_Z - Dominion Arms Canada - possibly Quebec - possibly flake powder. Worked just fine on the deer.
K63 8.Z - Kynock - possibly UK - possibly flake powder. Worked just fine on the deer.

Q: Is it possible to reload these rounds by drilling out a central flash hole or are they garbage? :confused: Everything I've seen about berdan is that its a pain in the a.. to reload, if you can find primers that fit. Being a cheap ba....d I'd hate to have to dump the cases.

Thanks
Warren
 
Primers are bigger than the standard LR primers so drilling them out is not an option. You can get berdan primers, as you mention, a PIA. Best to recycle them.
 
Boxer primed 303 british is pretty much available. Berdan primed cases can be re-primed by contacting Budget Shooter Supply on the banner above. As they are a site sponsor and they carry Berdan primers. It is a bit trickier to prime with Berdan. Depriming them by using a hydraulic method is effective. I would say...start by buying yourself boxer primed brass.
 
Go to Swiss Rifles on that web site they have a number of ways of dealing with Berdan primers and converting the cases to boxer primers, but I think the best solution is to buy new brass.
 
Unless you have a few hundred of the Berdan primed cases, it is probably better to simply relegate them to making dummies, reloading guages for setting the seating dies for various brands of bullets, or putting them in the scrap box. It really is not worth the time, cost and effort for a small amount of cases.

If you have only one or two .303 rifles, it is better to keep your cases segregated, and neck size for each individual rifle. That way, the cases will last much longer because it does not work the brass as much. The .303 cartridge, mainly because of the generous sized chambers, does not take well to full length sizing each time it is reloaded, and tends to separate inside the chamber of the rifle.
.
 
buffdog said:
Unless you have a few hundred of the Berdan primed cases, it is probably better to simply relegate them to making dummies, reloading guages for setting the seating dies for various brands of bullets, or putting them in the scrap box. It really is not worth the time, cost and effort for a small amount of cases.

If you have only one or two .303 rifles, it is better to keep your cases segregated, and neck size for each individual rifle. That way, the cases will last much longer because it does not work the brass as much. The .303 cartridge, mainly because of the generous sized chambers, does not take well to full length sizing each time it is reloaded, and tends to separate inside the chamber of the rifle.
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Click to expand...

Wow, great info. I was not aware that .303 chambers don't lend well to FL resizing.
 
Throw berdan primed empties away after making drawer pulls out of a few. You can't get new primers (Yes, Budget sells 'em, but there's no such thing as LR berdan primers. Berdan primers come in assorted diameters, not LR, SR etc) and drilling the primer holes doesn't work.
Please tell us those cartridges were not FMJ's. Kynoch is definitely Brit.
 
sunray said:
Throw berdan primed empties away after making drawer pulls out of a few. You can't get new primers (Yes, Budget sells 'em, but there's no such thing as LR berdan primers. Berdan primers come in assorted diameters, not LR, SR etc) and drilling the primer holes doesn't work.

Please tell us those cartridges were not FMJ's. Kynoch is definitely Brit.
Click to expand...
Are the FMJ rounds valuable? I have the better part of a box of them...
Cheers. Steve.
 
They were RNSP, 180g. I know FMJ is illegal. Only have 20 of them, so not too big a deal. Cufflinks & drawer pulls it is then. Thanks for the help.

Also, thanks for the info on resizing. I have two 303's. I will keep the brass separate as of now. How do I not resize the shoulders though? The die I have decapps & resizes in one push of the handle. Is there a die or a spacer that will prevent the die from seating all the way to the shoulder, while decapping?
 
Warren.B said:
They were RNSP, 180g. I know FMJ is illegal. Only have 20 of them, so not too big a deal. Cufflinks & drawer pulls it is then. Thanks for the help.

Also, thanks for the info on resizing. I have two 303's. I will keep the brass separate as of now. How do I not resize the shoulders though? The die I have decapps & resizes in one push of the handle. Is there a die or a spacer that will prevent the die from seating all the way to the shoulder, while decapping?
Click to expand...

Just screw your die out a bit.It will resize the neck but not bump the shoulder.
 
bdft said:
FMJ is NOT illegal! It is illegal to hunt with in most, if not all, provinces but it is perfectly legal to own and target shoot with.
Click to expand...
So sorry, forgot to add a few words "to hunt with" was a long busy, tiring day. Much like today & posating this @ 0000 + some. There's probably some spelling errors to correct here if you'd like to do that toooo!
 
Use a NICKEL for a spacer when setting your dies.

When you want the shoulders pushed back a tad, adjust by feel plus another 1/4 turn. That will push the shoulder back about 20 thou (.495mm if we must be SI).
 
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