hand loading a 303
- Thread starter bangshead
- Start date
No you need to get berdan primes from Russia or somewhere in Europe to use them. As best you can drill them out for 209 primers and use them with cast bullets. Probably not worth it though. I just chuck them myself
Thank you sir! Extra magazine ordered from site sponsor. You guys are great. Thanks so much! I had to put aside my love of shooting, my wife was quite sick and it took all my time. Now she has passed nearly 5 years ago, I feel up for some shooting! I probably will muck about with the berdan primer military cases as they are brass and seem of good quality. I have a nice case tumber, they will clean up welI. Don't like the cost of a berdan decapping tool, has anyone ever made a berdan decapping too? I have a kinetic bullet puller so I'll pull a bullet, remove and weigh the powder and bullet. Is there is a safe method of removing corrosive , live primer? Would that be the hydraulic method?
I wouldn't worry about ^corrosive^ primers.
They aren't really corrosive. They leave a residue behind which absorbs moisture from the air which can lead to rust. Prompt cleaning and oiling avoids this problem. The main problem might be in finding the proper Berdan primers.
The LGS used to stock them pre-covid, but I don't know the current situation.
The American military used corrosive primers for quite a few years, for their match ammo, after switching to non corrosive primers for their regular ammunition, because they were more highly developed and gave better accuracy.
You might want to examine your .303 loading goals. The .303 could become, if not addicting, then certainly habit forming. I spent about half of last year's casting, loading, and shooting efforts trying to resuscitate a rather wretched 1896 Long Lee . I don't see myself being cured for this season, either.
So, loading for the .303 is much like acquiring a taste for 12 year old Scotch. It's not necessarily bad, but could be expensive, and possibly get out of control. I have some .30/30 and. 38/55 single shot rifles that haven't been fired in 3 years.
They aren't really corrosive. They leave a residue behind which absorbs moisture from the air which can lead to rust. Prompt cleaning and oiling avoids this problem. The main problem might be in finding the proper Berdan primers.
The LGS used to stock them pre-covid, but I don't know the current situation.
The American military used corrosive primers for quite a few years, for their match ammo, after switching to non corrosive primers for their regular ammunition, because they were more highly developed and gave better accuracy.
You might want to examine your .303 loading goals. The .303 could become, if not addicting, then certainly habit forming. I spent about half of last year's casting, loading, and shooting efforts trying to resuscitate a rather wretched 1896 Long Lee . I don't see myself being cured for this season, either.
So, loading for the .303 is much like acquiring a taste for 12 year old Scotch. It's not necessarily bad, but could be expensive, and possibly get out of control. I have some .30/30 and. 38/55 single shot rifles that haven't been fired in 3 years.
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Brassman66
CGN frequent flyer
Your welcome and I am sorry for the loss of your Wife.Thank you sir! Extra magazine ordered from site sponsor. You guys are great. Thanks so much! I had to put aside my love of shooting, my wife was quite sick and it took all my time. Now she has passed nearly 5 years ago, I feel up for some shooting! I probably will muck about with the berdan primer military cases as they are brass and seem of good quality. I have a nice case tumber, they will clean up welI. Don't like the cost of a berdan decapping tool, has anyone ever made a berdan decapping too? I have a kinetic bullet puller so I'll pull a bullet, remove and weigh the powder and bullet. Is there is a safe method of removing corrosive , live primer? Would that be the hydraulic method?
I love reloading all sorts but defenitely would not start with Berdan Primed Casings. Havin said that, a Friend of mine in the Old Country used for depriming the in the Water Method.
He had a pice of Steel cut from a long Bolt which fitted the ID of the Neck very tightly. He filled the Casing with Water then put the Casing on top of a Nut on his heavy outside Workbench and then Hit the piece of Steel hard going into the Casing. Becouse Water does not compress it pushed the Primer out into the Nut. Repeat - a tedius and wet affair.
Good Luck !
- Location
- Beaverlodge, Alberta
You can use the hydraulic method to push the primers out for sure. These are fired cases?Thank you sir! Extra magazine ordered from site sponsor. You guys are great. Thanks so much! I had to put aside my love of shooting, my wife was quite sick and it took all my time. Now she has passed nearly 5 years ago, I feel up for some shooting! I probably will muck about with the berdan primer military cases as they are brass and seem of good quality. I have a nice case tumber, they will clean up welI. Don't like the cost of a berdan decapping tool, has anyone ever made a berdan decapping too? I have a kinetic bullet puller so I'll pull a bullet, remove and weigh the powder and bullet. Is there is a safe method of removing corrosive , live primer? Would that be the hydraulic method?
I did some research into this and was planning on reusing some Berdan primed Kynoch cases for 280 Ross a while back as they’re pretty tough to find brass for.
The plan was to drill a new flash hole in the case so a boxer decap tool would find it. Then the plan was to press in a small copper ring into the larger berdan pocket and then ream it just enough to make it hold the boxer primer with proper tension. Moral of the story is: I now make 280 Ross brass from 300 Win Mag and if anyone wants the Berdan brass they’re welcome to it. Ha ha.
You guys are just so helpfull. The military berdan primed ammo is 99% unfired, I may have fired 1 or 2, don't remember.I like the idea of forcing the primer out with hydraulic pressure. That would save a ton of fussing about trying to make a tool. I did have a thought about getting a small enough roll pin punch and trying that. I'd like to convert them to boxer primer. I know this is the bigger pia method, but once all the copper tube is inserted, seated, honed I may have 100 or so good quality cases for free as they were given to me free a long time ago. My concern is making sure the copper tube stays put, towards this end I'll probably use a tiny amount of red loctite. I should take a picture of these for you all. I'm curious as to their history, maybe someone can help ID them. I'm not new to reloading, but not super experienced either.
My reloading goals are simply range shooting for kicks, something to do this summer.
My reloading goals are simply range shooting for kicks, something to do this summer.
Comparison shot. On the left is the mil spec .303 I have been blabbing about, on the right is a spent Winchester " super x ". The rim is definitly much thicker on the mil case and it's stamped with F, N, 68. Can I assume 68 is the year? These definitly have powder in them not cordite. But the primers look the same! Maybe I'm losing it and there was one berdan but not this particular one.Sigh my memory is not good on this
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billbmcleod
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Back very close to Bruce County
Yes this is an experience I had while hunting moose in the late 60's. I had taken a shot at a calf running behind a cow that something had spooked. It was a clean miss due to range and inexperience on leading rifle shots. But when I racked the second round it would not go and thank god I didn't jam it too hard and risk breaking the ejector. I had to go back to camp and dig it out with a screwdriver or such.
It would have been a lot worse if I had wounded the critter.
Bill
The FN ammo is Belgian made Fabrique Nationale military ball. It should be Berdan primed. Older stuff has corrosive primers, newer stuff is non corrosive. Cant be sure when the switch occurred, the 50's stuff I had was corrosive, the 80's stuff was non corrosive. If I were you I'd just shoot it - all the FN ammo I had shot very well.
I wouldnt be too worried about the rim thickness on newer ammo. Between the elastic band trick, annealing the neck, and sizing to headspace on the shoulder, you will get several reloads. All this with much less hassle than dealing with Berdan primers.
I wouldnt be too worried about the rim thickness on newer ammo. Between the elastic band trick, annealing the neck, and sizing to headspace on the shoulder, you will get several reloads. All this with much less hassle than dealing with Berdan primers.
My new to me milsurp magazine is on the way! I hope it fits better than my current one. I remember it feeding so poorly the nose of the bullets got deformed. At least until I learned about adjusting the tabs on the magazine.
I think my hand loads were with 4350, I have a can or a partial one. There were several powders donated to me over the years, I saw 4064 in my shop as well. I think when guys see you shooting .303 they think oh he must be poor, I'll give him something lmao. There's a local firearms store here so acquiring powder, primers and bullets shouldn't be bad.
Cool! Thanks so much. Yup it did shoot well .I am the kind of guy that likes to mess around with free stuff and make it work. I do have copper tube already, plenty of tools etc. To me it's worth it to try and reuse the berdan cases. And it sounds like maybe they possibly aren't corrosive, regardless I'll give it a good clean after shooting them. Then I'll hydraulic out the old primers. Hard to tell the size by eye, but they look really close to a large rifle primer.
I think my hand loads were with 4350, I have a can or a partial one. There were several powders donated to me over the years, I saw 4064 in my shop as well. I think when guys see you shooting .303 they think oh he must be poor, I'll give him something lmao. There's a local firearms store here so acquiring powder, primers and bullets shouldn't be bad.
Take a fired FN case, look into the mouth of the case with a flashlight - how many flash holes do you see? Do the same with a Winchester case - how many holes do you see?
Not too many years ago, there were Berdan primers being sold in Canada. They come in different sizes. Once you ascertain the actual size, you might consider putting an ad in the EE.
Not too many years ago, there were Berdan primers being sold in Canada. They come in different sizes. Once you ascertain the actual size, you might consider putting an ad in the EE.
Man! Thats an absolute outstanding line with the analogy to scotch.
I love it.
Surprised it took so long for anyone to bring up the O ring trick for 303.
