Primer and 7.62 x 54R questions

summerside sniper

summerside sniper

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I'm interested in getting into reloading because of the lack of commercial selling of the 7.62x54R rounds (damn gov't!) and the high prices of ammo.

I've begun getting into reloading by starting to read my 7th Edition of ABC's of Reloading cover to cover. I'm reading the chapter on primers and it says that rifle and pistol primers come in two different sizes. It also stated in an earlier chapter to be aware of what powder your buying, for two different companies can sell you the same number of powder, but only one is the proper type. I.E. IMR 4831 vs. Hodgdon H4831. So my question is, are primers like powders, you have to be careful what company you buy from? Do primers very from company to company?

It also states in the primer chapter that Berdan de-priming tools and primers are hard to come by. How hard is it to find the necessary material to load/reload 7.62x54R ammo as its the only one I have that uses the Berdan primer.
 
Primers

There should be no such problem with primers. I presume your rifle uses large primers, so just get any brand of large rifle primers you wish. Having said that, I will probably get lambasted by the pickety group that will say primer xx is far superior to primer brand abc and brand kkk is downright dangerous!!
I look on all of this as just a Ford verses Chev argument.
Soon you will hear a lot about standard primers verses magnum primers, as they are made in the two types. Again, my advice is just get any brand, either magnum or standard, and use them.
When some one writes in and states that if you are using such and such a powder, and/or the temperature is below some weird figure, you must use magnum primers, just remember one thing. Those people who tell you these things have not personally experienced it. They have just read it somewhere.
OK, someone will now write in and say, "I was out last fall when the weather turned cold, I was using standard primers and I just got a click when I pulled the trigger." Well my friend, don't blame the primer. Unless your rifle action is cleaned of all the oil in it, then either dry lubricated, or something like kerosene used, it probably won't fire in cold weather.
I have been using my reloads for 45 years and have never had a primer failure. I always use standard primers. Many years ago I read the results of an extensive study on the firing capabilities of primers, where they measured the heat, pressure, whatever, from a multitude of primers. Their bottom line was that the power of the firing pin had more to do with the power of the primer than anything else. They found that a strong hit with the firing pin would give a standard primer more power, than would a magnum primer with a weak hitting firing pin!
Sorry to get carried away here, but good luck to your reloading effort.
 
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First off, primers fall into 2 categories: berdan and boxer.
From there they break down into sub-categories such as large, small, rifle, pistol, and the magnum varieties of each.

For some things, certain primers do make a difference. CCI's are harder than others. For this reason, I don't use them in my revolvers. They're a good primer, just not good for my application.

You say you're reloading for 7.62x54R and that it's berdan primed? Not to be snide, but are you sure? Igman ammo is boxer primed and easily reloadable with standard equipment.

primertypes2.jpg


The 2 on the left are berdan primed, the 1 one the right is boxer.

I have never reloaded berdan but I have heard that components are a bit hard to come by. Others who have will hopefully chime in here on it's merits.

(E) :cool:
 
Primers

I reloaded for my Moisin Nagant for the 2 years that I owned it, just get a box of brass from Peter Dobson (on this form), and use LR primers, Varget, and 150gn bullets and don't look back. Mine shot great, and really loved the 150gn .308 bullets.
 
A few years ago i ran some 7.62 x 54R loads using WW 748 powder. With regular primers i started getting erratic ignition ( powder would fuse in a sticky mess) in the wintertime. Had to go to magnum primers to get ignition -the only instance in 25 years where I had to do this.
 
Reloading Berdan primed brass is more trouble than it's worth. There's lots of commercial boxer primed 7.62 x 54R brass around. Not necessarily inexpensive though.
 
I started reloading for this very reason, I need to shoot my Mosin Nagant and surplus ammo wasn't readily available. I use standard Large Rifle Primers with good effect. I also use Lapua brass that works great and lasts a long time. I have some brass on its 8th use. Very little trimming needed. Costs alot but good life on the brass. Trick is to not load "hot" loads.
 
i would tend to agree with H4831 on the primers and fully expect to get the same type of feedback about it....there is a fair bit of boxer primed brass out there ...mostly the european stuff which is actually quite good...norma is expensive but is great...another one is the prvi partizan brass from Serbia.(head stamped NNY) the sellier & bellot stuff has the primer pocket to large and the primer will not seat properly...check your local ranges or gun shows....I have used IMR 4350 (53 grs) with a 150 gr .308 bullet and (52 grs)
with a 180gr...these have worked great in my rifles for years and 2400 has worked great in my cast loads as well....might also consider H380...
 
i see you guys are using .308 diameter bullets for reloading the 7.62x54r. the military rounds i've fired out of my m38 have all had .311-.312 dia bullets. and even before measuring those, i was under the impression that this cartridge uses .311 bullets, not .308. i just started reloading and have loaded up some sellier and bellot (no problem getting the federal standard rifle primers into the pocket) with imr4895 and 150gr. hornady .303 (.312dia) bullets. i havent had a chance to fire any of them though...i hope it works out
 
serbian said:
i see you guys are using .308 diameter bullets for reloading the 7.62x54r. the military rounds i've fired out of my m38 have all had .311-.312 dia bullets. and even before measuring those, i was under the impression that this cartridge uses .311 bullets, not .308. i just started reloading and have loaded up some sellier and bellot (no problem getting the federal standard rifle primers into the pocket) with imr4895 and 150gr. hornady .303 (.312dia) bullets. i havent had a chance to fire any of them though...i hope it works out
Click to expand...

I shoot .311 bullets in my mosin nagants. According to cartridges of the world the military bullets measure from .309-.311, so while tighter bores will shoot .308 diameter fine the larger bored guns will have better luck with the .311's or bullets cast and sized to an appropriate diameter for the bore. I have in the past measured the sizer ball in my dies and it measures .311, RCBS I believe.

To the original poster, unless you have mountains of beridan primed brass I'd toss it, buy some boxer primed and go that way, I haven't found it to be more expensive then most other medium sized rifle brass, maybe a bit scarcer but it's out there.
 
H4831: x2 on that post!! As for primers, powder, bullets, brass, equipment, and methods, we all get a bit touchy if someone doubts our absolute 100% knowledge about whatever. I do, however, like to try to remind myself that if I hadn't been able to read or hear about other ways of doing things, I would likely be still throwing stones instead of reloading, collecting and shooting, thus enjoying my hobby with a passion after 40+ years. I hope, over the years, I haven't scared off any new people with the old, "You must do it this way to be of any account", B.S. The internet has the widened the opening for learning by an almost infinite amount, as new data and experience is being added as we "speak".:p:p
 
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