Started prep on a batch of .308 berdan cases.

Nice rainy windy day so I am hanging out in the playroom prepping a 500 rnd batch of MEN 7.61 x 51 German surplus berdan brass on it's 3rd loading.


1. Deprimed
2. Annealed
3. Sized
4. Wet tumbled with SS pins.
5. Run through the dryer.


Last group of 150 is in the dryer now. In a couple of hours it can come out and get run through the Giraud trimmer.
Should be ready for priming and loading in the morning if we have crappy weather again.
Open ammo can is for cooling the brass after annealing. Whatta Hobby!

Awesome topic. Are you going to talk about your process of gouging out the primers and finding Berdan primers? Hydraulic? Or do you drill them out and go boxer? I did some crazy stuff back in the late 2000's when nothing was available.

I was wondering the same.. How are you dealing with the Berden-dillys? I’m guessing hydraulic is easiest for most. Never messed with them myself. I’ve actually started saving even my primers to possibly refresh in case primers disappear indefinitely.

Oh wait..you are doing hydraulic, aren’t you? Isn’t that your plunger in a case in the first picture?

No No and No. I use the RCBS Berdan de-capping tool that is in the first photo. Works like a champ and is as fast as boxer de-priming with a hand de-primer.
that thing that you suspect is a plunger is actually part of the tool. It gets inserted in the case and provides leverage when you use the other half of the tool to pop the primer out. Fast and clean once one learns how to properly use the tool.

Good eye anyway Dave. I saw it but didn't spend anytime thinking about that contraption.

Let us know how it goes Sarge. Cool project.

Been going well for decades. I have been doing 5 - 10 K of these critters annually. I find them much more suited to precision .308 than boxers. The suggestion is that the primers with the two flash holes in the case are more consistent. Never been able to prove that to be wrong. Whatta Hobby!

It may be related to enlarging flash holes for some rounds. I started doing that for reduced load cast bullets, then found my full power jacketed bullets also had lower es/sd. Kinda surprising since many of the old timers tell you it is dangerous.

OTOH, one of the reasons some folks thing the 6BR is so consistent is the smaller flash hole. Go figure.

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Originally Posted by charlie b

It may be related to enlarging flash holes for some rounds. I started doing that for reduced load cast bullets, then found my full power jacketed bullets also had lower es/sd. Kinda surprising since many of the old timers tell you it is dangerous.

OTOH, one of the reasons some folks thing the 6BR is so consistent is the smaller flash hole. Go figure.

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Have heard that on boxer primed .308 brass the small rifle primer with the smaller flash hole is supposed to be more consistent ignition. I have used a bunch of it an still find the berdan surplus even better. Guess, whatever works for you is the important thing. Whatta Hobby!

Finished priming 400. Ready to load. Looks like I will be using Sierra 135 gn hollow point fb varminters. Now to go through the record cards and find which powder and load worked the best. Whatta Hobby!

The flash hole on SRP cases is not enough smaller than LRP cases to make a difference. The same decapping pin works on both. The more consistent results (in some cases) is more due to the SRP's vs the LRP's. My suspicion is that the SRP's contain less reactive media than the LRP's so any variation has less effect on the overall charge.

I am due to set up another test using SRP's and the effect of enlarging the flash hole. I'll post up if I see much difference.

Another nice feature of the small primers is the fact that the primer pockets last much longer before getting loose. I have some 6.5 Creedmoor brass that has over 2 dozen loads and still nice and snug. Whatta Hobby!

I've not had a brass life issue in the .308 with LRP's, mainly because most of my shooting has been with cast and reduced loads. I did have 50 Lapua brass that I used only for jacketed that went for over 20 reloads. But, Lapua brass is known for it's long life.

Made up my initial ladder loads this morning using Varget. 45 - 47.5 gn in 1/2 grain increments pushing Sierra 135 gn fb varminters. Seated for a .100 jump. Whatta Hobby!