[Mike Irwin]

Road Warrior,

That's one suggestion that was made by, I believe, Col. George Nonte in his book on reloading and creating cartridges for hard to find calibers.

Essentially he suggested putting the case over a mandrel and then using a punch that just fits the primer pocket to flatten out the Berdan anvil. This would also serve to partially or totally close the off-center flash holes.

A small diameter bit would then be used to create the new, centrally located flashhole.

It will work, but there are a couple of issues with that, though, that have to be taken into account.

1. Primer pocket size. As I noted, most cases having berdan priming will use primers that aren't of standard US size, so you'll have to figure some way to either (ideally) enlarge the primer pocket to the proper dimensions, or to sleeve an oversized primer pocket down. Doable, but more work.

2. Primer pocket strength. You'd want to keep the charges with such a modified case on the low to moderate size just to ensure that there aren't any problems with the bottom of the primer pocket blowing out.

3. Time. At one time this might have been the only way to get a usable case for an obsolete cartridge, and the investment in time would be pretty high. Today, though, you can find new cases for just about any caliber you want. Bertram offered(s) cases for many obsolete rounds. Old Western Scrounger is another possible source.