how to deprime military brass

jeepster11 · October 1, 2008, 12:33 AM

anyone know a good way to de prime military brass so i can reload it . i picked some of my buddys brass up and cant get it deprimed need help thanks

Bullet94 · October 1, 2008, 12:46 AM

I like these -

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpag...eitemid=136543

Or these -

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpag...eitemid=297408

tom234 · October 1, 2008, 12:53 AM

All you need is a good set of RCBS dies and a Lyman primer pocket reamer.

SKULLANDCROSSBONES65 · October 1, 2008, 01:24 AM

G'day, I have heard about being able to remove primers using a hydraulic method. As I understand, the method used is to fill the case with water. Place the case in a suitable location. Sit a projectile on top and tap with a hammer.
Others may be able to give you a more refined method.

ForneyRider · October 1, 2008, 10:05 AM

I use the Lee universal decapper die and the RCBS primer pocket swager dies to remove crimp.

Cheap and works great. For high volume I would get a Dillon.

Scorch · October 1, 2008, 10:20 AM

For miliary brass:
FIRST, make sure it is not Berdan primed. Look inside the case and you will see either one central flash hole or two smaller flash holes. 1= Boxer primed (good), 2= Berdan primed (no good). A lot of older foreign military surplus ammo is Berdan primed. Toss those.

THEN, move on to decapping. A universal decapping die works wonders, no matter who the manufacturer is.

Lilswede1 · October 1, 2008, 10:33 PM

Just ran into same problem.
Found a single stage press on the Lee website for About $40.00.
Also a universal Decapping Die (under $20).
Both are working quite well.
I knock the primer out then insert the casing into my 1/2" drill and use a primer pocket reamer.
So far it works great and costs very little.

ilbob · October 2, 2008, 05:03 PM

You can pop the primer out with the normal sizing/decapping die most times. For bottle neck cartridges I have adjusted the sizing die so it does not actually size, but the decapping pin still pushes the primer out.

You need to then enlarge the primer hole with either a reaming tool or a primer pocket swager.

tazzman · October 2, 2008, 06:47 PM

I've just read about your access to military brass. If you are new to reloading, this is the first thing you should know about military brass. It is either Berdan-primed or boxer-primed. Berdan priming uses two smalaler symmetrically-spaced flash holes to increase flame distribution to the powder. Boxer priming does the same thing through one larger central flash hole. All de-priming tools using a press will successfully de-prime a boxer-primed shell. Try doing this on a Berdan-primed shell will do one of two things: break your de-priming punch or destroy your case. There are tools out there that will de-prime a Berdan-primed case, very much like a bottle opener. That action is not done on a press. Once you have de-primed your case, you must ream the flash hole because it was crimped originally, to prevent the primer from backing out. Omit this step and you will have great(sic) difficulty in re-priming the casing. One more thing. Military brass is considered as hardened when compared to its civilian equivalent. It has thicker walls(read diminished case capacity) and is more difficult to re-size. For your info, case hardening allows this round to be chambered and fired under critical conditions. There are ways to soften the case(read annealing) but there is additional costs involved. If all else fails, recycle the brass for its weight content and buy civilian-grade brass.

Bullet94 · October 2, 2008, 10:15 PM

Quote:

Once you have de-primed your case, you must ream the flash hole because it was crimped originally

Or swage.

Left swaged - Right reamed

CrustyFN · October 3, 2008, 08:45 AM

I have always just used the Lee resizing die for 223. Never had a problem yet.
Rusty

brickeyee · October 3, 2008, 12:27 PM

It just takes a little more muscle to pop the crimped primers.

Almost any decent die set should do the job.

Crosshair · October 3, 2008, 10:40 PM

One more lesson that I learned the hard way. Inspect EVERY case for case head separation. I get one case every hundred or so that would have failed had I put it in the sizing die. Some of the guns people whoot at the range must have a little too much headspace or something.

Yes it's a bit of a pain in the butt, however it is much easier than trying to remove a case that had the head come off in the die. I inspect them while watching TV.

Don P · October 4, 2008, 09:50 AM

I HAD a bunch of it. Broke 2 decapping pins.

Yes the primers were the 2 holed ones.

A long time friend/gunsmith/reloader informed me that a different set up would be needed to decap the military case. Amount of cases to cost of needed tools = toss the cases.

SKULLANDCROSSBONES65 · October 4, 2008, 10:17 AM

G'day, I have the SPEER reloading manual number 11, & on page 60 it talks about decapping "Berdan" primers. It says to use a hook type decapper made by RCBS (with a picture), or to "use a close fitting punch in the neck of a water filled case. A blow on the punch will create enough hydraulic pressure to force the priner (and the water) out."
I new i got the idea from a reliable place.

ilbob · October 4, 2008, 09:30 PM

Quote:

G'day, I have the SPEER reloading manual number 11, & on page 60 it talks about decapping "Berdan" primers. It says to use a hook type decapper made by RCBS (with a picture), or to "use a close fitting punch in the neck of a water filled case. A blow on the punch will create enough hydraulic pressure to force the priner (and the water) out."
I new i got the idea from a reliable place.

getting the berdan primers out is not so hard. getting berdan primers is a big deal. as i understand it, they just are not available in the us right now.

tazzman · November 5, 2008, 09:25 AM

Good day everyone,

Been away for a while, and have just been catching up on the last posts here. I have one question: What size are Berdan primers as compared to Boxer primers? Do they have the same height? Just thought I'd ask...

Tazzman

Sport45 · November 5, 2008, 11:30 PM

It wouldn't matter if they were the same dimension unless you plan to do some extra prep work to the case. The anvil for a berdan primer is built into the bottom of the primer pocket between the flash holes. A boxer primer has the anvil pressed into the cup. They are not interchangeable.

I once read a humorous write up about converting berdan primed brass to accept boxer primers. It involved using a punch and "whaling away with a hammer" to flatten the anvil and close the two flash holes before punching a new one in the middle.

tazzman · November 7, 2008, 08:11 PM

Hi everyone,

Thanks Sport45, the difference between berdan and boxer-primed brass is now clear. It is unfortunate that it took this long (at least this time) to explain the difference. The de-capping and reaming process of a berdan-primed case will make it compatible to boxer primers. Of course, the fact that military brass cannot contain the same amount of powder is still true, while still staying within pressure safety guidelines. It is also true that military brass is more difficult to form, due to its hardness(read annealling). To me, the only value that military-sourced brass has is its cheapness to collect. Mind you, I'm not against saving money. I don't mind spending time to build up an accurate round. But, I'm not sure that spending the time to transform a military berdan-sourced brass to shoot accurately in my rifle is worth it. Do you think that having two small flashholes will improve the burn efficiency of the powder charge? Will it improve accuracy? Just a thought...

Tazzman

Sport45 · November 8, 2008, 12:33 AM

Here's a write up from someone who's seems to have had good luck with the berdan to boxer conversion....

Converting from Berdan

thallub · November 8, 2008, 07:34 AM

Quote:

G'day, I have heard about being able to remove primers using a hydraulic method. As I understand, the method used is to fill the case with water.

I some times use the hydraulic method with some not so common European calibers with Berdan primers. It is a mess.

About once a year I recycle most of my .223 brass and order LC once fired brass. It is not worth the hassle to mess with Berdan primed brass unless it is a rare caliber.

brickeyee · November 8, 2008, 10:42 AM

It is possible to alter Berdan cases to accept boxer primers.

It is an incredible PITA.

I have done it only a couple times over 25+ years when suitable brass was not available for some older calibers.

Flat bottom end mill, flash hole reaming, brass sleeves to reduce diameter of pocket.

Precision holder to allow repeatability on each case and reasonable speed.

There is usually brass available now that can be altered to make just about anything you can find.

October 1, 2008, 12:33 AM	#1
jeepster11 Senior Member Join Date: July 3, 2008 Location: fairborn ohio Posts: 175	how to deprime military brass anyone know a good way to de prime military brass so i can reload it . i picked some of my buddys brass up and cant get it deprimed need help thanks

October 1, 2008, 12:46 AM	#2
Bullet94 Senior Member Join Date: September 8, 2004 Location: Kansas Posts: 723	I like these - http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpag...eitemid=136543 Or these - http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpag...eitemid=297408 __________________ PRO-SECOND AMENDMENT - Live Free or Die

October 1, 2008, 01:24 AM	#4
SKULLANDCROSSBONES65 Senior Member Join Date: August 19, 2008 Location: Far Nth Wst QLD Australia Posts: 992	G'day, I have heard about being able to remove primers using a hydraulic method. As I understand, the method used is to fill the case with water. Place the case in a suitable location. Sit a projectile on top and tap with a hammer. Others may be able to give you a more refined method. __________________ If you're not confused, you're not trying hard enough! When you're confused, I'll try to use smaller words!!!

October 1, 2008, 10:05 AM	#5
ForneyRider Senior Member Join Date: December 4, 2007 Location: Forney, TX Posts: 725	I use the Lee universal decapper die and the RCBS primer pocket swager dies to remove crimp. Cheap and works great. For high volume I would get a Dillon. __________________ When all is said and done, there is a lot more said than done.

October 1, 2008, 10:20 AM	#6
Scorch Senior Member Join Date: February 13, 2006 Location: Washington state Posts: 15,248	For miliary brass: FIRST, make sure it is not Berdan primed. Look inside the case and you will see either one central flash hole or two smaller flash holes. 1= Boxer primed (good), 2= Berdan primed (no good). A lot of older foreign military surplus ammo is Berdan primed. Toss those. THEN, move on to decapping. A universal decapping die works wonders, no matter who the manufacturer is. __________________ Never try to educate someone who resists knowledge at all costs. But what do I know? Summit Arms Services

October 1, 2008, 12:53 AM	#3
tom234 Senior Member Join Date: February 14, 2008 Location: Kansas Posts: 753	All you need is a good set of RCBS dies and a Lyman primer pocket reamer.

October 1, 2008, 10:33 PM	#7
Lilswede1 Senior Member Join Date: September 8, 2008 Location: NW Wash State Posts: 216	This works for me. Just ran into same problem. Found a single stage press on the Lee website for About $40.00. Also a universal Decapping Die (under $20). Both are working quite well. I knock the primer out then insert the casing into my 1/2" drill and use a primer pocket reamer. So far it works great and costs very little.

October 2, 2008, 05:03 PM	#8
ilbob Senior Member Join Date: November 29, 2006 Location: Northern Illinois Posts: 515	You can pop the primer out with the normal sizing/decapping die most times. For bottle neck cartridges I have adjusted the sizing die so it does not actually size, but the decapping pin still pushes the primer out. You need to then enlarge the primer hole with either a reaming tool or a primer pocket swager.

October 2, 2008, 06:47 PM	#9
tazzman Junior Member Join Date: September 30, 2008 Location: Canada Posts: 5	Military brass explained I've just read about your access to military brass. If you are new to reloading, this is the first thing you should know about military brass. It is either Berdan-primed or boxer-primed. Berdan priming uses two smalaler symmetrically-spaced flash holes to increase flame distribution to the powder. Boxer priming does the same thing through one larger central flash hole. All de-priming tools using a press will successfully de-prime a boxer-primed shell. Try doing this on a Berdan-primed shell will do one of two things: break your de-priming punch or destroy your case. There are tools out there that will de-prime a Berdan-primed case, very much like a bottle opener. That action is not done on a press. Once you have de-primed your case, you must ream the flash hole because it was crimped originally, to prevent the primer from backing out. Omit this step and you will have great(sic) difficulty in re-priming the casing. One more thing. Military brass is considered as hardened when compared to its civilian equivalent. It has thicker walls(read diminished case capacity) and is more difficult to re-size. For your info, case hardening allows this round to be chambered and fired under critical conditions. There are ways to soften the case(read annealing) but there is additional costs involved. If all else fails, recycle the brass for its weight content and buy civilian-grade brass.

October 3, 2008, 08:45 AM	#11
CrustyFN Senior Member Join Date: June 4, 2006 Location: West Virginia Posts: 2,258	I have always just used the Lee resizing die for 223. Never had a problem yet. Rusty __________________ I don't ever remember being absent minded.

October 3, 2008, 12:27 PM	#12
brickeyee Senior Member Join Date: December 29, 2004 Posts: 3,351	It just takes a little more muscle to pop the crimped primers. Almost any decent die set should do the job.

October 3, 2008, 10:40 PM	#13
Crosshair Senior Member Join Date: December 16, 2004 Location: Grand Forks, ND Posts: 5,333	One more lesson that I learned the hard way. Inspect EVERY case for case head separation. I get one case every hundred or so that would have failed had I put it in the sizing die. Some of the guns people whoot at the range must have a little too much headspace or something. Yes it's a bit of a pain in the butt, however it is much easier than trying to remove a case that had the head come off in the die. I inspect them while watching TV. __________________ I don't carry a gun to go looking for trouble, I carry a gun in case trouble finds me.

October 4, 2008, 09:50 AM	#14
Don P Senior Member Join Date: December 17, 2005 Location: Swamp dweller Posts: 6,187	Military brass I HAD a bunch of it. Broke 2 decapping pins. Yes the primers were the 2 holed ones. A long time friend/gunsmith/reloader informed me that a different set up would be needed to decap the military case. Amount of cases to cost of needed tools = toss the cases. __________________ *NRA Life Member, NRA Chief Range Safety Officer, NRA Certified Pistol Instructor,, USPSA & Steel Challange NROI Range Officer, ICORE Range Officer, ,MAG 40 Graduate* *As you are, I once was, As I am, You will be.*

October 4, 2008, 10:17 AM	#15
SKULLANDCROSSBONES65 Senior Member Join Date: August 19, 2008 Location: Far Nth Wst QLD Australia Posts: 992	G'day, I have the SPEER reloading manual number 11, & on page 60 it talks about decapping "Berdan" primers. It says to use a hook type decapper made by RCBS (with a picture), or to "use a close fitting punch in the neck of a water filled case. A blow on the punch will create enough hydraulic pressure to force the priner (and the water) out." I new i got the idea from a reliable place. __________________ If you're not confused, you're not trying hard enough! When you're confused, I'll try to use smaller words!!!

November 5, 2008, 09:25 AM	#17
tazzman Junior Member Join Date: September 30, 2008 Location: Canada Posts: 5	Berdan primer size Good day everyone, Been away for a while, and have just been catching up on the last posts here. I have one question: What size are Berdan primers as compared to Boxer primers? Do they have the same height? Just thought I'd ask... Tazzman

November 5, 2008, 11:30 PM	#18
Sport45 Senior Member Join Date: May 25, 1999 Location: Too close to Houston Posts: 4,196	It wouldn't matter if they were the same dimension unless you plan to do some extra prep work to the case. The anvil for a berdan primer is built into the bottom of the primer pocket between the flash holes. A boxer primer has the anvil pressed into the cup. They are not interchangeable. I once read a humorous write up about converting berdan primed brass to accept boxer primers. It involved using a punch and "whaling away with a hammer" to flatten the anvil and close the two flash holes before punching a new one in the middle. __________________ Proud member of the NRA and Texas State Rifle Association. Registered and active voter.

November 7, 2008, 08:11 PM	#19
tazzman Junior Member Join Date: September 30, 2008 Location: Canada Posts: 5	Berdan-primed cases Hi everyone, Thanks Sport45, the difference between berdan and boxer-primed brass is now clear. It is unfortunate that it took this long (at least this time) to explain the difference. The de-capping and reaming process of a berdan-primed case will make it compatible to boxer primers. Of course, the fact that military brass cannot contain the same amount of powder is still true, while still staying within pressure safety guidelines. It is also true that military brass is more difficult to form, due to its hardness(read annealling). To me, the only value that military-sourced brass has is its cheapness to collect. Mind you, I'm not against saving money. I don't mind spending time to build up an accurate round. But, I'm not sure that spending the time to transform a military berdan-sourced brass to shoot accurately in my rifle is worth it. Do you think that having two small flashholes will improve the burn efficiency of the powder charge? Will it improve accuracy? Just a thought... Tazzman

November 8, 2008, 12:33 AM	#20
Sport45 Senior Member Join Date: May 25, 1999 Location: Too close to Houston Posts: 4,196	Here's a write up from someone who's seems to have had good luck with the berdan to boxer conversion.... Converting from Berdan __________________ Proud member of the NRA and Texas State Rifle Association. Registered and active voter.

November 8, 2008, 10:42 AM	#22
brickeyee Senior Member Join Date: December 29, 2004 Posts: 3,351	It is possible to alter Berdan cases to accept boxer primers. It is an incredible PITA. I have done it only a couple times over 25+ years when suitable brass was not available for some older calibers. Flat bottom end mill, flash hole reaming, brass sleeves to reduce diameter of pocket. Precision holder to allow repeatability on each case and reasonable speed. There is usually brass available now that can be altered to make just about anything you can find.