Reloading Berdan primed .308

[Repubiman]

Ok as I'm fairly new to reloading, and still doing a lot of reading and researching, I need to ask a couple questions
regarding reloading of .308 ammo. I haven't reloaded any rifle ammo yet but plan on reloading .308 for a M1A, 5.56 for AR and .243 for my bolt rifle. I have reloaded a lot of pistol ammo and it's been great but still researching and such
before I take the plunge into rifle ammo.

I have over a 1000 rds. of South African .308 ammo that I shoot in my M1A. When I got into reloading I thought
well cool. I can save all my SA .308 and reload it. Well now I just read that since the case is Berdan primed, it's
best to just scrap the .308 berdan primed cases and find boxer primed only.

As I stated I am new to reloading and thought once it was fired, I could just remove the berdan primer and retrofit
with boxer primer and be good to go. As I understand it, that is not something I can do, due to the 2 flash holes in
the case for berdan primed brass. Is this correct?

Really a bummer because I hardly have any .308 brass now that most of it is berdan primed. I even went and bought
a special depriming tool for depriming military ammo. Is that useless now too? It's a Dillion Super Swage 600. Or,
can I still use the Super Swage to deprime all military cases that are crimped primers? Will 5.56 x 45 military brass
have crimped in primers or not?

So as I see it, I can shoot the .308 SA and enjoy that I bought it back when .308 was still cheap. I bought my first 980 rd. case of the SA .308 for $228 which is around .23 cent per round. lol.... then just sell the cases for scrap or is there other things I might be able to do with it like tring to find berdan primers if they still sell them.

Thanks for any light you can shed on this.

 

[royesses]

Berdan primers are available and so are the tools:http://www.midwayusa.com/Product/245983/rcbs-berdan-decapping-tool

While I have never needed to work with them, plenty of re-loaders do.

 

[Calamity Jake]

The dillion super swedge is used to remove the crimp from military crimped cases not to remove berdan primers.

There are special tools for removing berdan primers but it is a PITA and berdan primers are way over priced in my book,
best to scrap the fired brass and get good American made brass.

 

[gfercaks33]

I don't know if this is the right way of removing primers but I have done it tinkering with some old cases.

Fill the case with water, find a drill bit that fits the neck (not super tight but not loose), and whack the drill bit. The water forces the primer out.

 

[aviator41]

As Jake said, it's possible, but really not worth it. Berdan primers are slightly different size than boxer primers, making a retrofit a challenge and impossible without real work on the brass.

Pick up a couple of boxes of inexpensive commercial, U.S. ammo and reload that brass. American Eagle 7.62x51 ammo that is labeled for the M1A is good stuff, nice brass and can be reloaded many many times. No reason to pull your hair out with the Berdan primed brass.

Enjoy that ammo, shoot it and scrap the brass with a smile on your face!

If you want a few boxer primed, once fired cases to load I may have a few I'd be happy to give you and would be happy to help you with your reloading in any way you need it. I am sure you will have many fine folks here offering up help.

Don't be afraid to ask, we're all happy to help!

 

[mouthpiece]

Guys over on the falfiles are buying and reloading berdan brass. It is NOT scrap.
I think they are paying AROUND .03¢-.05¢ a case plus shipping.

 

[furlong222]

powdervalley has berdan primers most of the time

 

[Repubiman]

Ok guys thanks for the input, I appreciate it much. aviator41 I really appreciate the offer and might have to hit you up for some more advice when
I get to the point of reloading some .308. I have all the equipment, dies ,powders and bullets to start, just still doing research.

If I was a much more experienced reloader, I might try to mess around with reloading some of it but for now, I'll take the concensus and
not mess with it. Once I get some significant amounts of .308 SA brass shot up, I'll see if anyone who reloads here wants it if they mess with it.

Again, thanks for the input. Will definitely be asking a lot more questions on the rifle reloading. I just got a new AR and said I wouldn't due
to wanting to not have to stock so many different rounds sizes. I was trying to cut down what I needed to make room for. While that lasted about 10 years, I now have 5.56 to work with and will probably be reloading a lot of that. I have mostly LC 5.56 brass that I will reload.

Thanks again gentlemen.