Difference in primers . . .

[GGALVIN]

Looking at 8mm mauser ammo.   Some military stuff says berdon primed and some newer manufactured stuff says boxer primed.   What's the difference?   One corrosive and one not?   Thanks for your help.

[Larry Gibson]

Boxer primed cases will almost always be non- corrosive primed and are easily reloadable.  Berdam primed cases are almost always corrosive primed and are not easily reloaded as it takes special tools to deprime them and the berdan primers are odd sized and hard to get, expensive too when you find them.  Many "newer" combloc loaded 8x57 cases are also made of coated steel.

If you want to reload the cases go with the boxer primed ones.

Larry Gibson

[huntswithdogs]

If ya have any empty cases, shine a light down in them. If you see only one hole, it's a boxer type primer and is likely reloadable. If ya see two small holes, it's a berdan type primer. Like stated above, you can reload them but it can be a pain in the butt. My youngun had a bunch of brass he was reloading. I think he had Win and Rem. All of the military brass went in the scrap bin.

HWD

[eye shot]

if you got the time you can convert the berdan cases to boxer primed.

[Winter Hawk]

I've been told that the way to deprime the Berdan case is to get a block of wood, drill a hole through that's a tad larger than the primer diameter, then drill that out part way through the wood to the diameter of the case.  Get a short rod or dowel the same diameter as the neck of the cartridge case.  Fill the case with water, set it in the hole in the wood block, set the rod in the neck of the case and give it a hard whack with a hammer.  The hydrostatic pressure should pop the primer out.  Drill a small diameter hole down the center of the primer pocket and you should be there.  I don't recall if the primer pocket itself needs to be relieved (drilled out) or if a Boxer primer will fit straight out.

No guarantees.  I was told this 40+ years ago (amazing what useless stuff sticks in the old cranium!) and I have never taken the time to try it out.

-Kees-

[OldSchoolRanger]

I've been told that the way to deprime the Berdan case is to get a block of wood, drill a hole through that's a tad larger than the primer diameter, then drill that out part way through the wood to the diameter of the case.  Get a short rod or dowel the same diameter as the neck of the cartridge case.  Fill the case with water, set it in the hole in the wood block, set the rod in the neck of the case and give it a hard whack with a hammer.  The hydrostatic pressure should pop the primer out.  Drill a small diameter hole down the center of the primer pocket and you should be there.  I don't recall if the primer pocket itself needs to be relieved (drilled out) or if a Boxer primer will fit straight out.

No guarantees.  I was told this 40+ years ago (amazing what useless stuff sticks in the old cranium!) and I have never taken the time to try it out.

-Kees-

W Hawk,
Amazing what you pick up from this site.  Now I'll have that bit of knowledge stuck in my mind until the day I die, or until I try it out to see if it works.   
Good thing I only keep boxer primed cases. 

[Winter Hawk]

Glad to share my pain!   

-Kees-

[shot1]

You had better have a towel ready when you do that trick because the water will shoot back up out of the case and spray you.  You will also have to use a drill to remove the anvil in the primer pocket which is not easy. If you are hard up for 8X57JS (8mm Mauser) it is much easier to trim 30-06 cases to 2.300 then run them through a FL 8X57JS die then trim the to proper length. 30-06 cases are always laying on the ground or in bucket some place around a public range especially around deer season.

[OldSchoolRanger]

shot1

Nah!  That would be too easy, I like Winter Hawks way better .  You get to take a shower and have useless stuff stuck in your brain, all at one time, forever!