Some time ago, somebody posted a link to a company which sells dies/anvils to rework berdan pocketed brass to boxer. Does anyone recall the name or link? TIA

I wonder if perhaps you might be mistaken. While anything CAN be done, that would be a major undertaking and I cannot see any way in which it could approach being economical. Feasible, most anything is; logical or economical, no way on this one.

I have heard of such things too. And while I can see that it is conceivably possible to flatten the anvil down to seal the Berdan flash-holes, drill a central flashhole and form a Boxer style pocket, how does one reduce the diameter of the pocket to hold .210" diameter primers, when the Berdan pocket is .216" to .217" or so? This is an interesting proposition! If it can be done with a resulting case that's safe for normal pressures, it would allow the salvation of a lot of high-quality brass, like the Scandinavian 6.5X55 military cases, etc.

A common practice with some of the older Euro cartridges that Boxer brass is hard to find in is to convert them to use shotgun primers. I have done this on a 8x56R and it works great. I only load it with very mild loads though (around 1600-1800 fps). A friend of mine did the same thing to his 577/450 and took an elk with it that year. I can get you the details if you are interested.

Down in this thread is an excellent explanation from Buckshot on how he modifies Berdan-primed brass to use #209 shotshell primers. I've talked to a couple of others who've been successful with this modification. All of the usual safety precautions and disclaimers apply, of course. Haven't yet tried it. (But likely will.)

eldeguello,

If I recall correctly (not a sure thing anymore ), some years ago I read of a conversion on a caliber that was not available with boxer primers. This shooter was simply clipping the anvil off, leaving the original flash holes, and drilling a new central flash hole. He then used a circular bushing in the primer pocket with the correct opening for boxer primers. I don't remember if he enlarged the original primer pocket before bushing, but I remember thinking at the time that the bushing would have to be pretty thin, and also wondering how often the bushing came out with the primer on decapping.

Certainly a lot of trouble, but if no other cases are available (or berdan primers of the correct size in that instance), it would be worth the effort to get an obsolete caliber shooting again.

Jim

It MIGHT work with a bushing, BUT I think the pocket would require enmlarging, since the thickness of a piece of material needed to bush between .210" and .216" would only be .003", about the same as a piece of copier paper.

As I remember it, the brass in question used larger than then available berdan primers, which was the reason to alter it in the first place. As I said, he may have enlarged the primer pocket even more before bushing.

By the way, the RWS 6507 berdan primer (size used for some larger cases, like some nitro expresses) was .255 in diameter unlike the smaller .216 size. This may have been the size referred to, but again I am not positive of this.

Jim

Lonniemike,

You remember correctly. There was, maybe is, someone making threaded stainless bushes. The case is drilled and tapped for the Boxer pocket. When the case wears out, the pocket is salvaged for further use.

No doubt you could make your own from set screws.

Cheers from Darkest California,

Ross

I read a comment a year or two ago that some people put a sheet of paper over the primer hole and this is sufficient to hold the boxer primer in place. Apparently it held the pressure well enough also. I don't remember what kind of paper or the thickness, but probably it was a high grade bond with lots of fiber for strength. < !--color-->