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I came across 25 rounds of 9.3x72r ammo with Berdan primers. Is there any way (within reason) to convert this to Boxer primers?, Rick.....just wondering.
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Not to my knowledge. If memory serves me correctly, the Berdan primers are different diameters and different heights and I don't know if the usual two small flash holes would work. I don't believe you could successfully drill them out to one flash hole. I say that with the caveat that I am not a machinist. I suppose anything can be done, eventually.
Interesting question. I'll be curious to see what others with more knowledge have to say.
Vic -
Rick,
There are ways to do this, but it's not worth it. I load several calibers with berdan primers and it's not really hard at all. There are two different sizes of berdan primers found in 9.3x72R cases. The original size is .254" dia. and the more recent size is .217"; compared to .210" for boxer primers. Soon after the war, some .217" primer pockets were converted by swaging the anvil with a .209" punch, closing the flash holes and primer pocket. Then a new flash hole had to be drilled in the center. Some .254" dia. pockets were drilled out and a section of 22 hornet,or some other casehead soldered in. Both methods are entirely too much trouble for what you get out of it. If the cases you found have .254" pockets, they may be useful for use in older hammer drillings, which sometimes won't ignite smaller/harder primers. This is discussed in the 3 part article on loading 9.3x72R in WAIDMANNSHEIL a few years ago, which I believe are avaliable from the home office.
I hope this helps,
MikeComment
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Graeme Wright in "Shooting the British DR" describes another way to convert old cases when nothing else is availble: Bore out the primer pocket using a .2415" drill. put a deep chamfer to the hole and use shotgun primers. These conversions are only suitable for low-pressure, black powder level loads. He does not recommend this conversion if anything else is available, neither do I. RWS Berdan primers are still available in the proper sizes, Berdan de-/recapping tools may be found on Ebay and at gunshows, so the effort is not worthwhile.Comment
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berdan primers
I suspected as much....thanks for saving me the trouble. This club/site is a "goldmine of information"! RickComment
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