Monday, June 22, 2015

Praxis: Guerrilla Reloading -- Berdan to Boxer Conversion, Ammonpulver and Reusing Spent Pimers.

Berdan to Boxer Conversion Method
"Thanks to the excellent instructions published by M.Chandler at http://web.archive.org/web/20090109164453/http://users.ameritech.net/mchandler/primer.html, I finally found a practical method of converting .217" Berdan brass to take .210" Boxer primers. The tools I used are an RCBS primer pocket swager, a good loading press, a drill, a spare shellholder, and a ball bearing about 1/2 inch in diameter. The process is simple and quick, requiring under two minutes per case once everything is set up. It works very well for me. Once I'd made up a dozen cases, I loaded and fired 150-grain bullets with charges of WC852 from 43 to 55 grains, then reloaded and fired one case 7 times with the stiff 55-grain load. There were no gas leaks at all and the primer pocket was just about as snug after 7 load/fire cycles as it was immediately after conversion."
Ammonpulver
Ammonpulver is a very energetic powder with an energy content about equal to powders like 2400, Blue Dot, or Bullseye, which are all quite powerful. Its burn rate is controlled the same way as other powders by changing the grain size, and I found that the ammonpulver I made ranged in burn rate from about IMR3031 or IMR4895 down to around IMR4350 in granulations about like corn meal on down to Cream of Wheat, the finer the granulation the faster it burns. It is also flashless as well as a truly smokeless powder, the combustion products are nitrogen, carbon monoxide, and water in the form of steam; all of which are clear colorless gases. Because of the inevitable ash from the wood charcoal, a very tiny amount of smoke in the form of a colloidal dust is briefly seen, and when the temperature is low and humidity high the condensed steam is also seen as "smoke" that very rapidly disappears.
As has already been mentioned, ammonpulver is simply a finely ground mixture of carefully dried ammonium nitrate and charcoal (ammonium nitrate is highly hygroscopic and readily absorbs moisture from the air and when left out in the open it turns into a soupy puddle), the range of proportions that prove useful are from about 80% ammonium nitrate and 20% charcoal, to 90% ammonium nitrate and 10% charcoal. The chemically balanced equation gives very close to 86.96% ammonium nitrate and 13.04% charcoal (87% and 13% are close enough). However, I did all my experiments with the most commonly used proportions of 85% ammonium nitrate and 15% dead-burnt charcoal. It is of utmost importance to use dead-burnt charcoal since the creosotes left from partially roasted wood make the powder unstable and possibly subject to spontaneous ignition. The partially roasted wood charcoal that was used for canon powder by the U.S. Navy in the 1890s is probably what blew up the U.S. battleship Maine in Havana Harbor in Cuba in 1898, setting off the Spanish American War. At the time in 1898, it was rumored that a Spanish torpedo or sea mine was responsible for the Maine sinking, however later problems with auto-ignition of the so-called "cocoa powder" made using partially roasted charcoal that was still a reddish-brown color is most likely what ignited the canon powder magazine aboard the Maine, blowing it up and sinking it in seconds. Anyway, to be safe, the charcoal used for making ammonpulver should conduct electricity, ensuring that it is dead burnt and has no creosote left in it.
What if you can't buy primers for handloading, DIY ammo option

5 comments:

Block Of Instruction said...

Grandfather taught me how to reload 22lr when I was 10 years old, yes 22lr. He made his own tools and dies. He also showed me how to make bullet jackets for a .222 Remington he had. Funny this is they work just as well today in 5.56x45 as well. The folks who came thru the depression were worth they're sale. Can't say the same for many of today's world who think money is the be all. Skill sets are worth everything when it all goes to shit, some will learn that lesson hard, as they should.

Anonymous said...

If you recycle your Berdan primers and brass, you will not have to mess with the anvil, as it is built into the Berdan case primer pocket. Using the toy caps is a good idea, and avoids home chemistry mishaps, but remember your homebrew primers will be corrosive. Clean your gun with an old-fashioned solvent like Hoppe's No. 9.

Anonymous said...

............oh for gods sake go down and buy some primers !

Anonymous said...

Anonymous Anonymous said...

............oh for gods sake go down and buy some primers !

I believe when the time comes there will be plenty of ammo in the street or stored at the "Ammo Dump" near the FEMA camps. Skill sets will be worth everything, when tyrants throw the rule of law is out the window and piss on the COTUS the final time for many. When the rule of law is out the window, past exported skill sets, will be used to counter the tyrants the only way they will understand the people are done with they're "Nicety's". No one will be untouchable, when roof top voting is in play. no one. 100 heads is a great concept, but for only those who are of only average ability.

Anonymous said...

My stepson loaded up some black powder .38 with strike anywhere match tips in salvaged primer cups. 24 of 24 fired just fine so we stocked up on matches. Delay is just perceptible; much less than a flintlock for instance. Worked fine in lever gun and revolver.

Putzy work rebuilding the primers but it was a success.