I am not a reloader at this time so my ammo knowlage is small. Is Boxer primed ammo reloadable?
Most is. It will have one central flash hole. Berdan primed will have multiple.
+1
Generally:
Boxer = reloadable;
Berdan = not reloadable.
Bimmer
I like pictures…
As was mentioned boxer is the reloadable case. That being said though, there is SOME boxer primed ammo you don’t want to or might not want to reload.
Aluminum case ammo…like Blazer. Most agree aluminum is a one shot and toss.
Some folks shy away from reloading nickel plated cases, (silver in appearance), I reload them myself, some folks don’t.
Wolf…a lot of the newer wolf out there is coming in boxer primed, but it is steel cased. I did reload a dozen wolf .45 steel case for the hell of it. They all resized ok no worse than any brass ammo. All worked and cycled fine.
I place a premium on these. They don’t tarnish (not nearly as much as bare brass, anyway), they’re easier to find on the range, and they seem to “stick” less.
I wasn’t aware of any downside.
Bimmer
There are a few folks in the reloading community who swear the nickel will “flake off” and scratch your dies. Or the nickel plating itself just being harder will scratch dies.
I give all my nickel cases a thorough once over and have yet to notice this phenomenon myself. I tumble, lube and resize…and have had no problems to date.
Google (or don’t ;)) “reloading nickel plated brass” you will get quite a few hits with links to various forums and discussions on the controversy.
This is news to me…
I’ve done 1,000s of these (40 S&W), and I’ve never had a problem. I’ve never seen the nickel flake off, either.
Bimmer
The only down side to nickle cases I have encountered is that they will split long before plain brass.
Is this just pistol ammo or is it rifle too?
Far as I know from various forums boxer primed wolf is showing up in rifle ammo also. Personally I wouldn’t reload a steel rifle case.
If it needs to be trimmed do I want to use my good steel case trimmers on a steel case? No.
I could see some trouble full length resizing steel, especially setting back the shoulder.
It might work in a pinch, but I have plenty of brass on hand. I was just messing around with the .45’s to see how it worked. I didn’t see any trouble with straight wall pistol cases, but steel bottle necks give me the heebie-jeebies.
I know the nickle will flake off primers and does regularly in my 357Sig handguns.
Never seen it flake off the case though. I guess I retire them before they get there, though I’m not sure that’s possible since I tend to shoot the headstamps off most of my brass.
I wouldn’t expect the nickle on the case to be as fragile since it’s 1) not as thin and 2) not getting anywhere near the abuse the primer gets.
Boxer priming system developed by a brit, used mostly in the US, Berdan priming system developed by a yank & used outside US.
Berdan primed brass is reloadable, but it is very hard to find primers for it & requires special tool to deprime.
I wouldn’t even begin to ever contemplate reloading steel cased. run.