[doctor j]

Today at a gun show, I bought some sealed military 7.62 NATO ammo. The ventor had three brands available. For each brand, he had a small laminated card with information on the ammo. On one type, he had written something to the effect of, 'Berdan primed for long storage life.' I've never read anything which would indicate that Berdan primed ammunition has any longer storage life than any other similarly packaged ammo. Anyone ever heard anything like this or have any data which would support what this vendor alleged?

 

[shane45-1911]

Berdan primers are "crimped" into place, and will supposedly seat and seal tighter than non-berdan primed rounds. Not sure if this really significantly affects shelf life - sounds like a slick marketing ploy by your vendor.

 

[doctor j]

Shane, I bought the Boxer primed variety because, sooner or later, I'm going to try my hand at reloading 7.72 NATO. The crimp may indeed provide a better seal, but I tend to believe what you said about the marketing ploy. Thanks for the info. John

 

[maxwayne]

At one time the Berdan (european) primed stuff used corrosive primers and it was felt that these might last longer.