Berdan primed .45 auto? - The Firearms Forum

circa1885 · 09-26-2012, 04:04 PM

I deprime and clean brass before reloading and in some miscellaneous .45 brass I found an odd berdan primed what appears to be .45 case. Nothing I have will take picture close up. The base has the following numbers and letters: clockwise from a vertical 57 at 3:00,a horizontal I at 6:00, a vertical 1 at 9:00, and a horizontal SF at 12:00. No big deal just curious what it could be. can anyone help?

JAS · 09-26-2012, 06:21 PM

If you do a search for berdan primers they will tell you what most of these codes are and where they are made. I had and have more that are Argentine with a date of 1978.
Nothing wrong with them,but if they are old ones i think before 1960 they may be a corrosive type primer .How did you deprime them usually need a different type of die or hydraulic method.And they are not a standard size primer.Should have 2 flash holes inside.Thats about all I can tell you.

gdmoody · 09-26-2012, 06:51 PM

If it looks like this one, it was made by Societe Francaise des Munitions (France) but I have no idea what the numbers are unless it is the date of manufacture.

circa1885 · 09-30-2012, 10:21 PM

While cleaning old 45 brass of unknown origin I found what appears to be a Berdan primed piece. I manually deprime before cleaning so there was no damage to the depriming pin in the press. Around the base are the letters and numbers as follows: 57,I,1,SF. Not an expert on 45 ammo by any means but this seems kind of odd. Can anyone tell me what it is?

gdmoody · 10-01-2012, 09:51 AM

I put a picture up in the thread you started on 9/26. Here is a link to that thread with the same question: http://www.thefirearmsforum.com/showthread.php?t=114068

circa1885 · 10-01-2012, 04:34 PM

Thanks to both of you, the headstamp in the picture is the same as mine except 57 instead of 56. Sorry for the apparent duplications but my posts seem to wind up in cyberspace somewhere I can't find them.

09-26-2012, 04:04 PM	#1
circa1885 Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Gulf Coast Alabama Posts: 25	Berdan primed .45 auto? I deprime and clean brass before reloading and in some miscellaneous .45 brass I found an odd berdan primed what appears to be .45 case. Nothing I have will take picture close up. The base has the following numbers and letters: clockwise from a vertical 57 at 3:00,a horizontal I at 6:00, a vertical 1 at 9:00, and a horizontal SF at 12:00. No big deal just curious what it could be. can anyone help? -->

09-26-2012, 06:21 PM	#2
JAS Member Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: NE TN Posts: 9	Re: Berdan primed .45 auto? If you do a search for berdan primers they will tell you what most of these codes are and where they are made. I had and have more that are Argentine with a date of 1978. Nothing wrong with them,but if they are old ones i think before 1960 they may be a corrosive type primer .How did you deprime them usually need a different type of die or hydraulic method.And they are not a standard size primer.Should have 2 flash holes inside.Thats about all I can tell you.

09-26-2012, 06:51 PM	#3
gdmoody Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Northeast Georgia Contributor Posts: 6,311	Re: Berdan primed .45 auto? If it looks like this one, it was made by Societe Francaise des Munitions (France) but I have no idea what the numbers are unless it is the date of manufacture. Attached Images __________________ NRA Endowment Member GeorgiaCarry.Org Member Retired US Army Postal Worker Personally, I carry a gun because I'm too young to die and too old to take an ass whoopin'.....author unknown (but obviously brilliant)

09-30-2012, 10:21 PM	#4
circa1885 Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Gulf Coast Alabama Posts: 25	Berdan Primed 45 auto? While cleaning old 45 brass of unknown origin I found what appears to be a Berdan primed piece. I manually deprime before cleaning so there was no damage to the depriming pin in the press. Around the base are the letters and numbers as follows: 57,I,1,SF. Not an expert on 45 ammo by any means but this seems kind of odd. Can anyone tell me what it is?

10-01-2012, 09:51 AM	#5
gdmoody Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Northeast Georgia Contributor Posts: 6,311	Re: Berdan Primed 45 auto? I put a picture up in the thread you started on 9/26. Here is a link to that thread with the same question: http://www.thefirearmsforum.com/showthread.php?t=114068 __________________ NRA Endowment Member GeorgiaCarry.Org Member Retired US Army Postal Worker Personally, I carry a gun because I'm too young to die and too old to take an ass whoopin'.....author unknown (but obviously brilliant)

10-01-2012, 04:34 PM	#6
circa1885 Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Gulf Coast Alabama Posts: 25	Re: Berdan primed .45 auto? Thanks to both of you, the headstamp in the picture is the same as mine except 57 instead of 56. Sorry for the apparent duplications but my posts seem to wind up in cyberspace somewhere I can't find them.