Old School Reloading

[Roundsworth]

From the beginning, brass shotshells used Berdan or No. 2 Boxer primers. These primers were made of brass or copper and were rounded, thus, the concave seating punch found on numerous antique priming tools. Paper shotshells used the No. 2 primer, which was also the standard large pistol primer, well into the 20th century. My shotshell reloading experience is slim. I deprimed and seated No. 209 primers in R-P 10 gauge hulls by hand. The amount of force required to perform these tasks was substantially greater than the force required to deprime and seat a large pistol primer (No. 2) in any metallic case. The majority of the tong type priming tools were designed for Berdan or Boxer primers and may not produce satisfactory results with modern battery cup shotshell primers. The removable wooden knob on an antique decapper/wad seater would probably split if used to deprime or seat No. 209 primers. Good Luck!