[Walter_tx]

I have a brass shell casing that is at least 40 years old that measures 30-06 Springfield dimentions. I can't remember where I got it. The headstamp is marked FN62. Inside the primer pocket in line with the flash hole are two needle size holes (about .015 diam.), located equidistant between the edges of the flash hole and the primer pocket outside edges. It appears to me that the idea was to promote more complete, or more even powder ignition? Does any manufacturer currently use this technique? Did it prove ineffective? Or is it worth the added expense?

Any information would be appreciated.

 

[mikenz]

Sounds like a berdan primer. Common in European made brass.

 

[Walter_tx]

Thanks for the reply.
This shell casing does not appear to be designed for a Berdan primer. I think the center area needs to be solid for a Berdan primer to work since it does not have the built in anvil. The center flash hole is large enough and will accept a standard depriming pin typically used for Boxer type primers. The two outer supplementary flash holes are much smaller than a typical Berdan primer designed brass. There are three holes in all; a large centered hole, about 1/32" diam, and two outer holes, about 0.015". Also, I think the primer pocket is at least as deep as a Boxer primer pocket.
But, I'm still confused as to the who and what of this casing design.

 

[birdshot]

sounds like berdan primer which has been modified to work with boxer primers. i think i have some around here that i drilled out like that.

 

[unclenick]

The case was made by Fabrique Nationale d'Armes de Guerre (FN), Herstal, Belgium, in 1962, and it was originally Berdan primed. Someone converted it for reloading, as Birdshot suggested. Berdan primers come in a number of different diameters, so that conversion usually requires reshaping the primer pocket, too. You can look for signs of that when you decap it. If it started out smaller in diameter than 0.210", then it will simply have been cut wider open. The integral anvil always has to be cut away. Since Berdan primer pockets are usually shorter than Boxer primer pockets, so they have to be cut to greater depth as well.

There are a number of Berdan primer sizes in tables, here.