I remember reading in my Lyman book something about Berdan Primers. And I distinctly remember something about staying away from them.

I had a chance to order some Berdan small pistol primers from Fort Smith (?) And quickly did look for reviews , couldn't really find much other than that they are ruskie primers.

One review I did find on some rifle primers of theirs did mention they had a smell to them.

Did I do well to stay away? What the heck are Berdan primers?

Berdan primers do not have an integral anvil. The Berdan case has the anvil incorporated into the case, with two flash holes. These primers will not work with the Boxer primed cases commonly used in the US., so it’s good that you didn't order any.

From the picture, I did see the anvil was part of the case.

Whew! Ok.

Maybe I've lead a sheltered life, but I've never seen Berdan primers for sale. I recall seeing the Berdan primer decapping tools for sale years ago. I suppose with enough machining one could ream and drill a Berdan primer pocket to accept a boxer primer. Berdan primers are obviously in wide spread use worldwide. All of the steel cased 7.76x39 Russian stuff is Berdan primed. Is it possible to pry the anvil out of a boxer primer and use in a Berdan case? Sounds crazy, but these are currently desperate times.

The above information is correct. Berdan primers work only with cases made for Berdan primers (primer anvil as part of the case).

The tools needed for decapping Berdan-primed cases are available, basically a small lever mechanism with a sharpened point to engage the primer and pry it out of the pocket. Re-priming would require a priming tool of proper dimensions for the Berdan primers, which may or may not be close enough to Boxer primer sizes to allow use of our more common (US) tools.

I actually looked into this about 30 years ago for an old European rifle for which the only ammunition and brass supplies were Berdan-primed from European sources. As I recall I abandoned the idea because, while I could tool up for the work, there were no regular supplies of Berdan primers available at the time. Those were pre-internet days, so I suspect that everything might be more readily accessible for those wanting to do so.

With most of the popular calibers now available in Boxer-primed ammo and components about the only utility I can imagine for getting into this would be to feed some of the fine old guns for which there are no supplies of Boxer-primed ammo.

Trivia: Berdan primers are highly used in Europe but were invented in America. Boxer primers are are used in America but were invented in Europe.

You usually learned about Berdan Primers and Berdan primed brass the first time you tried to resize one and bent a decapping pin ... or two ... that's when you got in the habit of looking for two tiny flash holes or one big flash hole .
I learned in 1967 trying to size a 7.5 Swiss case .. bent one decapping pin then went to gun shop to seek guidance ... they didn't laugh , just knowing smiles and instruction .

If you have Berdan Primed brass cases they can be reloaded ...
That is something to consider !
Gary

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Berdan to Boxer primer case conversions are possible, and I've seen a few over the years (youtube?), but I don't recall any modification of a Boxer primed case to accept Berdan primers. I played with Berdan primed cases, decapping with water and drilling the pocket to accept Boxer primers, but my results were very poor. Berdan primers have a different OD (can't find a chart right now) and IIRC are a sloppy fit in Boxer brass. The converting was long and laborious, and as long as there is Boxer brass available it isn't worth the time or effort...

After looking at Berdan vs Boxer priming, the only advantage to Boxer priming (other than Boxer primers are used in America about 1,500,000 to one over Berdan) is decapping. A single tool pokes out a Boxer and a Berdan needs a special tool to pry the spent primer out, or messy hydraulic decapping method. Besides that Berdan seems to be better at igniting powder charges with 2 flash holes and a built in anvil would eliminate seating problems and misfires. Manufacturing Berdan looks simpler as no anvil needs to be made and inserted. But, it's just my "observation"...

Jes an old guy's thinking...

Berdan primed brass belongs in the recycle bucket with 45 ACP small primer brass -- an abomination forced on reloaders by cost accountants.

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S&WHF 366