bullet puller problems
- Thread starter Shadow9mm
- Start date
The kinetic puller works when you hammer against a 2x4 or 4x4 end and hold the hammer down than let the hammer bounce back.
A collet holder is good but your bullet could still be squeezed out of shape. Pliers might do the same but be careful you don't ruin the threads on your press.
I have a tool I purchased years ago and it has teeth that allows the bullet to enter it on the down stroke of the press and bites into the bullet on the upstroke to pull the bullet out.
Lastly, I had a few hundred handgun bullets that were exposed to excess heat in a fire. The bullets were impossible to pull out with any of the methods mentioned above so I cut the case with bolt cutters, the case split at the neck so the tension was off, and I removed the bullet. I melted bullets for casting where the casing around the bullet did not split open. I had a 50/50 success rate. If you cut near the base of the bullet, the case will split.
A collet holder is good but your bullet could still be squeezed out of shape. Pliers might do the same but be careful you don't ruin the threads on your press.
I have a tool I purchased years ago and it has teeth that allows the bullet to enter it on the down stroke of the press and bites into the bullet on the upstroke to pull the bullet out.
Lastly, I had a few hundred handgun bullets that were exposed to excess heat in a fire. The bullets were impossible to pull out with any of the methods mentioned above so I cut the case with bolt cutters, the case split at the neck so the tension was off, and I removed the bullet. I melted bullets for casting where the casing around the bullet did not split open. I had a 50/50 success rate. If you cut near the base of the bullet, the case will split.
I used (when needed) the RCBS collet puller in my press for many years. Results were always rather disappointing. Hand tight as I could get it, bullets slipped out of the collet over half the time. Tightened with a cheater bar, and requiring using a mallet to loosen the handle, it USUALLY pulled the bullets. Lead bullets could not be pulled without rendering them useable only for remelting.
Then I bought a Lyman "orange hammer" puller. The thing works freakin' GREAT. I pulled down 400 7.62NATO rounds (without "breaking the sealant by seating the bullet a little deeper). 4-6 wacks on the top of my wood stove (COLD STOVE) pulled everything, NO damage to the bullets at all.
My technique isn't to swing hard or long, just "smartly". Fast snap with that sudden stop is what pulls bullets, even .22 bullets, but their light weight has less inertia so it often takes a few more swings than heavier bullets to get the job done.
I will not be going back to the press mounted collet puller...ever...
Then I bought a Lyman "orange hammer" puller. The thing works freakin' GREAT. I pulled down 400 7.62NATO rounds (without "breaking the sealant by seating the bullet a little deeper). 4-6 wacks on the top of my wood stove (COLD STOVE) pulled everything, NO damage to the bullets at all.
My technique isn't to swing hard or long, just "smartly". Fast snap with that sudden stop is what pulls bullets, even .22 bullets, but their light weight has less inertia so it often takes a few more swings than heavier bullets to get the job done.
I will not be going back to the press mounted collet puller...ever...
Smoke & Recoil said:
I advise people not to do that. It is possible to orient the shell holder so the slot is forward in the hammer and the cartridge tries to slide out of it during the swing. This results in the outer edge of the primer pocket bouncing up against the edge of the hole through the holder. We had an instance on another forum where a fellow was pulling a 45 Auto bullet with a high primer, so the edge of the hole hit the primer and that set off the 45 Auto round that was in it. That disassembled the puller and lodged the case and shell holder in the ceiling. Nobody got hurt that time, but poor guy that did it was a divorced father and his kid was with him that weekend, which made for a lot of excitement having to be explained to his ex. Not a fun scenario. The bullet was out of the case, though.
I replicated the cartridge displacement below. Figure 1 is the cartridge wiggle room in the puller barrel. Figure 2 is how it is supposed to be. Figures 3 and 4 show how the cartridge head move in the slot can cause the overlap I mentioned.
Heed the words of Unclenick above.
"You need a flat hard surface, concrete is ideal, flat rock will work. Even a shop floor covered with tile takes some whacking. Wood work bench will not do it very well if at all".
That too.
I use both a collet puller and a kinetic puller. While the collet pullers are nice they are not very good with small round nose bullets, especially LRN. You obviously have some tight bullets.
Ron
"You need a flat hard surface, concrete is ideal, flat rock will work. Even a shop floor covered with tile takes some whacking. Wood work bench will not do it very well if at all".
That too.
I use both a collet puller and a kinetic puller. While the collet pullers are nice they are not very good with small round nose bullets, especially LRN. You obviously have some tight bullets.
Ron
RCBS makes caliber specific extended shell holders that allow pistol rounds to extend up past the top of the press. Supposedly, Hornady makes an adapter that fits your shell holder slot in the press, then standard shell holders mount on it, so you don't need special extended holders for every caliber. If you're just pulling bullets with a side cutter or whatever, these work great. Otherwise, one test a few years ago, was testing collet pulled bullets against normal ones, for accuracy, and the claim was that you couldn't tell a difference.