Pulled bullets for reloading
- Thread starter gregnsara
- Start date
"useable" means they could be loaded and will go down and out the barrel.
Nothing else.
Pulled bullets are usually fine, (particularly when being sold as ok), expect a burnish mark where the collet gripped the bullet when pulling it. If they were pulled with an inertia puller they should not even have a surface blemish on the jacket.
I'd say, if the price was good, buy some, if they don't meet your standards, sell them to someone else, and don't buy any more.
Nothing else.
Pulled bullets are usually fine, (particularly when being sold as ok), expect a burnish mark where the collet gripped the bullet when pulling it. If they were pulled with an inertia puller they should not even have a surface blemish on the jacket.
I'd say, if the price was good, buy some, if they don't meet your standards, sell them to someone else, and don't buy any more.
Pulled military components are usually from military lots of ammunition that did not meet some specification it was required to meet. I bought some pulled brass from Midway. Typical of military ammo, it had swaged primers with sealant and sealant inside the neck. I loaded them, shot them, reamed the primer pockets and reloaded them. Other than the original caveats they are good brass. If I needed brass for a gas gun, I would do it again. With bullets I would expect marks from some tooling they used to extract them and some sealant around the base. To me brass is a reusable item and perfectly fine to use. Bullets, to me, may only be usable for plinking. I personally would not do it. But your circumstances are your guide.
This sounds like some form of torture or the worst job in the firearm industry. It took me 3 cartridges to break the handle of the inertia puller and order a collet puller. Used it on a 25 cartridge mistake once. It left some marks on the bullets and they got relegated to fouling shots.
Geezerbiker
New member
That sounds like Rocky Mounting Reloading. I've shot my own pulls and some that I bought. I don't recall any not shooting straight.
BTW, they're machine pulled just like they were machine loaded. A long while back I remember someplace selling powder from pulled loads. I would have tried it but I recall being broke at the time...
BTW, they're machine pulled just like they were machine loaded. A long while back I remember someplace selling powder from pulled loads. I would have tried it but I recall being broke at the time...
Thanks guys. I've attached an image yo show what they look like. Aside from the obvious blemishes from being pulled, I can't tell that they're damaged in any way. $100 per 1000. Just plinking rounds. I don't have a lot of cash so if anyone knows of a better deal I'd appreciate it.
Attachments
Nosler overruns - http://www.shootersproshop.com/nosler-products/bullets.html
Midsouth bulk - https://www.midsouthshooterssupply....th-bulk-bullets&itemsperpage=30¤tpage=1
have pretty reasonable prices for plinking ammo. I have some 62 gn Midway dogtowns that shoot as well as out of the box SMK's
Midsouth bulk - https://www.midsouthshooterssupply....th-bulk-bullets&itemsperpage=30¤tpage=1
have pretty reasonable prices for plinking ammo. I have some 62 gn Midway dogtowns that shoot as well as out of the box SMK's
I have acquired thousands of pulled 5.56/.223 bullets in 62 gr. from Everglades Ammunition & Reloading and never found a mark or defect on a single bullet. Not even a blemish except from time to time I have found the ugly green paint on the tips which means steel core bullets. They are all steel core bullets which many ranges forbid. I don't go to ranges and shoot out back.
I pair the pulled bullets with Everglades damaged Lake City 5.56 brass. It takes a little extra work at the bench to resize and de-crimp the brass, but I always get more than the advertised amount even with a few discarded pieces of brass too mangled to be usable.
The price is great for both the brass and bullets. Get on their mailing list. They often have sales that will range in 5 to 15% off. A real bargain for plinking and target shooting rounds.
I pair the pulled bullets with Everglades damaged Lake City 5.56 brass. It takes a little extra work at the bench to resize and de-crimp the brass, but I always get more than the advertised amount even with a few discarded pieces of brass too mangled to be usable.
The price is great for both the brass and bullets. Get on their mailing list. They often have sales that will range in 5 to 15% off. A real bargain for plinking and target shooting rounds.
chris in va
New member
Been a few years but I bought a bag of pulled 55gr from RMR. They were just plinkers, and I got a kick out of a really long one that managed to sneak in the bag, probably 77gr.
Some years back my brother got 300 or so 308, 174 gr as I recall, I think those were that batch of milgary when they still wanted the machine gun range in between the 150s.
He game me a hundred or so, those shot really well out of non target guns.
Just depends on the quality of the bullet and pull.
As noted, you can buy some very good bullets blemished and or in bulk.
I do both and see no issues. But then I am not a true bench rest class in the 1s and 2s.
More like 3s and 4s on a good day!
He game me a hundred or so, those shot really well out of non target guns.
Just depends on the quality of the bullet and pull.
As noted, you can buy some very good bullets blemished and or in bulk.
I do both and see no issues. But then I am not a true bench rest class in the 1s and 2s.
More like 3s and 4s on a good day!
Broke after 3 cartridges? wow! Either your puller was crap or you were doing something drastically wrong.
I've had such poor results using the press mounted (RCBS) collet system I abandoned it in favor of the inertia puller. I pulled down over 400 7.62x51mm rounds with the Lyman Orange Hammer in one sitting, and in less time and with much, much less frustration than it would have taken me using my press mounted collet pullet.
The inertia pullers can damage the noses of very soft bullets but if you cut a piece of foam from an earplug or something similar, and put it in the "bottom" of the puller, it usually prevents damage to soft lead bullet tips.
Any inertia puller should have the foam in it.
I found out you can break one on a rounded surface (not the handle though)
44AMP: You have my deepest admiration for doing 400, 4 is my limit with an inertia (well one acualy) - I have done 20, ungh. No more.
Anything more than that I use the Hornady collet cam handle. Marks yes, not to worry and it works well (I do use a tweeser thing to grab bullets out of it but maybe would not if I set it up better)
I found out you can break one on a rounded surface (not the handle though)
44AMP: You have my deepest admiration for doing 400, 4 is my limit with an inertia (well one acualy) - I have done 20, ungh. No more.
Anything more than that I use the Hornady collet cam handle. Marks yes, not to worry and it works well (I do use a tweeser thing to grab bullets out of it but maybe would not if I set it up better)
I adjust the collet die height to where the bearing surface of the bullet is just inside the collet, tighten the collet, lower the ram, put my hand under the collet and loosen it. If the bullet doesn't fall because the collet sticks in the die a slight tap on top will unstick the collet and the bullet drops. Same principle as a bridgeport. See video.
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Marco Califo
New member
Military Pulldown
Someone posted "unaccepted lot". Possible. But I believe they are more likely "pulldown". The military stores LOTS of ammo. Shelf life can be 20+ years. Then, they get pulled down out of active stock, disassembled and sold. This is where military surplus powder comes from, and brass and bullets. Powder has to be labeled as pull down. Tha bullets and brass were never fired. One other concern is steel jacketed ammo. I am not talking about Wolf steel cases. Copper looking bullets that stick to a magnet have steel jackets and are barred on Forest land as they spark hitting rocks. A lot of military projectiles have steel jackets, even U.S.
Someone posted "unaccepted lot". Possible. But I believe they are more likely "pulldown". The military stores LOTS of ammo. Shelf life can be 20+ years. Then, they get pulled down out of active stock, disassembled and sold. This is where military surplus powder comes from, and brass and bullets. Powder has to be labeled as pull down. Tha bullets and brass were never fired. One other concern is steel jacketed ammo. I am not talking about Wolf steel cases. Copper looking bullets that stick to a magnet have steel jackets and are barred on Forest land as they spark hitting rocks. A lot of military projectiles have steel jackets, even U.S.
kilotanker22
New member
I shot a lot of ammo in the army. Never once did I see a steel jacketed bullet. I did however fire plenty of bullets with steel cores.
kilotanker22
New member
Sometimes I buy factory ammo just to pull the bullets for reuse. For my 6.5 Creedmoor. I bought several hundred rounds. The bullets I wanted. The brass I wanted. I pulled the bullets and will re use the bullets and cases with handloads.
All pulled with an inertia puller. You almost can't even tell they were ever inserted into a case.
All pulled with an inertia puller. You almost can't even tell they were ever inserted into a case.
Can't find my original source, but it was mentioned that failing to meet velocity or accuracy requirements. The brass I ordered had head stamps of 10, 11,12, but mostly 13 and 14. This seems to preclude it was outdated. Thus newer ammo is pulled down. If it was due to surplus older brass would be more prevalent if they followed FIFO rotation.