RCBS bullet puller helpful hint

B

bledsoeG19

New member
Like a real dummy I got overconfident in my reloading and goofed on headspacing on 223 rounds. Unfortunately I found this out only after pumping out about 300 rounds on my 550.-CENSORED-There was no way I was going to use my kinetic hammer on this many rifle rounds, so I asked a friend who pulls down several thousand rounds a month for a local manufacturer which bullet puller is the one he would recommend. He said that in his opinion RCBS is the only one that's making one (meaning none of the others met his liking).He said the only issue he had was the die wanted to turn in the press if you cranked down on the collet any at all. He engineered a bracket system to keep his in place. Mine came in and I commenced to pulling bullets and very quickly ran into the same issue. Since I didnt have the pieces to build a bracket (his parts came from a wheel chair lift), I started looking for another way. On the edge of my bench sat an older set of rcbs dies with the "old style" lock ring. The type that squeeze the die instead of pressing againxt it with a brass set screw. I decided to give it a shot. Now this thing may as well be welded to the press.If you have to invest in one of these, chances are you're probably already a little irritated. I figured I would share this bit of information to keep tempers at a minimum at the reloading benches. Happy loading, be safe.
 
I have used the RCBS bullet puller, mine has a solid hex nut for a lock ring. The only way I could get the thing to work properly was to use a large crescent wrench to tighten the nut, "welding" it to the press, as you noted. Getting the collet tight enough on the bullet to not slip off, sometimes required using a hammer to hit the handle to get it tight enough.

And, of course, it took the hammer to loosen the collet handle, and the big wrench to get the die body loose from the press when I got finished.

And, to top it off, its still nearly impossible to pull a lead bullet, and impossible to do it with the bullet in a condition to be reused.

After ignoring the inertia (hammer) type pullers for years, I finally got one, a LYMAN. it works GREAT!!!!

Although they seem like a huge pain, the time it takes to install a round, givce a few raps on a hard surface (I use the top of my wood stove (WHEN THERE NO FIRE!) the solid iron gives better results than any hard wood), and then disassemble the puller and dump the powder & bullet is actually easier for me than using the press mounted collet puller with all its hassles.

I pulled down over 300 rnds with the Lyman hammer (some crap 7.62NATO stull) faster, easier and much less painfully than doing that same job with the RCBS collet would have been. (also didn't have to seat the bullets slightly deeper to break the military seal. The most any round took was about 6 wacks, and most pulled with 3 or 4.

Super tightening the collet, and then STILL having it slip off a bullet, needing the hammer to loosen it, and then retighten it (sometimes more than once) is a REAL PITA. I WON'T use my RCBS puller ever again, I am a firm convert to the orange hammer now. (I expect the green RCBS hammer would do equally well, if you need to stay color co-ordinated. :D)
 
Regarding your .223 rounds problem - do you mean that you did not set the shoulder back enough?

If so, couldn't you use a Redding body die to fix this problem without pulling the bullets?
 
easier and much less painfully than doing that same job with the RCBS collet would have been.
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I have the same feelings. It does make me more careful to set the correct seating depth (OAL) before loading up a large number of rounds.

If you take your time and set it up right at the start you will not need to pull a whole bunch of rounds. The impact hammer works great for the one or two set too deep when setting up the press.

Jim
 
I use the RCBS in an old Lyman press & have never had the spinning die problem.:confused:

I use the RCBS (black, new version) hex nut lock rings & just tighten lightly with a wrench when installing.

I have put a very thin layer of thick grease inside the die body & on the threads of the screw shaft. Not enough to creep into the collet jaws, but it seems to reduce friction & turning the handle to grip the bullet is much easier now.
 
This may be something I've run into, Not sure about the circumstances...

My RCBS dies came in with a 'Rubber' 'O' ring on the bottom of the nut...
When that lock ring decided to move (Compression of that 'O' ring),
I flipped the lock ring over to have a solid surface and tightened it down against the die.

When it's 'O' ring up, it stays locked into place pretty good.

Would that help you?
 
Don't know about pulling crimped in military ammo.For pulling normally loaded non crimped ammo I,ve had no problems with my RCBS none or minimum bullet damage and much faster than a hammer.
 
I figured I would share this bit of information to keep tempers at a minimum at the reloading benches. Happy loading, be safe.
Click to expand...

It is a little late, I do not allow this stuff to lock me up, I do not allow this stuff to drive me to the curb. as you can see tools as simple as a bullet puller has caused reloaders/users to swear off of bullet pullers. I purchased 40 pounds of reloading equipment for #20.00. In the two boxes was a bullet puller with a 30 cal. collet. I could have purchased a new one for #20.00, when looking for tools it is easier to find one if I have two.

I do have the Hornady cam lock, I do not use it but I have it JIC. It spend most of it's useful like waiting for parts. Hornady accused me of making too many mistakes. So I went to see them. Again, back to the 40 pounds of dies and etc. I made an effort to give all the Lee dies back to the dealer, and? He would have no part of it. He made it clear, I did not pay for the Lee dies, he threw them in on the deal because he was generous. Even that did not get the best of me, I carried all that extra weight through the parking lot.

F. Guffey
 
I would not want to reuse the bullets. If you would be satisfied just pulling the bullets and tossing them try this to speed up the process.
Clear the Die... from the press. Install the shell holder and case to the ram. Carefully run the case up through the Die mounting ring so just the bullet shows above the flat surface. With a good gripping set of pliers... grab the bullet firmly and lower the ram.
I was surprised how simple it can be.
Thanks to The Firing Sine Forums
 
Learn to be careful when playing with your explosive device's triple check so this doesn't happen again I goofed bad a couple time and I may check info 6 7 times and leave book open on desk while loading I don't make mistakes at all anymore I don't want to blow my hands of or blind myself to old to have stubs for hands now just use your hammer I did 100 RUM in an hour just hit a steel block instead of wood they come out one wack
 
Yes, I did not set the shoulder back far enough. The kinetic puller would've taken days to use. By the way, the RCBS collet puller says in the instructions that it is not for lead rounds. This is probably why they're getting chewed up. For lead rounds the hammer is the only way to go that I know of.

I dont see any reason not to use the bullets after pulling them. People buy military surplus pull-down bullets all the time. No different from what I'm doing.
 
I reuse pulled jacketed bullets for plinking only. The collet makes small marks on the jacket that I would assume would disrupt airflow and make them unsuitable for target work. I generally switch from the kinetic puller to the collet whenever I have to pull more than a handful--that justifies the set up time.

But as some have noted, I've had trouble pulling lead and some semi-jacketed bullets from 44mag ammo that was well crimped. The collet would just slip off the ogive. I have to say I didn't apply a BFH to the collet handle, so maybe that would have helped. I hate to force stuff. I just went back to the kinetic puller in that case.

Using a large crescent wrench on the collet body's lock ring to secure it to the press is the method I use.
 
Difficulty pulling bullets: In the near future the question is going to be asked about neck tension. I do not have neck tension because I to not have a tension gage nor do I have a conversion for pounds to tensions.

I am the fan of bullet hold, I want all the bullet hold I can get, if bullets are difficult to pull it means whatever I am doing is working.

F. Guffey
 
Use dry graphite and small buck shot mixture insert just neck of round into the mixture and move around this will coat the inside of the neck with the graphite and the shout makes for even distribution and no build up !!! This is a good idea on having uniform neck tension from round to round remember uniformity is the only way to accuracy
 
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