bullet pulling with a 550

[milktree]

I realized after making (way too many) .38 spl rounds that the charge was wrong. Now I have to pull all the bullets.

I'm going with an RCBS collet type pullet 'cuz "The Internet" says its better than the other color version because reasons. (I didn't think about it too hard)

Can I pull using the 550's shellplate, or will it deform/bend? I'd rather not borrow a single stage if I didn't have to.

 

[walter62]

it should be fine.

Unless you crimped the cr*p out of them and then welded them.

I also use the RCBS on my 750.

 

[peterk123]

What is this you speak of? Don't you just use the thing that looks like a hammer? It's what I use. I find beating the living sh#t out of a bullet exhilarating. I know it won't fire, but think about it

 

[walter62]

that gets old quick when you have a large quantity to break apart.

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[peterk123]

that gets old quick when you have a large quantity to break apart.

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Agreed. I gotta look into this. I have a pile of them I need to pull.

 

[Mike 53]

Last time I used my inertial puller it was to pull 80 rounds of Korean M2 Ball. Didn't take very long at all. I have a 20 lb.steel cylinder that I use on my bench to strike the hammer on.
Only took 2, maybe 3 whacks, and those rounds had asphalt sealed bullets. My hammer is Berrys from Dillon. I have a collet puller from Forster and never had occasion to use it.
Could be the surface being struck has something to do with how effective the hammer puller is...

 

[walter62]

it's got to be hard enough.

Concrete is a good way to break the hammer/puller itself.

A piece of pretty dense wood and a good WHACK technique.

 

[Jay77]

I pulled a 1000 45ACP on my 550b with no issues

 

[milktree]

What is this you speak of? Don't you just use the thing that looks like a hammer? It's what I use. I find beating the living sh#t out of a bullet exhilarating. I know it won't fire, but think about it

I somehow ended up with *three* inertial bullet pullers.

They're fine if you're doing like 1 or 5, maybe 20, but they suck otherwise.

 

[Broc]

Hammer is for people that hate life and love to waste time.

Puller die is the way to go.

 

[ddeck]

I bought a bunch of brass from someone…it contained 200 loaded flush seated wadcutter rounds. Going to have to bang them out

 

[pastera]

Had a bunch of 38 that needed to be pulled because of undersized plated bullets and thin walled cased years ago.

Started with the hammer and quickly gave up and built a collet puller.
The only positives to the hammer are its cheap and takes no setup time.

Collet is fast and make powder recovery easy.

 

[Broc]

I bought a bunch of brass from someone…it contained 200 loaded flush seated wadcutter rounds. Going to have to bang them out

The bullet puller is cheap (like $20-30). It will save you so much time and aggravation.

Years ago I bought a hammer, I used it for a handful of rounds and gave up. I started accumulating any rounds I messed up, then one night decided to Google if there was another way and found the bullet puller (I started a thread about it). It changed my life.

Thread:

I am in love...

With bullet puller dies. Why didn't I buy one of these years ago? Bought 100 360DW reloaded rounds from some dude that didn't know who reloaded them. I bought them for the brass. Pulled 100 bullets in less than 10 minutes. If you don't own a bullet puller die, get one.

www.northeastshooters.com

 

[ddeck]

I have the collet puller and it works great for all rounds where the projectile protrudes. These are flush seated full wadcutters, so I have no choice but to use the hammer.

I remember your post and I ended up buying the Hornady puller. I have a dedicated single stage that I use for it.

 

[Broc]

I have the collet puller and it works great for all rounds where the projectile protrudes. These are flush seated full wadcutters, so I have no choice but to use the hammer.

I remember your post and I ended up buying the Hornady puller. I have a dedicated single stage that I use for it.

Ah, damn. I never had to deal with Wadcutters. Good luck.

 

[walter62]

I think you could KrazyGlue a regular bullet to the wadcutter and pull.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXZv2KZKCCo

 

[ddeck]

At least I got to the last one before the POS broke

 

[walter62]

concrete NOT good for the hammer.

 

[ddeck]

concrete NOT good for the hammer.

I did it on a block of wood, just took the pic on the floor.

 

[houdini]

This what I used small anvil with a hammer bullet puller.

 

[milktree]

The puller showed up today.
Holy forking shirt balls! I should have bought one of these years ago!

It took a little while to get the technique down and into a rhythm, but once I did, it's fast and painless!
Now that I know how little force it takes to pull a bullet, this whole thread and my question seems silly.
This was about 2-1/2 hours start to finish.

 

[Malibru]

So much easier than the hammer right? I have an RCBS collet puller, I set it up in my old Rock chucker as a single operation. Sometimes when I find old ammo I can at least save the bullets if not the brass. Powder and primers usually go though, the powder fertilizes the garden nicely. I've had friends give me reloaded ammo from relatives etc, and I simply will not shoot reloads unless a trusted source with documentation.

The hammer is still used but only when I have one or two to pull due to a bad primer or my own mistake.

 

[peterk123]

Do you need a collet for each caliber?

 

[Malibru]

Yes, but several collets can cover a variety. I have a .23, .30, .38, .45. I can pull .233, 38/357, 9mm, 308, 30-06, any .308 like 30-30, 7.62, 45, 45-70, 44 etc. The collets are a bit forgiving. I think I've salvaged bullets from 7.5 stuff too, 300 savage. All with those collets. You can buy others of course, but really don't need them all.

 

[Malibru]

Ooops that first one supposed to be .22.

 

[EddieZoom]

Yes, but several collets can cover a variety. I have a .23, .30, .38, .45. I can pull .233, 38/357, 9mm, 308, 30-06, any .308 like 30-30, 7.62, 45, 45-70, 44 etc. The collets are a bit forgiving. I think I've salvaged bullets from 7.5 stuff too, 300 savage. All with those collets. You can buy others of course, but really don't need them all.

Any experience with / recommended for pulling lead/coated/hi-tech boolitz ?

 

[pastera]

Any experience with / recommended for pulling lead/coated/hi-tech boolitz ?

Just leaves heavier marks - other than that not really much different

 

[gerrycaruso]

I have both. The hammer type works well with calibers that have a rim and big, heavy bullets like 45/70. The collet type works well with rimless cartridges that have small light bullets like 223. Powder is much easier to recover with the collet type and how well the hammer type works depends on what you hit it against.

 

[Malibru]

Collet puller definitely leaves marks on the hi tech coating, but more so if the collet slips. Nothing that renders the bullets trash typically. Certainly "beats" the hammer method especially for recovering powder. When it comes to the hammer I keep a couple of blocks of 2x4 around and that sits on top of heavy rubber floor mat when I use it. All comes down to technique I find.