Bullet pulling technique

A shooting buddy of mine broke the hammer part of his bullet puller and asked to use mine for his last few pulls. I invited him over and he noticed that I did not use the little aluminum collets in mine. When I told him that I used, and had been using. caliber specific cartridge holders from my reloading dies, he seemed shocked and surprised. Said he'd never heard of using them, and said I ought to let every reloader I know about this technique. So that's it, folks! No more chasing around finding the little rubber O rings or pieces of aluminum; just use the shell holder and save yourself the grief.

Its a better way, Been doing that since i got into reloading.

Good tip ...I never thought of that!...Thanks!

http://grip-n-pull.com

Or get rid of the hammer all together.

Some hammers don't work with the dies.

True, Dave, but it's worth a try. 3 of my shooting buddies have tried the technique in 3 different brands of hammers and they tell me that the shell holders fit/work just fine.

I had never heard of this before so I just went out and tried it on mine. Doesn't fit. The hammer is from Midway. However
it looks like about 15 seconds with some sand paper to open the hammer side and it would fit. The shell holder is only about
1/64th larger than the opening.

thanks for the tip.

Yup handy little gadget, easier and quitter than the hammer. Had been using the shell holder in the hammer type for at least 30 years.

Hornady cam lock is fast and easy.

Pliers

Pliers won't pull most cast bullets I've tried and I ain't paying $50 for a bullet puller.

I think I will buy the Grip-n-pull. I get really tired of tapping on concrete with the hammer.

Though caliber specific, I use a press mounted puller die. I like mikei's idea as well as FiremanJG's. If I didn't already have my tool I'd go with either of those - probably FiremanJG's first.

Had no idea this existed..... Thanks for posting!

River Rider was first.

When he posted it many months ago, I promptly ordered one. It is a terrific tool. And bullets that have been pulled can be loaded again, and shot, because of no tip deformation.

TAG

Gonna save this so I can find it again after the move next month when I set up the bench again...I beat the bejesus out of Hammer Style Pullers and have been putting layers of soft material down in the hammer's cross webbing to help prevent tip damage for 40 years...can get messy with loose grains of powder and does not always work. Tiresome to segregate and save those badly damaged bullets for nothing but fouling shots...and have killed game reliably with the slightly altered tips out to couple hunnert yards...ammo just looks "Un Professional though.
Ron

When the cushioning material in my bullet pulling hammer starts to get worn out, I stuff in a couple of the foam ear plugs and mash them into place with a dowel. They work fine, and are not as porous as other cushioning materials I've tried to use.

A couple of other alternatives/tricks to bullet pulling:

-Use a "tube flaring tool" to grip the bullet

-If a bullet is playing hard to get or pull, carefully seat it just a bit deeper. That seems to break the seal or release the crimp just enough to allow the pulling to be easier

I just tried to purchase the Grip-N-Pull. Can't. Their web site "cart" function is all jacked up. Looks like a good product. Hopefully it works better than their web site!

I think the best approach to pulling bullets is to avoid it altogether. I hate it even more than case trimming and chamfering.

Dear God! Not me.

I hate trimming so bad I may buy a Giraud trimmer this year...

The best way I have found to make my friends hate me, is to loan them my Giraud. They complain that I cost them too much, but they all own a Giraud now. Best investment on my bench.

Sometimes I am SO tempted to pare down to only two or three calibers, but something inside me from some deep and mysterious place begins to shriek, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

As usual timing is everything. I literally just pulled 700 .300 blk apart and broke my Lyman hammer. It was just the cap and they sent me a new one. Needless to say that took awhile. The shell holder trick is great info. and will try it next time. I also like the other tool and it truly looks like the way to go IMHO. You're probably asking yourself why this dumbass was taking that much ammo apart. Well........I made them from .223 once fired brass and misread the trim length. I was 3 thousands off and they would not allow the bolt to go into battery in both of my ARs. Why oh why did I go so far without going to the range first? Upside is it only cost me time, no money. I also learned something. So at the end of the day it's all good.

Bill, also check you head spacing. When you seat a bullet on the 223/5.56 brass cut down, the case wall of the 223 is now the neck and shoulder. When you seat a bullet, it can flare out the shoulder, and cause the headspace to grow, sometimes by .005". If your brass not sized short enough, the problem is the bolt not closing. .003" too long of a case is not that much, and there is often .005" to .010" extra room of clearance beyond max case length. So, your.003" too long may not actually be the problem. Check your brass every step of the way when reloading it- after sizing and after seating. Don't load any more until everything chamber checks fine.

Also, Wilson and Noveske use a match chamber, which is made at minimum spec, instead of normal max SAAMI spec. So, if there is any sizing issues, it will show up easily in a Wilson and Noveske chamber. (Why an AR would have a match, tight chamber, for a battle rifle in 300 blk out, I have no idea!)

Good advice. I realized after my post that I meant to say 3 hundredths. I was trimming at 1.390 per the Hornady 8th edition. After more research I found that 1.360-1.368 is the sweet spot. Especially for semi autos.

Is it necessary to turn case necks when converting 5.56/.223 to .300 BO?