Bullet pullers

[gene pool]

For many years I have been using an old RCBS kenetic hammer for pulling the few bullets I have to pull. I put a wadded up piece of paper towel in the bottom of the compartment to "catch" the bullet and keep it from getting dinged up.

This is not bad when only one or two bullets need to be pulled. But now I have several to pull, and using the old hammer will be a chore. Question: Is there a good puller on the market that won't mark up bullets when pulling them?

Thank you,
Gene

 

[fdshuster]

gene: I continue to use the kinetic hammer. Tried the RCBS collet puller & always marked up/destroyed the bullets.

I know others report great success with them, but I did not.

The majority of my loads are seated with a bushing .002" smaller than bullet dia., and a few gentle taps & the bullet base is within 1/8" or so of the case mouth. I can then pull the bullet out with finger pressure only. I also use a piece of wadded up paper in the nose of the hammer to protect those bullet tips that do "exit" the case mouth. I can easily do a box of 20 in about 15 mintes.

 

[GNERGY]

I threw my pulling hammer in the trash when I bought the Hornady collet puller. It will pull bullets without marking them. I use it all the time. Different collets for different bullet diameters.
Tarey

 

[RJinTexas]

Hornady's cam lock bullet puller is by far the best I ever seen or used, fast and reliable.

RJ

 

[wildchild]

This is as REDNECK it gets but a cable crimper wrapped in tape on the pincher end with the loaded round in the ram run the round up grab the bullet and pull the ram down.

 

[Leaddog]

Another vote for the Hornady.

 

[Shynloco]

Another vote for the Hornady.

+3. IMHO, those kinetic hammers are junk!

 

[jerrschmitt]

I've never liked the hammers but I had a bunch of bullets to pull and the hammer was all I had. First I mounted a short chunk of rail road track to my bench as a striking surface then I replaced that dumb little collet with a regular shell holder and went to town. One smack on the RR track and the bullet comes free. I placed a piece of screen door screen over a bowl to separate the powder from the bullets.

I had 50 rounds pulled in no time.

 

[fdshuster]

jerrschmitt: I have a block of steel 6" x 4" x 4" that weighs 27 pounds & it provides a very solid hitting surface. After I pull the first couple I get a feel for how many hits & how hard are required & get the bullet out of the neck to where I can pull it out with my fingers. Been doing it that way for years.

 

[fguffey]

On Hornadies recommendation I purchased their cam lock puller, I explained to them how it was to be used, no problem they said, and I got started,, then restarted and started again, they thought as long as the replacement parts were free for the asking I should be happy, after the third failure, they informed me I made too many mistakes, and I found it convenient to visit them in North Platte, Neb. and I started over, then they said they had a sub contractor that had a problem with heat treating and as a remedy they were changing the sub contractor, and I ask them if they would like for me to go talk to them, and the answer was “no”.

Anyhow, I now have a RCBS bullet puller with collets, the RCBS never works up a sweat, the Hornady was a 5/95 tool, it worked 5% of the time, the other 95% of the time I was waiting for parts.

F. Guffey

 

[fguffey]

and I am aware seating a bullet first helps when pulling/removing.

F. Guffey

 

[servicegun]

I like the RCBS collet puller. I just finished pulling 800 rounds of .308 which took about two hours per night for 3 or 4 nights. The bullets look great. My father in law decided to load 38.5 grains of tight group instead of 4895 and offered to give me the bullets if I wanted to pull them. The tight group was only in maybe 20 of them but that is simply not a risk we could take. A valuable lesson he learned was never have more that one jug of powder on the bench at one time, especially when many of them look alike.

 

[jlow]

Another vote for Hornady, I have pulled hundreds of 223 and 308 with it with absolutely no problem.

 

[swt5]

Stay away from the Forster puller. Horrible design!

 

[lurcher]

Not a huge fan of my forster either bullets seem to get jammed in it regularly and it does not seem to like long thin pointy bullets like amaxes

 

[lpreddick]

hornady, hornady, hornady! i almost got rotator cuff from using the kinetic thing, which i still use if i have one or two to pull. if neck tension is not excessive , the bullets look as good as new and can be used later. my only complaint is that the code numbers on the collets are VERY difficult to see. mark mine with a red marker that stays on for a little while.

 

[FroggyOne2]

I had the hammer style of puller and one day I loaded some with the wrong charge, well the hammer puller broke into, hence I now have the Hornady puller, it does not hurt on bit to polish the inside of the collet a little to make sure there are ruff spots too marr the bullet.

 

[troutslayer]

Kinetic hammer, I have had no problems. I use a 4x4 next to the bench. I guess the handle absorbs less shock than hitting steel,leading to less bent handles. I haven't had to pull 1000's of rounds yet so I don't know if steel would be a better choice in the long run. Still using my Grandfather's one!

 

[trental]

I've pulled hundreds of rounds of varying calibers with my RCBS collet die and not one single bullet was damaged and generally they are hardly even marked. If you can damage a bullet using the RCBS tool then you are putting way too much torque on it. I wouldn't be without mine.

Also, generally you can get away with pulling bullets a 1/2mm smaller than the given collet. I can easily pull 6.5mm bullets using my 7mm collet.

 

[robbor]

I have not used my hornady cam lock puller much, and most of the time it mared the bullets. But for it you need to buy an extra lock ring to lock the adjustment of the cam lock handle in one place .