I have a Bonanza Co-Ax press and I'm trying to find a bullet puller for it. The Forster universal puller is out of stock everywhere I've looked but the standard one is available most anywhere. The question I have is can the top with the handle to tighten it that comes on the standard be easily replaced with a 9/16 hex nut like what comes on the universal puller or is there another difference that makes it not work ? I suspect I can but I don't have one to look at.
Forster bullet puller question
- Thread starter Shrek
- Start date
I also have a co-ax press, but have not used the Forster puller. Because the yoke of the co-ax and free floating dies make turn-to-tighten pullers hard to use, I prefer the Hornady Cam-Lock puller. It's very useable in my co-ax but you still need 2 hands to pull a bullet. One to work the press handle and one to keep the cam lever pushing on the collet in the Hornady puller. It doesn't take much pressure, but still occupies one hand.
ericbc7 said:
I have both Forster AND Hornady pullers. The Hornady is far superior in my mind. Faster to use and the collet seems to do less bullet damage than the Forster.
The Hornady also releases the pulled bullets easier. I have to keep my plastic mallet handy and smack the top of the forster to make it let go.
AckleymanII
Gold $$ Contributor
Hornady Cam Loc rules the roost on bullet pullers, bar none.
joshb said:
I use the ones I've pulled all the time. Another reason I prefer the Hornady. The collet doesn't do any damage at all to the bullet. Just put enough pressure on the locking lever to provide enough grip to pull the bullet. Far easier to "feel" than the screw type.
As for the Hammer type, I've broken several. Would be nice if someone made one out of a metal billet rather than plastic. To me they're OK if you load without much neck tension. The more neck tension the greater the "smack" you need to use, hence broken puller.
Ledd Slinger
Silver $$ Contributor
I have the Co-ax press and the Forster bullet pulling die. The press is great and the bullet pulling die does as well once you get it set up "correctly". However, you are not gonna be able to use the bullet pulling die in your Co-ax. You'll play hell trying to get it tight enough on the bullet. You'd have to use a crescent wrench on the die to keep it from spinning. I use the die in my RCBS Rock Chucker press and it works great.
Set up the die in your press where the collet grabs the bullet just a few thou above the case neck, then make a mark on the die or get a visual reference for the correct amount of tension that removes the bullet without any damage. It may take a few tries, but once you get it down, it will run smoothly. When you remove the bullet and release the tension on the die, the bullet may remain in the die. Just give the top of the die a little tap with a rawhide mallet or screwdriver handle with your hand under it to catch the bullet and it will pop right out.
Set up the die in your press where the collet grabs the bullet just a few thou above the case neck, then make a mark on the die or get a visual reference for the correct amount of tension that removes the bullet without any damage. It may take a few tries, but once you get it down, it will run smoothly. When you remove the bullet and release the tension on the die, the bullet may remain in the die. Just give the top of the die a little tap with a rawhide mallet or screwdriver handle with your hand under it to catch the bullet and it will pop right out.
Big Mc said:
Same here, especially since I have all the collets and I'm too darn cheap to replace it with the Hornady. ;D
I also have/use two Davidson's. http://www.sinclairintl.com/reloading-equipment/case-preparation/bullet-pullers/davidson-plier-style-bullet-pullers-prod34463.aspx
Oh, and if one is really cheap the lower gadget in the pic works well in a pinch.
I don't know if any of them will work with a COAX press....I don't have some! ;D
Bill
Grimstod
Machinist, Designer, and Shooter.
You can polish up the Forester collet and it will do a much better job. Will drop bullets better and will not leave any marks. This technique that is in the video will work on any collet style bullet puller. Just use some lapping compound do smooth all the working surfaces. Video below show it a little.
https://youtu.be/7I_QsSWo3YE
https://youtu.be/7I_QsSWo3YE
I really does not matter which puller you use, the bullets are changed after seating and being compressed by a puller. What you have to understand is a bullet is basically a soft bag of lead surrounded by a thin deformable copper jacket. In order to grab the bullet hard enough so that it will not slip out when pull, you have to apply pressure to this soft jacket and soft bag of lead – this will deform the bullet. Does that mean the bullet is useless – absolutely not. But if you want to use it for precision rifle for shooting out long distance, you need to measure the dimensions of the bullet like, base to ogive length, bearing surface length, etc and decide if the degree of change is acceptable to you if you had brought the bullet new from the manufacturer for your intended use. If the answer is no, you have your answer.
FWIW, I have the Hornady and I like it, but I don’t have any disillusion about using pulled bullets say in a match. I tend to use them in fouling rounds.
FWIW, I have the Hornady and I like it, but I don’t have any disillusion about using pulled bullets say in a match. I tend to use them in fouling rounds.
highmaster82
competitive highpower for 45 years
I use RCBS puller and have found that if I use the next larger size (6mm for .22, 6.5 for 6mm ect on under .30 cal it works better drops the bullets out with out tapping the tool .30 cal and over works good as is . I have no trouble using pulled bullets for XC competition I have shot thousands of pulled 173 G.I. match bullets and won with them.
joshb
Gold $$ Contributor
Thanks for the info. Foulers and plinkers sounds good, if they don't look too bad. Or they can go in the box of reloads that my friends use when we go shooting. Sinister thoughts..........my bad.😳 I take a kid shooting and he loves my semi autos. He usually goes thru 200 rounds a session. They'll be good for that.
Infrequent Shooter
Gold $$ Contributor
I am in the market for a bullet puller. The Forster looks high quality but the Hornady has great things said about it. Please give your opinions. Not using a Coax press. There is a NOS forster on ebay.
Infrequent Shooter
Gold $$ Contributor
The one I am looking at is the older version. not the universal one, as far as I can tell.
Infrequent Shooter
Gold $$ Contributor
Thanks, I think I have it sorted out for my needs.
I have both. How would you keep the die from turning in the coax? I use a Redding BB2 for my pulling now. The forster die for the coax is worth the wait and works great
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