Inertia bullet puller mishap

[StemCell]

This morning while pulling bullets from some .223 rounds with an inertia bullet puller (hammer type), I had a primer ignite. The primer fortunately did not ignite the powder charge but was ejected from the cartridge/puller with sufficient force to deflect off of the ceiling and strike the far side of my garage area 20 feet away.

Lesson: even though remote, it can happen, and I will be converting to a different method of pulling live rounds.

 

[BoydAllen]

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. Could you give us some more details about your tool, the nature of the ammo, and the procedure that produced this result? In the past I have used an inertial puller to disassemble numerous rounds without incident, as I am sure many readers have. What brand of primer was involved?

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

I remember reading several years ago that some people got primer ignition using inertial pullers. Further investigation revealed the ones who used regular shell holders as opposed to the case holders that came with the tool were the ones who had experienced primer ignition.

 

[savagedasher]

I remember reading several years ago that some people got primer ignition using inertial pullers. Further investigation revealed the ones who used regular shell holders as opposed to the case holders that came with the tool were the ones who had experienced primer ignition.

I never had any problem .But what you stated sound very practical. I feel the only way a primer can ignite is from impact on the back of the primer. Larry

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

Yeah. We'll have to wait for Boyd's excellent questions to be answered before jumping to conclusions. But using the regular shellholders allowed the cartridge base to move a bit in the holder to the extent that the primer was able to be contacted by the shellholder. Primer a bit high, shellholder over it, whack and voila.

The shell holder that came with my inertial puller grasps the case on the extraction groove. Once the unit holding the shell is loaded in the tool, there is absolutely nothing above the primer. Nothing can contact the primer. As it should be.

 

[M-61]

I would really appreciate a detailed account of the incident. Type puller, cartridge, what it was struck on, etc.
I have used them for years without any incident. I have never used a shell holder in place of the to the supplied case holder. After 20 years of use or so the first ones plastic head split.... I was fine with that as I wrote it off to age and exposure to wild temp swings over time. Maybe less durable plastic than today. Never any other problem.

 

[StemCell]

The round was held in the puller(which is a typical plastic hammer type with a chamber for the loaded round), with the correct holder. Nothing was in contact with the primer--it was free to eject upon ignition. The loaded round remained in the correct position upon the primer igniting.

I am certain the brand of the puller had nothing to do with this incident, so I hesitate to mention it.

The primer was a Federal 205M, which was fully seated and visually checked for proper recess as the rounds had been originally assembled for testing in my AR15.

I use a 4" X 4" X 6" block of tool steel as a bench anvil. On the second strike to the anvil, the primer ignited--the 77 grain Sierras that I was pulling usually released fully on the fourth or fifth strike.

"The shell holder that came with my inertial puller grasps the case on the extraction groove. Once the unit holding the shell is loaded in the tool, there is absolutely nothing above the primer. Nothing can contact the primer. "--this is so with the tool used.

I have used similar tools of multiple brands to pull hundreds of rounds over my years of reloading with no issues.

 

[BoydAllen]

Thanks for the additional information.

 

[savagedasher]

I don't feel the primer went off is the presents of powder with out blowing. I have had several the nut broke and went flying. Larry

 

[fguffey]

"The shell holder that came with my inertial puller grasps the case on the extraction groove. Once the unit holding the shell is loaded in the tool, there is absolutely nothing above the primer. Nothing can contact the primer. "--this is so with the tool used.

And so it is with using shell holders in the inertia puller, it is impossible to cover a primer because the shell holder centers the case except for the smallest of cases. For the smallest of cases it has been recommended an 'O' ring be used. The O ring centers the case.

Then there are high primers, it is a bad habit to pull bullets in an inertia puller. It is possible for powder to trickle through the flash hole and fill the area between the primer and case, when the hammer drops the primer can seat with no room for movement. Instead of busting the primer from the outside the primer is busted from the inside.

How fast was the primer traveling when it left the case? No one takes the primer serious when it launches itself, the powder did not ignite meaning if the primer ignited the flash hole had to be plugged, and that would increase the speed of the primer when it launched itself.

F. Guffey

 

[wolley]

And that's just one reason I use a collet puller.
Safer, faster, easier to recover the powder and if you don't get crazy won't leave a mark on the bullet.

 

[stool]

some one explain to me,
how,
on a downward strike,
a bare exposed primer self detonated....???
the entire force of an impact bullet puller is in one direction, and the primer is in the open with NOTHING TO CONTACT IT.

THE MOTION IS OPPOSITE of the force to pull a primer.
a properly seated primer CANNOT move in an impact puller...the direction is all wrong.

i do not believe, the primer itself, has enough mass to self detonate in normal PRIMER POCKET...too much of an interference fit for it to move fast enough to impact detonate.

sorry i do not believe we have the correct steps of what occurred.

 

[fguffey]

a properly seated primer CANNOT move in an impact puller...the direction is all wrong.

No one said the primer was properly seated, it was suggested pulling bullets with an inertia hammer was a bad habit if the case had a high primer. It could also be said seating high primers with an inertia puller is a bad habit.

Then there is the non perfect world where all primer pockets are not alike, some primer pockets are loose and some are not, that takes us back to pulling bullets with high primers being a bad habit when using an inertia puller.

F. Guffey

 

[M-61]

From the OP:

"The primer was a Federal 205M, which was fully seated and visually checked for proper recess as the rounds had been originally assembled for testing in my AR15."

 

[StemCell]

"No one said the primer was properly seated, it was suggested pulling bullets with an inertia hammer was a bad habit if the case had a high primer. It could also be said seating high primers with an inertia puller is a bad habit. Then there is the non perfect world where all primer pockets are not alike, some primer pockets are loose and some are not, that takes us back to pulling bullets with high primers being a bad habit when using an inertia puller."

The primer was fully seated, and recessed.
The case was a just prepped LC12 case which was once fired; this was the second loading. I had just loaded the round when I realized that the charge was a duplication of others for the testing and chose to just pull it and reload. The primer pocket did not seem loose.


"I don't feel the primer went off is the presents of powder with out blowing--I was able to shake powder from the now deprimed casing through the flash hole."

I do not believe there was any obstruction of the flashhole since I had just finished prepping the case and used a lyman flash hole uniforming tool on it. Likewise the primer pocket was clear of any carbon residue from the previous firing.

"How fast was the primer traveling when it left the case?"--I believe it was at a velocity sufficient to imbed in flesh, and certainly damage an eye.

"sorry i do not believe we have the correct steps of what occurred."-- I have omitted nothing

Regardless--there is a new collet puller added to the toolkit as of an hour ago and the inertia puller is retired.

 

[amlevin]

This is a good example of why almost all tools shipped for reloading or related tasks have the simple warning '

Wear Eye Protection While Using


I'm sure that everyone here ALWAYS wears appropriate (and "rated") safety glasses/face shields while loading etc, right?

 

[37Lincoln1]

Way to take care of the problem Stem Cell and thanks for posting as a warning to others. I use a collet puller and am now extra glad I do.

 

[/VH]

Who makes the best (and least damaging to the bullet) collett type puller?

 

[BoydAllen]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-GE2CvvDto

 

[Brians356]

Sorry if I missed it, but did the primer for sure actually ignite? (There was smoke, and inspecting the recovered primer indicates it ignited?)

I am curious about the primer pocket, was it possibly somewhat loose? I.e. could the cup of the primer have been loose enough to allow it to move downward in compression like the "secondary impact" of objects inside a car in a head-on crash? If the primer cup is free to move, it would compress against the anvil this way.

That's the only logical explanation I can think of. Even if the pocket was tight, the primer almost certainly had to compress if it ignited.

PS

Aren't Federal primers warned about in the instructions that come with Lee Autoprime? Allegedly there is something unique about the chemistry of their compound, or they are easier to ignite. Just a thought ... is it coincidence this was a Federal primer?