Pulling a lot of cast bullets - pictures

[stickhunter]

I recently received a box of 500+ unknown reloads that I wanted to pull so I could recycle the brass and bullets. I have a Hornady Cam Lock bullet puller that worked well-enough for the jacketed bullets, but it wouldn't budge the cast loads with a roll/taper crimp. The cast lead was so soft/slippery, that the jaws of the bullet puller would just swage the bullet down as it slipped through. I was also not relishing the noise and mess of hammering hundreds of bullets out with an inertial puller.

Since I was going to re-melt the cast bullets, I wasn't concerned about damaging them, so I decided to try pulling them with side cutter pliers. Unfortunately, my press' ram and shell holder were too short to raise the bullet high enough to grasp:

I had a 1 1/4" deep socket which ended working perfectly --- the ram could extend up the socket and the bullet came through the 3/8" drive opening where I could grasp it with the cutters:

I mounted the press temporarily on a saw horse so I could use my hip to push the handle in, lowering the ram, while I griped the cutters:

I won't say it was effortless, but it saved my hands and back, and I was able to pull about 3 bullets per minute:

A couple of rules-of-thumb that i learned over the course of a couple of hours of work:

1. Arrange your workspace efficiently so you don't have to move much or bend over: I had the cartridges in my pocket and an ice cream pail to catch the powder and a shelf to place the bullet and case.
2. Don't be shy taking a good bite into the bullet as it's going to be damaged anyways and your best chance at a pull is to make a good first impression.
3. Don't keep struggling with obstinate bullets; put them aside and keep moving on as you want to develop a rhythm and maximize your output.
4. At the end, revisit the tough bullets; I found pressing the bullet in with a vise, using a shell holder to prevent touching the primer, sometimes helped break it free for the next pull attempt.

When it was all said and done, I ended up with 11 cartridges that I just couldn't pull before the lead cut away --- those will go into the range's burn bucket.

Here's a pic of the setup I used for getting some of the really stuck bullets moving:

Was it worth the effort? Absolutely not, but I'm a stubborn person and I don't like letting things go to waste. That being said, I'd never accept another person's reloads unless I desperately needed the brass.

 

[Snider shooter]

I had a bunch of reloaded ammunition that wasn’t mine so decided to sit down and dismantle them. I used the hammer puller. Took over two hours and into the third drink of rum. I actually found it relaxing as I wasn’t in any hurry

 

[stickhunter]

I had a bunch of reloaded ammunition that wasn’t mine so decided to sit down and dismantle them. I used the hammer puller. Took over two hours and into the third drink of rum. I actually found it relaxing as I wasn’t in any hurry

I think you've got the right idea! Definitely turn it into a meditative practice. I actually don't have a hammer puller primarily because I do all my reloading work at night when the family is asleep . The rum advice is duly noted and I will ad that to my procedure!

 

[Ganderite]

Good idea. Thank you for sharing.

 

[Grain]

Was it worth the effort? Absolutely not, but I'm a stubborn person and I don't like letting things go to waste. That being said, I'd never accept another person's reloads unless I desperately needed the brass.

Haha, awesome, thanks for sharing!

 

[billbmcleod]

I had to pull a bunch of my own that I had loaded with bad powder. I used the side cutter method and then just for the hell of it I but 50 or so through a sizer die and reloaded them with the gouge in them. When I took them to the range and shot them out of a revolver they worked great. I had worse days with non gouged lead. Some auto loaders might have an issue but lead is pretty slippery.

 

[Andy]

Great "hack"! Thanks for sharing.

Sometimes we need to damage one component to save another one we really want. I've seen solutions on CGN on how to save a stubborn bullet, but sacrifice the brass, and now how to save the brass and sacrifice the bullet.

 

[B]

I found running the stubborn ones through a Lee factory crimp die loosened them to where they would pull without much fuss. I use an RCBS collet puller, not sure if the Hornady is better or worse. Typically I had no issues pulling lead aside from SWC and stuff I just couldn't get a bite on. Simply wiping/brushing the bullet and collet surface can go a very long way towards getting and maintaining a good grip as well.

 

[stickhunter]

I found running the stubborn ones through a Lee factory crimp die loosened them to where they would pull without much fuss. I use an RCBS collet puller, not sure if the Hornady is better or worse. Typically I had no issues pulling lead aside from SWC and stuff I just couldn't get a bite on. Simply wiping/brushing the bullet and collet surface can go a very long way towards getting and maintaining a good grip as well.

Good advice. I did find the SWC and truncated cone bullets to be the most challenging as tightening the collet would sometimes force the bullet and cartridge down due to the taper. I didn't try wiping the bullets, but you're right that any wax/lube residue should be removed first. One other thing I thought about was giving the bullets a quick wipe with Clover grinding compound to increase the friction, but I decided that might be too messy and not worth the risk of getting it onto the press or pullet and causing undue wear.