Inertia puller, it finally happened.

beltfed said:
The RCBS inertia puller comes (or at least did) in the Rockchucker complete kit that lots of people including me started loading on.
~25 years later I still use it on occasion, and just the other day I was pounding out some 40 S&W loads that somehow missed getting new primers and I couldn't get the collet to grab.
I too bang them on the floor, at least to get started.



What's an STW?
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Shooting Times Westerner.
 
Curious if you were using the supplied collet, or substituted shell holder. I have heard of this happening two other times. Both of them were using shell holders instead of the collet.

Auggie D.
 
How can it detonate the round? Basic inertia pullers have the primer exposed towards the ceiling. Did you hit the primer on your up swing?
 
Only primer I had go off was in a Lee Loader doing a 30-30 one time. Never found the case in the whole house. Soon after used a Lee Primer tool instead.
 
Have never been a fan of the inertia puller, would thunk RCBS could build it better to preserve the bullet and collect the powder without spillage
but then again they can't build a proper primer catch tray on their presses either
stuck in the stone age it seems
 
I was using the supplied collet in the RCBS inertia puller; I've long lost track off how many of those I've stripped out over the years but am pretty sure I'm on my fourth hammer. For me they always break where the handle starts.

I've done the shell-holder trick; but quit doing that years ago when I looked at the damage I was doing to the rims on sometimes very expensive brass. I've got a collet puller too, it's screwed into a press 1 1/2 hours away from my new place. I still haven't got all my stuff moved.
 
Raton57 said:
Only primer I had go off was in a Lee Loader doing a 30-30 one time. Never found the case in the whole house. Soon after used a Lee Primer tool instead.
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Exactly.

If you use Lee Loaders, use a wooden mallet for fine ajustments. Don't use anything iron style.
 
I have pulled hundreds of bullets with an inertia puller. The first one broke, and I am still using the second.

One time I did have a big loud bang noise while striking the floor. Since then, I wear eye protection and ear protection while using it.
 
I have never liked the idea of inertia pullers, and this is why. It only has to happen once to cause a serious injury, so I will keep using a collet puller.
 
stubblejumper said:
I have never liked the idea of inertia pullers, and this is why. It only has to happen once to cause a serious injury, so I will keep using a collet puller.
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People win lotteries and get hit by lightning at rates a million times higher than primers detonate in an inertial bullet puller.

The most dangerous thing you do in your daily life is to drive your car and yet you do that every day without thinking about the risk. The risk of an inertial bullet puller is so infinitesimally tiny as to approach zero.
 
You can brake off the epoxy handles or bend the aluminum ones by holding it too tight. Only hold on loosely to the end of the handle let it bounce back, the more freely it bounces back the better it works.

PS. Has anyone tried tightening up pockets like shotgun gun reloaders do? I see a couple of videos on YouTube of doing it to rifle cases it but never tried it myself.... Yet. ??
 
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Whatever you do with those, DO NOT read the RCBS instructions for it - and, in particular, ignore the part about NOT using heavy blows to remove bullets, nor to use the tool with high seated primers. We all know how to use a hammer - what could go wrong? If we do not get results, just beat harder - who knew that RCBS engineers had different thoughts about that? I just looked at that sheet - it is available on the RCBS website, right now, for you to read.
 
I had about100 rounds of cast bullets in water damaged . 45 acp that I wanted to salvage for muzzleloader use. I found that the least stressful and safest method was standing and holding a dead blow mallet in left hand while swinging puller in a pendulum motion with the right hand. Much less shoulder and elbow stress.
 
Thanks for sharing your experience Dogleg. I only use my inertia puller for the odd round any more, using it always made me a little nervous. I strike an anvil built into my bench vise because it is solid and allows me not to lean over the work. I agree that the concrete floor did seem to work a little better. Safety glasses are important whenever handling primers, especially Federals. I got rid of my Hornady press' primer filler tubes years ago - they stack primers in a tall column, and I can imagine quite well what might happen if a tube full of primers was dropped on a concrete floor from bench height. Way worse than one primer going off in an inertia puller.
 
I Dont Care About You said:
People win lotteries and get hit by lightning at rates a million times higher than primers detonate in an inertial bullet puller.

The most dangerous thing you do in your daily life is to drive your car and yet you do that every day without thinking about the risk. The risk of an inertial bullet puller is so infinitesimally tiny as to approach zero.
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Then again, collet pullers work very well in most applications, with no risk.
 
Always hated those pullers. Do have rcbs die, most caliber collets. Little press has a Lee universal decapping die pretty much permanently. Have an idea both the decapper and puller dies should go in LnL quick change bushings. My issue is, need to pull just a few it mostly doesn't happen. Make it easier and I will use the proper die instead of the inertial hammer.
 
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