My 2 cents, agree with BB, 2x4 is your friend. If RCBS will not help you, ask Santa for a new one.
RCBS Inertia bullet puller repair
- Thread starter Potashminer
- Start date
My 2 cents, agree with BB, 2x4 is your friend. If RCBS will not help you, ask Santa for a new one.
Actually I have disagree and so does physics. Because the wood compresses when being struck it absorbs some of the inertia generated by the shock of impact. The softer the wood the more inertia is lost (and the less effective the puller becomes) and 2x4's are generally made of softwood like spruce.
Inertia pullers work best when struck on relatively non-compressible surfaces like concrete. Something like a lead block would work even better as it would be less abrasive on the puller while remaining relatively non-compressible. As has been noted these should be viewed as consumables as they will break eventually. That being said, in 40 years of reloading and having pulled a couple of thousand bullets with inertia pullers I broke exactly one, an old RCBS which they promptly replaced with the new POW'R PULL for no charge. It now has several years of being struck on a concrete floor and is none the worse for wear except for a small bit of deformation of the plastic on the striking end.
Also, you do not have to King Kong it. A few moderate strikes will dislodge all but the most stubborn bullets. Very light bullets are also harder to remove as they do not have sufficient weight to generate a lot of inertia. I once gave up trying to pull 90 gr. 32 wadcutters from some S&W Long brass. The bullets were just too light and seated too deeply in the cases to move.
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That picture sent to RCBS, as said elsewhere, will start a new one on it's way to you. I don't know if RCBS has a Canadian arm that would avoid border lag, particularly in Wuhan Time. For all I know, they might even agree to reimburse you buying a new one after a drive into town and then back home.
RCBS had terrible customer service a few decades ago. And then about a decade ago when I needed help, it was like they were willing to fall over themselves to help. Mentioned I had bought some die sets that didn't have a box, how much for replacement boxes - two boxes promptly showed up in the mail (minus the correct label, unfortunately - had to resort to felt pen on the end... oh, the heart break!).
You could at the same time order a Frankford Arsenal puller - they come with three different sizes of collet - which also work in RCBS pullers.
I see you might need a foam ear plug in the end to minimize damage to your bullet tips (unless that's from recoil while in the magazine while firing).
I think wood block as chosen impact surface doesn't work so good. I say that because I've found it doesn't work so good. Even a 70 year old block of dry old fir that is hard as woodpecker lips.
Your cement basement floor is better. A flat lead ingot on the cement floor is best. Almost like a dead blow hammer in reverse.
Abandoned collet bullet pullers decades ago. Should probably put them on the market here and get them out of my reloading bench. They are slightly faster, and you don't have to separate the bullet and powder afterwards, but they're far more likely to mark up the bullet than an inertia puller.
Never tried to fix one before. I don't think Red Green and gun tape will work here.
I'd think along the lines of J-B Weld, on the outside and inside surfaces might keep it going until the replacement puller arrives. A little zip cutter in a Dremel type tool to make perpendicular grooves above and below the break would give the J-B Weld more to bite on. And I have some Lok-Tite 404 that I was given at an industrial job at a power plant - strongest Crazy Glue type stuff I've ever encountered. Must be good - check out the price for it online. So before putting the two pieces together, I'd give the mating surfaces a coat of some kind of that glue. Smear the J-B you've already put outside and inside on both pieces, back and forth across the break. Clamp together, top and bottom. Let sit.
Then hope that at least it survives until your replacement from RCBS arrives.
Full disclaimer - I've never worked with plastics, nor industrial applications for gluing them together. So maybe my idea for how to at least temporarily fix it is wrong and sucks.
It just takes a phone call to RCBS customer service. They may want a pic but that's all. BTW throw that silly collet in your sock drawer. The appropriate shell holder from your vice works best.
- Location
- Western Manitoba
Reviving this thread from several months ago - the conclusion. As per suggestion above, finally got around to sloshing some MEK of the broken faces, squeezed and held it in my woodworker vise - seemed to grab and hold. Decided to make the fix "better" - found 1/16" drill bit - drilled holes through end part, into the side wall of main body, then tapped in some 1" panel board ring nails - did 5 in a sort of rough pentagon shape around perimeter - no reason - just how spacing worked out. Filed off the nail heads and made the end sort of smooth and slightly rounded. A couple full house blows against concrete floor in my shop, and still in "one piece" - will call that "good enough" and back into the "reloading stuff" drawer.
For those who commented above - the thing did come with a length of foam that was inside - I did find it and re-installed - very much like a foam ear plug to cushion tip of bullet as it drops out of the case. The original RCBS three piece rim "collet" still has the original o-ring - sometimes I have used it, sometimes a shell holder from my press - can not say that I see a lot of difference, except the original set-up is much more fussing to use. Not my normal "go to" puller at all, I much prefer my RCBS collet puller in the press - but that only works when there is something to grab on to, which I did not have at the start of this commotion...
For those who commented above - the thing did come with a length of foam that was inside - I did find it and re-installed - very much like a foam ear plug to cushion tip of bullet as it drops out of the case. The original RCBS three piece rim "collet" still has the original o-ring - sometimes I have used it, sometimes a shell holder from my press - can not say that I see a lot of difference, except the original set-up is much more fussing to use. Not my normal "go to" puller at all, I much prefer my RCBS collet puller in the press - but that only works when there is something to grab on to, which I did not have at the start of this commotion...
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- Location
- Haliburton County, Central Ontario
This ^ ^. I broke mine, called them, sent a picture by email and the free replacement came shortly thereafter in the mail. Great to deal with.
Exactly!! Call Dora Paul from rcbs. She makes things work
gunrunner100
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- NW Ontario
I've used a hockey puck on the concrete floor instead of direct contact with the concrete.
I made one out of a piece of 3/4" square steel tubing.
I welded a handle of about 14" on it.
I use a shell holder to hold the cartridge from falling thru.
A piece of black tape holds the shell holder.
I use a big piece of birch log to hit till the bullet comes out.
Works for me
old timer 74
I welded a handle of about 14" on it.
I use a shell holder to hold the cartridge from falling thru.
A piece of black tape holds the shell holder.
I use a big piece of birch log to hit till the bullet comes out.
Works for me
old timer 74
