Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Accuracy Of Pulled Bullets

I found a bunch of bullets I'd forgot about having. Most appear to have been pulled, by the slight mark on them. I've shot pulled bullets before, with no apparent difference in accuracy, and I'm going to reload these. Just curious as to what others think about reloading bullets that have been pulled and show the mark.

I do it all the time and have never noticed any differences in accuracy or velocity compared with virgin bullets of the same make and weight. I have also used them to shoot several elk and a few deer, both mulies and Coues whitetails, and there did not seem to be any noticeable difference in terminal performance, either.

I'm curious to see any studies on accuracy, comparing bullets pulled with a collet style press pull vs. those "pulled" with the inertia hammer method.

I'd also like to see a comparison of bullets dropped onto the concrete floor before loading versus those that weren't dropped.

I'd be curious to ascertain if y'all are good enough shots to tell the difference. (I know I'm not. My day to day inconsistency even with accurate loads offsets any observable variance due to cosmetic factors.)

I have some Federal pulled bullets loaded up. I wonder if the scar from being pulled weakens the jacket and if it may break off during penetration?

A friend had some 95 grain 6mm bullets that we pulled one day.

When he tried to work up some loads for his new rifle he found that the pulled bullets didn't shoot as tight a group ans some new ones did.

I looked at them at the time and they did not looked damaged.
Might have been the rifle just didn't like those.
I have shot both types of other calibers and could not tell the difference.

That has been my experience throughout the spectrum of calibers...

x2

I would think it would depend on which method was used to pull them, whether a crimp was involved, etc.

Ever since I destroyed my second inertia puller about 15 or 16 years ago, I have used nothing but a collet puller. Some of the bullets I have pulled were pretty hard to get out, due to cold welding, crimping or whatever. Most of those were fairly deeply compressed where the collet had grabbed them. They did not perform noticeably different from any others that I had pulled using either method.

I would worry more about minimizing runout than how they look.

If I ever saw that they were crimped or found that they were cold welded, I took an extra step in the process and re-seated the bullet a tad deeper to break that bond. After that, I'd find pulling the bullet was much easier.

How do they air pull bullets

My experience is not deep, but I have found that so long as the base of the bullet was not damaged, pulled bullets seem to shoot well enough.
That said, I use them on the range rather than hunting.

Lick the bullet and wave it over the press while uttering your favorite incantation and then go ahead and seat it--bullet will be good as new.

Works for me all the time........
Casey

As I have aged and my hands have quit being anything close to dexterous, I drop single bullets onto the concrete floor of my loading area fairly regularly. I usually put a dot on the bullet with a sharpie once it is loaded, and so far I have never seen any effect on group size. I think that the inertia of a single bullet is insufficient to upset a jacketed bullet enough to matter.

Dropping a box of bullets on a concrete floor is supposedly a wholly different matter, but since I have yet to do that, I am just repeating what I have heard.

All l use for pulling is a set of linesman pliers. All long as you use the wire cutting portion of the jaws to grip the bullet in the cannelure or on the shank below the ogive (and don't "farmer squeeze") no harm is done. The slight deformities will be ironed out as the bullet goes through the barrel.

I've shot lots of these and have never noticed any difference in accuracy. Perhaps if I was a bench rest competitor striving for one hole groups I might see a difference but I assume we're talking hunting rifles.

Commercial "Air pulled or vacuum pulled should be fine. Inertia pulled no bueno. Inertia pulling can loosen the core jacket contact and reduce concentricity.

I think some of the difference with the air pulled is due more to mixing different lots of bullets rather than any negative affect from pulling them. But for casual shooting and hunting they are fine.

Back in the late 60's early 70's we wold buy pulled military bullets from DCM ( now CMP) for 2 or 3 cents each in lots of a thousand. I sent a lot of ball and AP's down range at 200 and 300 yards during competition. They more far more accurate than I was

I bought some pulled 6.5's from here on the fire. Mixed lot of 129g SST's and 120g NBT's. Worked up a load with the NBT's in my Tikka T3 Lite SS 6.5x55. Worst group during load development was in the 0.8"s best were in the 0.4"s. Not sure how the individual I got them from pulled them, but it sure didn't seem to hurt the accuracy at all.