I'm helping liquidate the shooting/reloading equipment and supplies of a good friend who passed away earlier this year. He was a meticulous reloader and had thousands of rounds loaded, labeled and stored. We can't legally sell any of the reloaded ammo and, even if it was legal to sell it, we wouldn't due to potential liability issues. Some of it I will keep and use, but there are hundreds of rounds of rifle ammo that I will need to deal with and I only have an RCBS inertia type puller which is NOT going to work for the amount of ammo that will need to be disassembled.
I'm not interested in hearing about how you have sold reloads before or your opinion on how we can skirt the law and sell the loaded rounds, the liability and legal issues far outweigh any amount of money we would gain by selling them.
That being said, I'd like suggestions on brand/type of bullet puller you would recommend for this situation. Of course, I want something that does the least amount of damage to the bullets while not taking forever to do the job.
It's too bad Lee hasn't released their new bullet puller to production yet. Only a prototype demonstrated in this video:
I think the RCBS Collet Bullet Puller is probably the best bet. Caveat: I haven't used it. I have an impact bullet puller but I've been looking at the collet pullers and scratching my head over what to buy. If the Lee one were available on the market, I would bite. So my assessment is just based on the reviews I've seen on MidwayUSA.
Haven't seen the Lee, but I would bet it will be good. Don't like RCBS - never was smart enough to make it work well. Really like the Hornady Cam-Lock. Would stay away from inertia.
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Happily Trapped In the Past (Thanks, Joe)
Not only a less than minimally educated person, but stupid and out of touch as well.
I have used the RCBS puller and I have used a Midway inertia puller. RCBS is the better way by far but it is still a lot more trouble than it may be worth. You will have to figure the return from your labor.
The RCBS collet puller works very well. I have used mine to break down thousands of rounds of ammo. Since you are dealing with rifle ammunition, it should serve your needs well. It doesn't work well with many lead handgun bullets, especially SWC's.
The collet will mark most of the bullets slightly but I have never seen any degradation of accuracy or terminal performance. Once in awhile in my experience (less than 1% of the time) a round just refuses to release the bullet for some reason. Those either get fired (if safe and practical to do) or tossed in the trash.
Last edited by wildhobbybobby; 12/05/11.
Life is like a purple antelope on a field of tuna fish...
I have used the Hornady cam lock puller since they've introduced it and really like it. Also if the rounds have set for any length of time, the bullets should be reseated a little deeper just to break the welding that is created between the brass and bullet, .025 deeper will do it.
When needing to pull lots of bullets the easiest way I'm aware of is to use a diagnal cutter. With no die in your press push the round up through the die hole, grap the bullet at the case mouth, and pull down.
Of course you'll need diagnal cutters that bridge the die opening or will need to design a modification.
My brother has tested removed bullets with the knicks and find they shoot well in his rifle. I'm sure one wouldn't want to use them for a trophy hunt or competition but they are fine for practice.
The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits. Albert Einstein
I'm not anti-RCBS, but having had both, the Hornady is all that the RCBS is and much more in terms of ease/speed of use.
The one knock I saw in the reviews were that the Hornady Camlock handle is pot metal, and that they tend to break over time. But there are a lot of positive reviews on the Hornady. It may well be that the amount of use you get from them, and the ease of use make the Hornady worth it over the RCBS. $20 isn't a lot if you get enough bullets pulled conveniently for the price before it breaks.
I'll second the Hornady Cam-Lock. I use one and there has been no damage to bullets. It works really slick and it's fast. You'll make short work of a stack of cartridges. Jerry
Definitely get a collett style, either RCBS or Hornady.
I've tested it, and marked bullets shoot NO differently than unmarked ones.
Yep, the stubborn ones come out a lot better if you just bump them a wee fraction deeper first. Don't seat them so deep that the collet can't grab them, though. If you do, use the inertial puller to get those few back out a little bit - or all the way.
Saving the powder from these labeled reloads would be up to you, but you can ship and/or sell the primed brass.
I have had a RCBS puller since, well, before Hornady made one! Possibly 30 years... (man, that makes me sound old!).
No complaints with the RCBS puller, but I have used a friend's Hornady Cam lock puller, and (like said above!) it is better.
I used to have a .22-250 that would shoot about .6 MOA and the bullets pulled by the RCBS puller shot just as accurately as "virgin" bullets as far as I could tell. Possibly a more accurate rifle would reveal an effect of pulling...
The Lee puller looks like it would be pretty neat too.
I appreciate all the advice and especially the offer from Scott to borrow his RCBS! I think I'll order the Hornady and give it a try.
I can see several evenings of pulling bullets in my future......there are over 1000 rounds of 243 that I will probably keep and shoot up, and there are 600+ rounds of 25-06, loaded with 100 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips, that I will need to pull apart since I don't have a 25-06 and his is already sold......
I guess the "smart" thing would be to try to find a cheap 25-06!
FWIW: I use an RCBS enertia puller,,,,,but... instead of using the factory junk collets I use a shell holder from the reloading press. It fits nicely and does a nice job. Throw those useless aluminum collets and with the rubber rings in the garbage! Using a shell holder cuts the time in half.
FWIW: I use an RCBS enertia puller,,,,,but... instead of using the factory junk collets I use a shell holder from the reloading press. It fits nicely and does a nice job. Throw those useless aluminum collets and with the rubber rings in the garbage! Using a shell holder cuts the time in half.
I do the same thing with mine....but can you imagine pulling 600-700 bullets with it??
FWIW: I use an RCBS enertia puller,,,,,but... instead of using the factory junk collets I use a shell holder from the reloading press. It fits nicely and does a nice job. Throw those useless aluminum collets and with the rubber rings in the garbage! Using a shell holder cuts the time in half.
