Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Kinetic Bullets Puller = KB. Possible?

Is it possible for a inertia/kinetic bullet puller to set of the primer and cause a KB?

I read on another forum that a guy was pulling bullets with his Lyman Inertia puller and the round went off. Possible, or more internet BS??

I remember seeing pictures to accompany an article in one of the magazines a number of years ago that verified that it is possible.

Never had it happen. I doubt that it could unless the primer is somehow defective or hit. Either way, the lexan barrel of the KE puller would contain any brass fragments.

I seem to recall reports of it happening in the past. I suspect the largest danger would be the primer exiting the pocket and flying back at the user. That should vent the tool and case enough to prevent a kaboom. IMO

YES IT CAN AND YES IT DID!

I was removing bullets from my 300 RUM about 8 years ago prior to an elk hunt and on my 3rd downstroke with one particular round I had an "explosion" and an instantaneous burning across my temple on the right side of my head. The primer detonated and shot out the back of the case and the tool and it was only by the grace of God that I was not looking directly over the case head. The primer shot out of the back fast enough to RIP my skin at the corner of my right eye, extending back past my right temple. If my head had been 1/4" to the right, I would have lost my right eye at the very minimum. I was told that, because of the apparent damage done, the primer had sufficient velocity to go clean through my eye and into my brain, had I been leaning just a quarter inch more...and I would have had a pretty good chance of not being here.

Because there was no "bolt face" to stop the primer, it flew out back before igniting the powder charge thank goodness. Nevertheless, I endured some pretty intense pain from the ripped skin (not sliced, ripped!)I still have a scar from it but consider myself extremely lucky....

I feel I am living proof of guardian angels....I still use the tool, but every stroke down my head is about 2 feet away and I'm looking away. So far, so good...it's never happened again.

I'm ugly enough...sure didn't need a racing stripe across my head.

Hasn't happened to me yet, but I know of a number of instances of it. I've seen photographs of inertia bullet-pullers that had been shattered by ignition of the powder charges, not just the primers alone. The cases were also blown to pieces, of course.

It's obviously very rare, but one occurrence is enough to prove that indeed it happens. I decided long ago to
(a) minimize the odds that it'll ever happen to me
and
(b) be prepared for that one time if it ever happens to me.

The perpetual problem with the design and manufacture of primers has two huge parts �
� making 'em sensitive to impact and vibration
� making 'em obedient to an even, gradual push

Inertia bullet-pullers aren't the only culprits that have been known to fire unsupported or inadequately supported rounds. A friend of mine and a client of mine set a couple of 'em off in loading dies, and a bench-rester at a match set one off in a chamber with no bolt in the receiver. In all three instances, impact on rods against the noses of the bullets sent enough vibration back to the primers to ignite the primers and the powder charges.

So it hasn't happened to you, or in your presence, or to anyone whom you know? Remember "Howell's First Law of Evidence" �

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

There is an Item called Safety glasses. I wear them ALL the time not just when I am loading. I got hit in my right eye with a Bumble bee when riding my Harley, it diden't blind me but damm near did.

A big THANK YOU to the posters on this thread for the heads-up on the bullet puller. I use mine fairly frequently and always wondered. Extra caution will be taken!

Riding without glasses? Oh my!

I had a primer go off on a .300 WM case, gave me a good scare and put a nice little hole in the ceiling.

Put it away and went to collet style removers that same day.

Interesting thread. I have used a Lyman Quinetic bullet puller for a few decades and have disassembled maybe 500 cartridges in that time. Never had an issue but I have always wondered if.

Last year (or was it two years ago) I ran across a thread at another site that talked about this very subject. If I remember correctly, the OP was asking if people were using standard shellholders in their kinetic bullet pullers instead of the regular three pieces, springloaded shellholder that is supplied.

I started reading the thread because I always had an issue with that shellholder as mine has a habit of coming apart and I have to reassemble it when using it with larger cases.

Several people said they used standard shellholders because it made it easier to us.

However one of the members warned against using the standard shellholders because they would occasionally cause the primer to detonate. He linked to another thread at yet another site that explained the problem. The shellholder that comes with the bullet puller specifically has nothing that comes anywhere close to the primer. The shellholder holds the cartridge at the rim and has nothing that goes above or over the rim. Not so with standard shellholders and the cartridge head can slip when the puller impacts the ground (or whatever) enabling the primer to be placed under a part of the shellholder and it can then be detonated. The writer enjoined everyone to not use standard shellholders in such a device.

So, I'm wondering if the folks here who have experienced a detonation in the puller are using a standard shellholder in their puller.

I bought a collet bullet remover die years ago when I was faced with having to pull 200 bullets after I discovered a mistake in my load. It was much faster than the kinetic puller, but it does take time to set up. I only use the kinetic puller when I only have a few cartridges to disassemble. I wear glasses alreadey (polycarb lenses,) but may add saftey glasses when doing this in the future.

used the three piece holder that came with the RCBS kinetic puller...

OK. That would mean it is possible to actually throw a cartridge on the ground point first and have the primer detonate.

Interesting.

I don't know where you get that, but I guess anything's possible...

Standard shellholders have a recessed "trough" that's put there so even a slightly protruding primer cannot contact the shellholder body. If the primer protrudes enough to be struck by the bottom of that recessed area, the fault is not with the shellholder or the kinetic puller, but with a grossly protruding primer.

Can a cartridge be set off by a kinetic puller? The evidence says it can. But the chances of it happening are less than that of wining the mega-lottery. Wear safety gear, keep your body away from the puller, and you'll be fine.

Just to throw it out there - Hornady Cam-Lok.

I got that from your post. You stated that you used a kinetic bullet puller with the three piece shellholder to dismantle a .300 WM cartridge and the primer detonated. Since there is nothing touching the primer when using the proper shellholder, it would seem to me the cause of the detonation was the cartridge coming to an abrupt stop, just like if you threw it on the ground point first.

I'm not saying it did not happen, I totally believe you. But I am trying to figure out HOW it happened and what caused it.

Yep, that's the one I got, as I stated earlier. However, you have to be very careful in how you use it because it can and will mangle bullets.

Ken-
I recall reading about the benchrest incident in an early issue of Handloader, or Rifle. The memorable part of the accounbt was the accompanying tragedy. As I remember, the man had a live round get stuck in the chamber. He removed the bolt from the rifle and carried the rifle from the from the firing line to a cleaning bench. He ran a cleaning rod down the bore from the muzzle and commenced to tap on the bullet point with the rod tip to dislodge the cartridge. The cartridge ignited, and came back out of the action at high velocity. The man's wife happened to be standing behind the rifle and the case penetrated her abdomen. Although she was immediately started for a hospital, she died before they arrived.

Do I have the account straight?
--Bob

The stop with the puller is going to be A LOT more abrupt than a nose first impact of a loaded cart.

I'd also like to point out that the case in my puller had a loose primer pocket.

I was going to mention a loose primer pocket as the possible culprit, but thought I'd get snickered at. But I think that's the most likely explanation. At impact, the primer in a loose pocket could have enough momentum to slide forward. The anvil would then act as a firing pin inside the primer. Bang.