Pulling deep seated boolits

[63 Shiloh]

Hey Fellers,

A friend has got himself a new Dillon 650 (truly, its not me!), he is loading .38 Super.

Now, I helped him set it all up, even got the dies sorted to correct settings. He gave me a call, saying that his shell plate is indexing a bit too fast and spilling powder. I told him to trim one coil off the spring under the ball bearing, resulting in a softer indexing.

He did this, however, forgot to tighten the set screw in the ram allowing the shell plate to slowly unscrew during operation.

So, we are looking at having to pull 1000+ rounds that have had the boolits seated too deeply. I used a kinetic hammer, it does work, but due to a firm taper crimp it is taking a soul destroying amount of time to pull a round.

I then tried to grasp the boolit with some vice grips in a single stage press, this is not working as the vice grips are destroying the boolit and not pulling them. Did I mention a firm taper crimp?? :groner:

So, any tips for this job gents?

Mike

[Kraschenbirn]

To save "1000+ rounds", I think I might invest in a collet-type bullet puller.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/default.aspx?productNumber=680804

Hopefully, the boolits aren't seated too deeply for the collet to get a firm grip.

Bill

[largom]

The "Firm taper crimp" you mentioned may deform the boolits dimensions as they are being pulled. Could you not just use the impact puller to move the boolit forward enough so that they could be reseated to the correct length? This would do less damage to the boolit.

Larry

[Sonnypie]

Only advice is to go ahead with the kinetic hammer.
Last spring I undertook what was left of a case of old military 30-06 ammo.
Some 1400-1500 rounds. Broke every one down with my kinetic bullet puller.
I just sat there breaking them down by wrapping the hammer against the concrete floor in the shop.
Once you get a rhythm going, most will come apart on the first or second slap. And these were all crimped.
The reason was they were all corrosive primers.
I've used collet bullet pullers (http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=680804) in the past. But more often than not they spoil the bullet. Even FMJ bullets.
A kinetic won't do that, in my experience. But they do tend to spill a bit of the powder.

I set a media sifter (http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=731116) on a bucket. When the ammo is apart in the puller, I release the grip and tap the hammer to dump all into the sifter. The powder falls into the bucket, while the case and bullet stay in the sifter.

Tapered crimp should give up easily. Use a harder surface for your hammer.
(Contrary to China Knock-offs instructions (http://media.midwayusa.com/midwayusa/StaticPages/pdf/Instructions/Bullet_Puller_Instr.pdf))

I have the Quinetics Bullet Puller (http://www.sinclairintl.com/.aspx/pid=34107/Product/Quinetics_Bullet_Puller). This thing has had literally tens of thousands of impacts on hard surfaces and is still working after decades of use.
I use to whack it on a steel miniature anvil Dad had made that sat on the bench.

[1hole]

You don't say how much 'too deep' they are seated nor what the load is and that matters.

Unless they are MUCH too deep, AND the charge is on the edge of a KABOOM, he may very well be able to safely shoot 'em just as they are.

Part of the point of a taper crimp is to NOT cut into the bullets. Certainly not so deeply that the case mouth can slip past the end of the chamber. All we need the crimper to do on autoloader ammo is remove the case mouth flare anyway. Sounds like you guys may have been way to enthusiastic!

I would NEVER load 1,000 rounds of anything before checking the OAL AND testing it for function and accuracy... bet you won't do it again!

Good luck.

[63 Shiloh]

You don't say how much 'too deep' they are seated nor what the load is and that matters.

Unless they are MUCH too deep, AND the charge is on the edge of a KABOOM, he may very well be able to safely shoot 'em just as they are.

Part of the point of a taper crimp is to NOT cut into the bullets. Certainly not so deeply that the case mouth can slip past the end of the chamber. All we need the crimper to do on autoloader ammo is remove the case mouth flare anyway. Sounds like you guys may have been way to enthusiastic!

I would NEVER load 1,000 rounds of anything before checking the OAL AND testing it for function and accuracy... bet you won't do it again!

Good luck.

They are too deep mate, I have looked over them, they are not my rounds.

I too have the verniers set up and spot check every 50 or so on the Dillon.

My mate just got a new 650 and I think the excitement of having a round pop out each pull of the handle was too much for him.

To make it even worse, the boolits are coated and of a design I have never seen, kinds like a truncated cone with a SWC step in them. Just terrible looking things.

I think Sonny is right, they will need the hammer treatment.

Guess I know what I will be doing with my mate on Friday night, banging away with a kinetic hammer instead of going to the pub.

Mike

[oldandslow]

shiloh, 9/15/11

I feel for you. I had to take apart 800 9mm cartridges a couple of years ago and they all had a pretty stiff crimp. I'd do a hundred or so every few days and it took about a month to finish it all up. I went through three kinetic pullers. The first broke after I smacked it too hard on a steel bar (about number 175) which worked well until then in unseating the bullets. I wasn't getting anywhere with using concrete or hardwood. I then welded up a kinetic puller out of half inch pipe. It was much sturdier and had no problem unseating the bullets with smacking them on the steel bar. Only problem was when a cartridge fired off inside the kinetic puller after smacking the steel bar pretty hard (that really tightened the sphincters). I wear ear and eye protection so no problems. I inspected the primer and there were no marks on it- the parts inside the primer moved enough to light it off.

Finally I found the key to unseating the bullets without destroying the puller or lighting off the cartridge inside the puller. Smack the puller on a bowling ball. It only takes a couple of whacks and sure beats going bowling. I got my ball from the Salvation Army for $2. Good luck.

best wishes- oldandslow

[mold maker]

Most kinetic puller problems are caused by not understanding how.
An extremely loose grip on the handle, and a fast swing against a hard surface, is what gets it done.
I've never had to pull a thousand, but several hundred military 30 06 berdan primed, were the hardest I've encountered. They required 2 licks each. I've used the same Quintic (SP) puller for as long as I can remember. Probably bought in the mid 60s. It was the one with the Hex aluminum handle. I did have to straighten it once. That was caused by too tight a grip, and not allowing it to rebound on impact.
Just think what a pita it would be, if no one had come up, with that idea.

[leadman]

63, looks like your mate should be buying you some brew that night.

[fryboy]

a trick often used with sealed mil-surp stuff was to seat a bit deeper before trying to pull , this breaks the seal , in this case it mite also help loosen the crimp ( if there's enough full diameter left out side the case that is ) g'luck and we'll call your friend lefty by the time he's done :P ( depending upon which arm gets the work out of course )