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Thread: Bonehead move

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy Gibbs44's Avatar
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    Bonehead move

    For lack of a better place to post, what was the most bonehead thing you've done to date/recently while reloading.

    I'll start, I've not reloaded in a very long time, of coursei remember the safety stuff. I was prepping cases for the .44 mag and the .357 mag, which means I was depriming the cases with a low universal depriming die. Afterwards I resized the 44s and reloaded them and put the 357 away for another day. Well I pulled them out and went ahead and primed them and expanded the case mouths, filled them with powder and started setting bullets. I do this in two stages, I know it takes longer, but it's just what I do. Anyway, I started crimping them and noticed that some were loose even after crimping. I guess I was about 15 deep and something just still wasn't right. So I pulled the Blackhawk out and tried to chamber one if the finished rounds, yeah it didn't fit. Then I tried a different one and different chambers. Yup none fit. I forgot to go back and resize them.

    So anyone have a preferred bullet puller?

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  2. #2
    Boolit Master
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    Frankford Arsenal or. National Metallic. Cheap!!! But you obviously have the shell holder so ain't nothin but a thang!

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  3. #3
    Frosted Boolits

    IllinoisCoyoteHunter's Avatar
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    I prefer the collet type puller over the hammer type inertia puller. But since you have just a handful the hammer type is going to be the cheapest. The collet pullers are nice for high quantity.
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  4. #4
    Boolit Bub iflyskyhigh's Avatar
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    Get a collet puller. Sooner or later you’ll make a BIG mistake and be glad you have it.

    Only downside of the collet pullers is some pistol bullet profiles are tough for the collet to grab.

  5. #5
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    Winger Ed.'s Avatar
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    I use the shell holder for a single stage press and the hammer type puller.
    I also go to great pains not to use it all.

    My big event with it was after getting the powder measure all set from using my new digital scale--
    I rocked merrily along for about a hundred .223s.
    I noticed the level in the measure was way higher than it should have been.
    I checked and the charge weight measured good.
    But the case wasn't nearly as full as I'd remembered it being on previous batches of 748.

    I got out the beam scale, and yep--- the digital was about 60% of what the weight should have been.
    I put a new battery in it, made sure it was measuring the right units, and it still lied to me.

    The scale went in the trash, I got to 'un-load' at least a hundred .223.
    Last edited by Winger Ed.; 01-25-2022 at 12:24 AM.
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  6. #6
    Boolit Master trails4u's Avatar
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    I've been loading 45acp recently, using Win231 fed through a Lee drum measure on a Lee turret press. No worries...until I decided to remove the entire turret from the press, and picked it up using the drum on the measure. Yep....dumped pretty much 1/3lb of powder into the bin of primed cases I was loading. No great loss....other than the time to clean it up and the shame of having done it...
    "Do not follow where the path might lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail" Ralph Waldo Emerson

  7. #7
    Boolit Master

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    Pliers on the press. Take the dies out. Use the currect case retainer. Raise ram until bullet comes out of die hole. Grip. Push ram down in a clean smooth move. Toss bullet back in pot. If i know the powder, it goes in its jug. If not the yhe powder goes into the garden.

    I have to break down lots of rounds before. Tried a kenwtic puller. Good for one or two, more than 3 then I use vice grips. Cant afford the Hornady on press puller, my birthday is coming though lol.

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  8. #8
    Boolit Grand Master
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    Tried to size a .458 Win Mag case with the hastily grabbed .45 Win die. It had me baffled for awhile, but finally my uncaffeinated brain kicked in.

  9. #9
    Boolit Master trails4u's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rcmaveric View Post
    Pliers on the press. Take the dies out. Use the currect case retainer. Raise ram until bullet comes out of die hole. Grip. Push ram down in a clean smooth move. Toss bullet back in pot. If i know the powder, it goes in its jug. If not the yhe powder goes into the garden.

    I have to break down lots of rounds before. Tried a kenwtic puller. Good for one or two, more than 3 then I use vice grips. Cant afford the Hornady on press puller, my birthday is coming though lol.

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    I'm with Ryan on this one.... Side-cutters and using the leverage of the press works. I've done it 100s of times...maybe more?
    "Do not follow where the path might lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail" Ralph Waldo Emerson

  10. #10
    Boolit Master


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    If you don’t want to use the boolits again, side cutters work great. I’ve had no luck with a collet puller with cast pistol boolits but inertia/hammer pullers work well and leave the boolits reusable. For rifle, collet pullers are my favorite. They normally don’t damage jacketed. My rifles are all .30 cal or smaller and while I could, I don’t use cast in them so I haven’t tried a collet puller on cast rifle boolits.
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  11. #11
    Boolit Master


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    If you're going to use a inertia hammer, do it quick. It takes no time at all for those PC'd to "weld" themselves inside a case. You'll need several HARD whacks to break the seal and pull those bullets out out their cases.
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  12. #12
    Boolit Grand Master

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    I left my index finger on top of a .44 mag case once while I ran it up into the sizer. It’s a lesson that is as clear and sharp today as the day I learned it.
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  13. #13
    Boolit Master
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    For more than twenty I use the Hornady collet puller, works great. If less than twenty I use the hammer, and I’ve been through a couple, so far the all plastic RCBS works best and seems stronger than the ones with a metal handle. There’s something about the polymer they use and the design that it pulls the bullets with a lighter whack and the plastic just seems stronger.

  14. #14
    Boolit Grand Master
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    I do not pull many rounds, but when I do, I use the inertia type tool by RCBS. I have had it for at least 25 years, and it was not expensive.

    If I was to break down a lot of jacketed rifle rounds, I have a collet type tool (RCBS IIRC) that I have used a couple of times. It was bought in case I ever wanted to rework a bunch of cheap military ammunition. But those days are gone.
    Don Verna


  15. #15
    Boolit Buddy Gibbs44's Avatar
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    The ones that I did crimp, I crimped good, so they're probably ruined. I'll probably use the side cutter truck for them. The others, I'm betting I can figure something out, I know some I can pull with my fingers. I'm still not sure what I was thinking, I guess I wasn't.

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  16. #16
    Boolit Master
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    I have used the inertia type tool by RCBS for years and if it breaks RCBS has great customer service.

  17. #17
    Boolit Master Baltimoreed's Avatar
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    Inertia bullet puller will pop them right out, the only thing holding them in is the crimp. Dump the powder back in the hopper, remove the decap pin from your sizing die, resize-expand-dump the powder-seat a bullet and you’ve fixed your brain phart. You should be able to reload the bullets even if they’re lead. Using my Dillon or Lyman turrets I start with a piece of fired brass and end with a loaded round. Don’t pre anything. With my rifle reloading I’ll do a block of 50 starting with mty brass in a wooden block but as I process all 50 they get turned over after each step until the powder gets dumped and bullets seated. I don’t handle the brass any more than I have to.

  18. #18
    Boolit Grand Master

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    I tried a collet type puller but it wasn't consistent on lead bullets (which for a long time was all I loaded.). If I tightened it down enough ot hold the bullet, it ruined it (no big deal, I just remelted it) and it was a pain squeezing the collet down. I once pulled about 100 HXP rounds to reload cases with premium bullets and went back to an inertia puller, as it was slow screwing the collet down. A couple things that made my FA inertia puller easier/better; I made a longer, more comfortable handle. I used a 1 1/2" wooden dowel, about 8" long and it makes whacking much easier and more comfortable. I use a lead ingot/puck as an anvil. Not soft enough to lessen inertia and much quieter, and the blow is dampened, not too much, and less vibration o my hands.

    At one time or another I've tried all the common methods; collet, dikes/pliers/wire strippers on my press, dedicated "bullet pliers" on my press, a spring type (that had flat "springs" on an angle, push the bullet through enters OK, pull bullet out and springs dig into the bullet and removed as the case is lowered), and inertia/hammer type. I've got most of the pullers in a drawer somewhere and use the FA Hammer (with standard shell holders) exclusively.
    Last edited by mdi; 01-25-2022 at 02:23 PM.
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  19. #19
    Boolit Master brassrat's Avatar
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    It was such a shock that the memory was really not imprinted. This was in Nov. I believe I was decrimping with a RCBS on my Classic Turret. I must have been sliding a .223 case up in place and the handle fell. I guess the little swage tip slammed into my thumb. I released my hand and went on. As the weeks went on, things only hurt more and really was swelling. I needed professional assistance for the infection that was extremely evident even with no cuts or entry.

  20. #20
    Boolit Man
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    I was loading 10 extra rounds before rifle season and priming on the press due to the low count.
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    Took it to the garage and popped it out with a small punch at the vice. Definitely a bonehead move.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check