pulling .44 mag. hard cast

[littlejack]

454PB
That's a great idea. Nessesity is the mother of invention.

[muskeg13]

When trying to use the RCBS collet puller, sometimes wrapping a strip of medium coarse sandpaper around the exposed lead gives enough friction for it to work. Make sure you degrease before trying.

[redneck44]

Wow! Thx for all the replys. To be honest with you all, the inertia puller scares the crap out of me, why I never bought one. I thought about using vice grips in the past, but never tried them. Ive never had to pull any real amount, just one here and there I questioned about the oal, so I tossed the shell, when I coudn't pull them as much as I hated to do so.
The idea of whacking a loaded shell onto a hard surface always seemed like a bad idea to me, although I know its been around for years. Thanks again for all the great advice, maybe Ill try the pliers idea again. Happy Memorial day, and safe shooting.

[sharps4590]

How successful the collet type bullet pullers are depends greatly on the shape of the nose of the cast, handgun bullet. I have pulled hundreds, if not thousands, of Keith type SWC's with my RCBS collet puller and, just finished up pulling a couple hundred Lee, 200 gr. bullets for the 44-40 with it.

SOMETIMES you can use a smaller caliber collet to better fit the nose profile and pull them successfully.

I've also had to run the cartridge up through the hole in the press and grab them with a pair of d y k e s.

[15meter]

I use linesman's pliers as is, longer handles then side cutters for better leverage.

They bridge across the hole and sit flatter on top of the hole.

I use either a Klien or a vintage Craftsman( I suspect is a Klien), good and sharp, doesn't take much effort to get a good bite on the boolit.

[Oldfeller]

https://www.amazon.com/Epica-Best-Pr...301613580&th=1

This $9.99 tool from Amazon will easily and quickly pull jacketed and it will pull lead boolits as well. If used lightly it leaves a very faint mark that is so slight the bullets can be reloaded and fired "as is". Lightly is the key term here, too much grip cuts into the bullet too much. These can be recovered with a fine needle file, but this effort is a failure cost of gripping too hard.

This big dog toenail clipper trick has been used for hundreds and hundreds of rounds now (both jacketed and cast) unless I get sloppy with the grip the bullets and the cases are both 100% reusable.

Remember to get the biggest set of large dog nail clippers, they come in different sizes.

[MT Gianni]

He quoted me in his reply.

Sorry I saw Collet and was thinking of a pressed based puller. They are often too short to grip swc pistol bullets.

[WRideout]

I recently had to pull some 38 lead WCs that had a firm crimp applied. When they couldn't be budged by the inertia puller, I took them one at a time, and tapped lightly around the mouth with a small hammer. The top of the RCBS press served as the anvil. After that minor adjustment, they came right out.

Wayne

[lightman]

My RCBS Collet puller doesn't work well with most lead bullets. And I find the hammer type to be too slow for me. I use Lineman's pliers flat across the top of the press. If the bullet is too short I use a 1-1/4" PVC coupling placed over the press ram as someone pictures in another post. I remelt the bullets.

[wilecoyote]

I reload mainly .44mag. .
RCBS inertia puller on a block of hard wood_ even better a cube of hard wood that you can hold in your hand, hammering on it with the other hand.
hammering on steel or concrete you can wreck something.

[gwpercle]

To save the boolits for re-use :
1.) Use an inertia bullet puller (hammer type)
2.) Break the crimp the case has on the boolit by seating it a tiny bit deeper in your seating die.
3.) Once the crimp has been broken the inertia puller works much easier ...use moderate foce blows and watch the bullet as it begins to creep out ... the last blow should be gentle so powder doesn't go flying every where .
Now you can re-use the boolits , powder , cases and the primers ... No Small Thing is this day of component shortages . Waste Not Want Not !
Gary