Lee Precision Boolit Puller.

[deces]

Richard Lee made a video over a decade ago about some new tools that were to be introduce one of them was a push through boolit puller. It looks pretty neat, obviously it never made it to the market. Has anyone here with a lathe made one like it?

[15meter]

There was a one man shop that made what I assume was a similar bullet puller. They only made small runs. I tried to get one never had any luck. Multiple emails, with promises of "next run". I lost the email address over time and had forgotten about it until your video.

Would still like to try one some day as opposed to the whacker style bullet puller or the collet pullers. I would think it would take several different sizes to accommodate the full range of bullets.

Doubt if it would work very well with cast boolits.

[Froogal]

I own the RCBS collet style bullet puller. Worked quite well for pulling jacketed soft point bullets from .357 cartridges, but I absolutely cannot make it work for anything else. It was a poor investment.

[dverna]

The Lee prototype is intriguing but....if it had worked, it would have been marketed. I expect it is some type of collet housed in the die body that grips the bullet. It would be tricky to get enough collet grip to hold the bullet and not score the bullet.

[15meter]

I too have the RCBS with several different collets. I've only had moderate success with it. If the bullets are seated long so you're gripping the full diameter, it works OK. If you're trying to grip on the ogive not much joy.

Recently read a thread here that mentions lubing the threads on the puller helps. I'm going to try that shortly. I have a couple of hundred 222 that need to be disassembled and the whacker bullet pullers just doesn't work with light bullets.

It's that physics thing, not enough mass to keep moving the bullet forward when the hammer comes to the abrupt stop

[Bent Ramrod]

As “inventions” go, that one is kind of late to the party.

I have a REDCO Model 800 bullet puller (Pat. Pend; original cost $14.95) that appears identical in operation to Lee’s device, except that it lacks the red plastic bullet catcher.

Inside the 7/8”x14 holder, there is a piece of flat spring stock with an oval hole and a couple relief cuts. You screwed the puller onto your press, pushed the round up into the spring hole and pulled back. The hole would grip the bullet and the empty case would be withdrawn. The arrangement of the hole was such that the next bullet would easily push the one in the spring forward and out the top, but the next bullet would be gripped like the first and couldn’t be withdrawn backwards. All it needed to exactly foreshadow Lee’s idea was something to catch the bullet (which likely was the operator’s free hand, back in those ancient times).

It was made by an outfit called Research Development Engineering Co, P. O. Box 15523, Salt Lake City 15, Utah. It has to be from the early 60s at latest, with district number and no ZIP Code. Doesn’t look like it was a howling success on the market, as it’s the only one I’ve seen, whereas the collet types from Lachmiller and RCBS are all over the place.

Forster made something of the same sort, with a round hole and four relief cuts. I think it was more caliber specific than the REDCO. The Forsters do show up at gun shows, though rarely.

I think the reason for the hammer-type puller’s success is that nobody demils vast quantities of military surplus ammunition anymore. It’s generally a box or so, at most, of handloading mistakes or a few rounds that one desires to salvage the cases from.

[Iron369]

That video was from 13 years ago.

[GregLaROCHE]

It sure would be nice to have a bullet puller that worked that easily.

[deces]

I gotta give credit to Frankford Arsenal, their Pile Driver puller is rather nice for pulling, the only con about it is the WHAM!

[gunther]

Used a Forster puller on a bunch of grubby 30-06 ammo. They work with a Bonanza co-ax press, and are pretty fast. The ammo was so grubby that the "grub" built up in the puller and it finally quit working.

[ddeck22]

I've use the Hornady collet puller on about 1,000 rounds. If you are pulling lead rounds, you'll get some indentations, but not an issue on FMJ or even plated bullets. You may have to adjust it slightly so you don't grip it too tightly. Of course, if there is a heavy crimp you have to grip a little harder.

[725]

Never saw that Lee bullet puller before. I wish I had something that worked so easily.

[Carrier]

Richard Lee was a very interesting man. His Lee loader is what got me reloading 55 years ago.

[country gent]

I have made several of the redding style pullers. A good project for the lathe.
The parts you will need to make are
1) the body Cold roll steel is fine
2) the jaws these can be either 3 or 4 piece 1 1/4" steel banding is good
3) locking ring again cold roll steel is fine

The body is a stem 7/8" 14 threads 1-1 1/2" long and a top 1 1/2" in dia 1/2" long. This face has a counter bore 1.240" dia 3/8" deep. there is hole thru the center just bigger than the cartridge case. Remember these work for a caliber so a 30 cal made right will pull any 30 cal cartridge.

The jaws are 1.250 dia. A hole is drilled thru the center slightly under caliber. ( .305 for a 308 ). when assembled the jaws will lift up when a bullet is entered but not drop with it in, This is the grip that locks the bullet. When turned and bored split into 3 or 4 jaws with a thin dremil cut off blade or jewelers saw. You want the thinnest cut possible.

The lock ring is a simple ring 1.241 dia with a 7/8"" hole one side is faced with a 20* angle this is the bottom the angle allows the jaws to lift easily. This ring is pressed in to hold jaws in once pressed in it has to me removed by machining it out.

In use slide round into press shell holder raise ram to insert into jaws up to neck and pull down bullet will be pushed out when the next is inserted. Redding named these the Super Fast pullers and they are.

[imashooter2]

The puller looks like the old Forster Superfast pullers… a disc of spring steel with slots cut off a slightly undersized hole. Note that when he put the die in the press there was already a bullet sticking out the top. The system depended on the next bullet in the press to push the first out of the fingers. There’s a picture in this old Midway listing:

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1012693079?pid=313843

You can still find them occasionally on the big auction site.

Edit: late to the party as usual. Several others have already said the same thing.

[country gent]

I turned up a body today 7/8 14 threads to be set up for 30 caliber have to find the spring stock and make a ring then will post pics of the 3 parts and the assembled unit

[dverna]

I turned up a body today 7/8 14 threads to be set up for 30 caliber have to find the spring stock and make a ring then will post pics of the 3 parts and the assembled unit

Thank you sir. It will be interesting to see.

[deces]

Yeah, but I think we all want to see a video demo.

[imashooter2]

Be careful you don’t push the case neck up through the fingers. I imagine the result would make you unhappy.

[15meter]

Be careful you don’t push the case neck up through the fingers. I imagine the result would make you unhappy.

I suspect this is why Lee never marketed it. Probably figured there would be non-stop warranty complaints when people set them up wrong.

Although I would think you could "thread" the case back out of the fingers. At least I would hope so.