Pulling Bullets

[TNGO]

I was dismantling some handgun ammo today and encountered a stubborn cartridge. It's a Remington .357 Mag 125gr SJHP, and it will not budge. I'm using a Frankford Impact Bullet Puller. I pulled several other bullets in calibers from 9mm to .45 Colt. Some of them took several impacts before breaking loose. But I hammered that .357 until my arm got tired, with no result.

Any constructive advice will be appreciated.

 

[lee n. field]

Shoot it if safe or discard it if not. A single loaded cartridge is not worth the trouble.

 

[TNGO]

I want the bullet as part of a display.

Guess I'll soak it in WD-40 overnight and try again tomorrow.

 

[Freedomv]

Try seating the slug a little deeper to break it loose, then pull it.
Vern

 

[Sunray]

What are you hitting it on? I find a brain sized rock is good. Mind you, your Remington .357 Mag 125gr SJHP may have a really heavy crimp.

 

[TNGO]

I'm using a piece of 3/4" plywood, placed on the floor. The instructions warn against hitting a steel or concrete surface. These rounds apparently do have a heavy crimp. I'm surprised that they are so much harder to pull than .44 Magnum bullets.

 

[sctman800]

I also use a FA impact puller and a short piece of oak 4x4 set on end. my instructions also said not on concrete but I think the plywood is probably not solid enough. Use any hard wood and hit on the end grain, it will be much more solid. Jim.

 

[Sunray]

Hi. I have used a granite rock, as daft as it sounds, with my hammer style puller with no fuss. It only damaged the end a bit. Just like you'd expect a rock(it really was the size of a human brain, just by accident. I lost it when I disposed of an old truck. Stupid me.) to do to plastic. There's no way the round will go bang by inertia though.
I tried everything before I went to a hard surface. The rock came about when I moved into an apartment building and didn't want to disturb other tenants.
"...The instructions warn against..." That could be a lawyer thing. They don't want anybody claiming damage to the puller.
Give it a couple smacks on something hard.

 

[P95Carry]

While concrete etc may be advised against - problem with impact pullers is you are relying on inertial effects ..... soak up too much energy in deforming something ''soft'' like ply' and a lot of useful energy is lost.

The oak end-grain suggestion is good - but even so, harsh crimps do take some dealing with.

I got some collet pullers a while back and have yet to try em out - they would probably cope with anything.

 

[Quantrill]

Hit it on the concrete - hard. Quantrill

 

[Austin Charles]

Just hit the concrete :banghead:

You'll be ok

 

[stans]

Sometimes factory rounds have the bullets sealed with a sealant as well as a crimp, this sealant can be very tough to break and seating the bullet deeper, then using a kinetic puller might be the answer.

 

[lee n. field]

The instructions warn against hitting a steel or concrete surface.

I use a piece of corrugated cardboard over concrete.

 

[Mal H]

"I'm using a piece of 3/4" plywood"

That's like banging it against a pillow, a hard pillow for sure, but it's going to give a lot more than concrete or a hard wood post. Like sctman800, I use a length of 4x4 on end.

 

[Black Snowman]

Ditto on the seat then pull. I use concrete with my RCBS puller. For best results with least damage to the puller I get the velocity as high as I can then loosen my grip right before impact so I'm not trying to drive through the concrete. Seems to work well.