Pulling Bullets

Status
Not open for further replies.
T

TNGO

Member
Joined
May 16, 2004
Messages
151
Location
Tennessee
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.
 
I want the bullet as part of a display.

Guess I'll soak it in WD-40 overnight and try again tomorrow.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
"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.
 
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.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top