Pulling projectiles 44 magnum

[Highland Lofts]

Well, "portable" is sort of a relative term in this case, no?

The actual anvil is a stationary item, a one foot piece of railroad rail weighing in probably twenty pounds is portable.
Next trip to Everetti will be buying another piece of railroad rail.

 

[Mk-211]

Being that I work for the railroad, you can walk down the rail, and find all kinds of scrap.

If you see any track gangs working, ask them, they'll probably give you a chunk of rail.

If you see a number on the side of the rail, like 120, 140... that's how much the rail weighs per yard.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

I bought an extended shell holder for my Rockchucker so the loaded round sticks up through the die hole and grab the bullet with an old pair of wire cutters.
You can get this type of wire cutters at Lowe's hardware.
As tight as you says those are, I wonder if some gavanic welding took place between the case and jacket?

I wouldn't think so with a nickel cases but you won't know until you get one pulled out intact.

 

[length_of_pull_1]

Can someone verify that 13.0 gr of Unique sitting under a 180gr rnfp bare lead bullet is within spec? I think it is, but I don't find any data to match that exact recipe. If I find it's a sane load I think I'll go ahead and shoot the rest. The interesting thing about the whole lot is that the dude labeled them "Ruger only" and listed them as being approximately 1200 fps. Kinda made me think he wasn't very aware of what he was doing since I don't think that charge weight is excessive and I'm pretty sure would be quite a lot faster than 1200 fps. Thanks!

 

[Walkalong]

Being that I work for the railroad, you can walk down the rail, and find all kinds of scrap.

That’s where/how I got mine, decades ago.

 

[Riomouse911]

Be careful hitting it on a concrete garage floor. I have chipped mine using that method with multiple hits in the same area.

I am doing the same, albeit slowly, with a bunch of .41,AE reloads I was gifted. Keeping the 210 gr JHP bullets and (someday) selling the primed brass.

I now hit the hammer on the flat “anvil” part of my large bench vise. Zero give, zero concrete damage and you don’t have to stoop over to swing the hammer against the floor.

Stay safe.

 

[Mk-211]

A likely story!

More like...

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Can someone verify that 13.0 gr of Unique sitting under a 180gr rnfp bare lead bullet is within spec? I think it is, but I don't find any data to match that exact recipe. If I find it's a sane load I think I'll go ahead and shoot the rest. The interesting thing about the whole lot is that the dude labeled them "Ruger only" and listed them as being approximately 1200 fps. Kinda made me think he wasn't very aware of what he was doing since I don't think that charge weight is excessive and I'm pretty sure would be quite a lot faster than 1200 fps. Thanks!

That’s half a grain under max for a standard pressure 180gr LWC in .44Mag. Safe for a S&W Mdl.29, according to the Lyman 3rd Cast.

 

[adcoch1]

Well, "portable" is sort of a relative term in this case, no?

Compared to a concrete floor it's quite portable!

 

[barnfrog]

Compared to a concrete floor it's quite portable!

Touché.

 

[BW460]

My father had a 1 foot section of railroad rail that he used as an anvil. Don't know where he got it, but my fear is there is a rail line somewhere that has a one foot section missing! 🫨 He was pretty good with a cutting torch!

 

[Highland Lofts]

you can buy one foot sections of railroad rail here locally at Everett Steel. $20

 

[DanK3Pos]

I've got a good size anvil, its is close to a hundred years old. It belonged to the other half's great grandfather.
The piece of railroad rail is small and portable, if i have any volume to hit with the wackamolee i set it on the picnic table and have at it.
View attachment 1257269
When I got back into reloading sfter around thirty years off I wacked them on my reloading bench.
A one inch thick piece of finnished plywood and it left indentations in the plywood.
I filled them in and covered my bench with formica. It cleans up better and doesn't stain.
An old brake rotor on a table would work good.
Anything metal thick enough to give the kienitc hamner a dead stop so the bullet comes out of the case.

The past few years i have been using the taper crimp die i stead of roll crimp.
The case mouths last longer from not being over worked and if you need to dislodge a bullet they come out easier.

If anyone needs an old brake rotor, I've got a few in the garage. You pay shipping!

I use a steel plate about 6" square and 3/8" thick. That is sufficient. It just sits on the workbench.

 

[Highland Lofts]

I just threw a couple of brake rotors away at the recycle yard last week.

 

[Highland Lofts]

It's not about running away in my case but more of a public service. Non firearm people know I reload so I get asked how they should dispose of some ammo left in a family members estate or they acquired some how. Sometimes there even scared to touch it. I have them bring it to me and I take care of it salvaging what I can.
I currently have 100 factory Win 308's and 20 factory Rem 30-30 rounds that were given to me for disposal as they are just to dangerous to have in the house. Guy nearly crap his shorts when he handed the boxes to me like they were a grenade, I looked in the box to see what I had then gently tossed the boxes on the counter.

When my son and daughter inlaw bought their 2nd house we were out deer hunting. My son was useing his 16 gauge ithace model 37 pump shotgun.
She was moving small stuff with a couple of her friends.
When we got to the new house he set five shotgun shells in the kitchen island.
When his wife and friends showed up one of her friends went into the kitcjen and cam running out to the livingroom yelling
"OH MY GOD, THERE ARE BULLETS ON THE COUNTER IN THE KITCHEN".
What a moron.
Total retardness showing it,s self.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

Be careful hitting it on a concrete garage floor. I have chipped mine using that method with multiple hits in the same area.

I am doing the same, albeit slowly, with a bunch of .41,AE reloads I was gifted. Keeping the 210 gr JHP bullets and (someday) selling the primed brass.

I now hit the hammer on the flat “anvil” part of my large bench vise. Zero give, zero concrete damage and you don’t have to stoop over to swing the hammer against the floor.

Stay safe.

My concrete floor won the argument with my kinetic hammer. Didn't think that would be where they would break at.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

I use an old butcher’s block on top of a barstool. I prefer to let inertia do the hard work. The best way I’ve found is a fast swing with a loose grip going perpendicular to the striking surface with the bullet at a 90-angle to the impact. Let the hammer rebound and take advantage of the reverse momentum to multiply the inertia. Even the old Radway factory sealed .303 with the black goo pop at around the third or fourth strike. Like Mike Hammer said, “Ya gots to be subtle!”

 

[Riomouse911]

My concrete floor won the argument with my kinetic hammer. Didn't think that would be where they would break at.

View attachment 1259484

My RCBS hammer was taped up once or twice but finally cracked at the locking threads/collet junction, too. This was after helping me rectify many, many seating mistakes as I learned the art.
I bought a metal-handled Lyman a few years ago, and it’s held up pretty well so far.



This flat spot on the bench vise is tailor made for whacking with a kinetic puller. Easy on the floor and all without having to stoop over.

Stay safe.

 

[length_of_pull_1]

That’s half a grain under max for a standard pressure 180gr LWC in .44Mag. Safe for a S&W Mdl.29, according to the Lyman 3rd Cast.

Thanks! That's pretty much what I surmised without finding the exact data. I'm gonna go ahead and shoot em through a Taurus 44 6 1/2" . I've pulled at least ten of them and they are all 13 gr of powder what is listed as Unique. I think it's a little weird that he labeled them ruger only and under estimated the velocity pretty badly, but the data seems to work ok.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Thanks! That's pretty much what I surmised without finding the exact data. I'm gonna go ahead and shoot em through a Taurus 44 6 1/2" . I've pulled at least ten of them and they are all 13 gr of powder what is listed as Unique. I think it's a little weird that he labeled them ruger only and under estimated the velocity pretty badly, but the data seems to work ok.

It’s possible - only guessing here - that the “Ruger only” label refers to the previous owner’s Ruger because that’s the only gun they shot well in… versus another of possibly several other non-Ruger guns.

In other words, it’s not just about pressure but which gun they are meant for.

I have some Garand-only .30-06 which are actually a little light for my 1917’s and Remington 721. I don’t want to waste loads developed for the self-loaders on bolt guns.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

I agree, I have some .357 magnum loads that are marked Ruger only, just because they are a little too long to fit in my recessed cylinders of my old S&Ws because of the bullet I used.
They are lower pressure loads also.

 

[Show Me]

Concrete floor in the basement sitting on the stairs works great and provides hours of entertainment value.
When the going gets tough this pair of dykes work without damaging the jacket too much for casual shooting

 

[Show Me]

I have a short piece of railroad rail as well, great for banging stuff on.

Go ahead and say it. You don't have a bullet puller.

 

[Walkalong]

Go ahead and say it. You don't have a bullet puller.

Correct, I don't have a bullet puller, never have. The piece of railroad rail is for big stuff anyway.

 

[RealGun]

Since using the inertial puller is tedious, just do 50 at a time and call it a day.