Using a Kinetic Bullet Puller on rifle cartridges

[Balrog]

I am have used a kinetic puller to disassemble pistol rounds, and usually 3 or 4 good whacks and the bullet drops out. I tried to do the same thing with some 223 rounds I needed to disassemble, and it took a lot more whacks, with a lot more force. The bullets were MUCH harder to come out than with pistol rounds. My puller ended up breaking after about 5 or 6 rounds. My puller was several years old though.

Is it a lot harder to disassemble rifle rounds with a kinetic bullet puller?

Is a press mounted bullet puller a better choice for rifle rounds?

 

[R.W.Dale]

well .223 bullets do typically weigh less and you are using an inertial puller.

BTW what are you using as a strike surface? These pullers work much better if you strike something HARD like concrete or steel and not so much from a hard swing which will break the thing

 

[Maj Dad]

If you think you will be pulling down a lot of rounds, the press mounted, collet-style works well (and won't wake up the dead from the banging). I have an old aluminum bodied inertia puller a machinist friend made for me that has been banging them out since ~1978, but I beat it on my 4" bench vise's flat. Anything else is problematic; concrete chips with it, too, but the new hard nylon/plastic/whatever ones might be o.k. on it. Some guys were pulling the bullets from quantities of Turk 8mm and transferring the powder & bullet to primed boxer brass to avoid the corrosive primer, but that's a lot of work for nothing in my view (assuming you clean your rifle after firing, you can use bore cleaner intended for corrosive residue as easily as anything else). In situations like that, the collet puller is just about de riguer...

 

[NorCalRanches]

40 grn .223 bullets are very hard to pull. 50 grn are even noticeably easier.

One trick someone told me was to strike the end grain of a block of wood set on concrete. Seems to have just the right 'whack' (a technical term... ) to dislodge the bullets.

Heavier the bullet the better they work. I can pull 168 grn .308 bullets with just a whack or two.

 

[hadmanysons]

Took me 40 some on whacks to get a 168gr SMK out of a 30-06 case the other day. Didn't think I was accomplishing anything until I started checking OAL with a micrometer every 4 or so whacks. Slowly but surely it came out, bullet & powder intact.

 

[ants]

Put the cartridge in your press with the seating die, and seat the bullet a few thousandths deeper. Doesn't take much, just enough to 'break' the crimp to allow the bullet to move more freely.

 

[Randy1911]

I have found that 223 is one of the hardest to pull. The bullet is so light. The heavier the bullet, the easier. I hit mine on a short piece(15") of railroad track. I never had broken mine until I tried to pull a 223. But RCBS replaced it with no problems.

 

[JimKirk]

I pound mine puller on a 4"x4"x 1.5" block of lead, wheel weight lead.

Soft enough to not break the hammer and it deadens the sound some too.

Jimmy K

 

[CoastiesDad]

Hi; Read somewhere to use a hockey puck on a cement floor.

 

[wj kerr]

howdy i have pulled .222 rounds with a kinetic puller and would say there is a certain knack in it when i got the puller at the start i could have hammered all day long to get a few rounds done now after a couple of blows the rounds pull apart fine . It is my opinion that the secret lies in the correct flick of wrist in the last 4 or so inches on the way down and not the heavy forced used. Wj kerr

 

[RainDodger]

There can also be other reasons for 5.56 rounds to be difficult to pull - there may be some kind of sealant on the bullets and they may also be crimped of course. I've seen many older european cartridges with sealed bullets and even some more modern 9mm cartridges with some kind of dark colored sealant I've seen after pulling. Good advice above, about re-seating the bullet just enough to break any seal.

I never use a kinetic puller anymore - I only use a collet-type puller. You never damage a bullet and you simply pour the powder out of the case. No mess and no fuss. Very easy to do. Once you get the hang of it, it's much faster than messing with a kinetic.