Bullet Puller Tip

[ar33]

My guess is that most experienced loaders know this tip.... I was loading today when my RCBS green puller started to act up. The cartridge was pulling straight threw instead of the bullet being pulled. I could see that the O ring (black rubber band) around the collet was stretched. Needless to say I was annoyed at this delay. Went online to see if I could buy o ring band replacement and stumbled across a post on the web.

The post suggested ditching the collet with o-ring and replacing it with the shell holder of that caliber you load with.

I did as it said and it worked better then the original piece. Tip found at the right time!

 

[CMD-KY]

I found O rings that fit in mine at plumbing supply store, very cheap, no shipping. I have read on here that using a shell holder is dangerous; I don't understand how that would be. However, it is on the 'net so it has to be true.

 

[BlueOvalBandit]

The post suggested ditching the collet with o-ring and replacing it with the shell holder of that caliber you load with.
!

This comes up quite a bit. It works fine for the most part but there have been stories of them going kaboom if there was a high primer, as some shell holders may contact it. YMMV you can read about a few discussion here

Inertial Bullet Puller Warning - Shooters Forum

Shellholder in kinetic bullet puller - Tips, Tricks and Inventions - Metallic cartridge reloading - The Handloaders Bench

One thing you can do is superglue the oring to the collets and slit one opening.

Another tip that has nothing to do with the collet is putting a foam earplug in the bottom to catch the bullet.

 

[ar33]

Thank you for these articles. I'm for safety first, so I will search for o rings tomorrow. Anybody know the correct size or where to get them?

 

[Smithhound]

If you have an Ace Hardware near you they have a section of drawers that hold all kinds of stuff from cap nuts to bicycle chain links to O rings, a guy (me at least) can spend hours poking around in those bins. Take the old one down and just compare it, buy a few they are cheap.
Another tip for kinetic bullet pullers: put some wadded up pieces of paper towel into the bottom, where the bullet lands, this will keep the tip of the bullet from getting damaged on impact.
I tried using the shell holder but found it slower than the 3 piece kizmo.
RD

 

[riversalmon]

I have tried the shell holder and my experience has been that. Where the shell holder does not support the rim you will get a ding or offset in the rim. this can cause problems in revolvers as to clearance on the recoil shield. In rifle cartridges it may cause extraction difficulties. just two cents

 

[Nevada Ed]

I finally broke my old one about a year ago and the new one came with two case holders. Guess you might say a spare
"O" ring already in the box.

Just hope this new one last 20 years, too !!

 

[H Richard]

They sell replacement "collets" 3 at a time at Midway for a very cheap price.

 

[mikld]

I have never liked the aluminum collet w/o-ring. Difficult to insert a case with my fat fingers so I use a shell holder. While I've read a lot of the warnings about using standard shell holders in an impact puller, my common sense tells me that it may be one of those "one-in-ten million-freaks-of-nature happenings", or another "my brother in law's friend's uncle had a friend who knew someone..." type theories. In the hundreds of cartridges I've disassembled I have not encountered any problems, and being quite mechanically inclined (life long machinist/mechanic/electrician) I just can't see it happening...

BTW, I use shell holders that fit the shell, no sloppy wobbling in the holder...

 

[jgh4445]

Harbor Freight has
"o" ring sets for a bout 4 bucks..lots of rings in different sizes.

 

[125JHP]

If you put something in the tip to cushion the bullet be careful that you get the area clean before pulling different powder loads - especially if you reuse the powder that comes out of the case. anything in the bottom can trap granuals of powder and you don't want to get them mixed.