Pulled bullet question

[Rgarbarino]

I just got my first batch of pulled bullets, FMJ 230 gr .45. My question is do you guys do anything with the bullets to clean them up at all? Some have slight marks/dings from being pulled...does it affect the shooting. Can they be tumbled to smooth them out?

Or don't worry about it?

[LeadFarmer74]

I tumbled mine for about an hr. They were pretty dirty.

[rsrocket1]

I just got my first batch of pulled bullets, FMJ 230 gr .45. My question is do you guys do anything with the bullets to clean them up at all? Some have slight marks/dings from being pulled...does it affect the shooting. Can they be tumbled to smooth them out?

Or don't worry about it?

No, the marks will not affect flight. Think about the marks left by the rifling of the gun. The pull marks are insignificant compared to them and unless the dings are really big, they won't affect the bullets either. If you want clean and shiny bullets, you can clean them. Otherwise, load up a dozen cleaned bullets and a dozen bullets out of the box and see if they shoot differently. I'll bet you won't know the difference.

[tanks]

No, the marks will not affect flight. Think about the marks left by the rifling of the gun. The pull marks are insignificant compared to them and unless the dings are really big, they won't affect the bullets either.....

Exactly. Below are couple of bullets pulled out of elephants. First one went through the skull and got stuck in the spine. The other one went through the front shoulder and was stuck on the opposite hip. Obviously, the rifling marks on them had no effect. Heck, I could probably reload them and they'd still be good.

[bohoki]

if you have a tumbler and some walnut media the copper gets shiny again so your final product looks good

it is a good return on the investment of labor

[Rgarbarino]

Not worried about the shine, just the dings. It's my first time buying pulled bullets so just thought I'd ask. Looks like I won't be worrying about it.

Thanks for the input.

[stilly]

I just got my first batch of pulled bullets, FMJ 230 gr .45. My question is do you guys do anything with the bullets to clean them up at all? Some have slight marks/dings from being pulled...does it affect the shooting. Can they be tumbled to smooth them out?

Or don't worry about it?

Nah. It is a .45, nothing precision about a .45. It is for stopping, not precising...

You should tumble some of them though and see how they turn out. FMJ meaning they are open on the base or TMJ meaning they are sealed up at the base?

[Rgarbarino]

Nah. It is a .45, nothing precision about a .45. It is for stopping, not precising...

You should tumble some of them though and see how they turn out. FMJ meaning they are open on the base or TMJ meaning they are sealed up at the base?

The FMJ variety, open on the base.

[stilly]

The FMJ variety, open on the base.

Then I would tumble maybe a small amount. Check the weights before and after but there should be no deviation.

Water or vibration should be okay, but I would think that vibration would be best at cleaning them. Use Walnut... :\

[BEE]

The pulled 45acp 230gr bullets I got from American Reloading, I definitely sort out the ones with major craters or cuts in the bullet. Then I tumble them for 2hrs in walnut media to get them shiny to how I want them.

So far all the ones I've reloaded have actually shot pretty good and accurate.

[gixxnrocket]

Wouldn't worry about any dings. The BC on 45acp is terrible anyway. A agree with Stilly, check the weights.

Also, the only issue I've had with pulled pistol bullets. Be aware of the crimp. Any over crimp or even "factory" crimps can decrease the bullet diameter. This can affect case tension. Looser bullets can be setback. Just something to watch for while batching these out.

[Christopher761]

I bought a bunch of 9mm.

Like Bee, I inspect them individually,
and if anything looks bad, I set them aside, and may use them for short range practice.
and if anything looks real bad, I toss them.

Out of 2500 9mm, I had one bad one.

I also individually weigh them. They were supposed to be mixed weights of 115, 124 and 147 gr. Out of 2500 so far, I have found about 20 124s and 4 147s.

But for a minor dimple, I am not concerned. I guess if I was doing bench rest shooting from a 223 at 400 yards, I might be concerned. But 9mm or 45 at 10 or 20 feet while standing is not something I am going to be concerned about.