Bullet puller. How many strikes?

[Pauliedad]

I recently made a purchase that included a couple hundred rounds of nearly 20 year old .44 mag reload ammo. Recipe said 300gr. XTP over 12 gr. Blue Dot.
Finally got around to pulling apart last night and yikes.
I've learned to use a steel plate or other solid surface and have got a pretty good wrist snap, with most handgun calibers I'm almost always under 3 or 4 whacks at the most.
An average of 10 for these babies.
Never less than 7.
I'm thinking they might have been stuck with the help of some corrosion. About half had green dust that came with the powder and most of the powder had a slight green tint to it.
The other half are 280gr. And they come out a tad easier but that's for another evening.

Just was wondering if this sounds about right.

I plan on de priming as well. Will soaking in water guarantee primer death? Was thinking about just tossing the lot into a sonic cleaner. Thoughts?

[knucklehead0202]

yep, some will be harder than others. pulled down some surplus stuff years ago, started with my forster collet puller on the press, which would get about 1 out of 5. after whacking away with my kinetic puller on an old steel-toe boot, results were much better but still required a lot of banging. throw 'em in the sonic cleaner, that'll kill the primers.

[CK_32]

Depends, some cases will have a better crimp, bigger bullet diameter, smaller case mouth ect.


When I do my 308/223 some will come out in the first 2 or 3, then I've had some loaded the same way take me any where from 15 to 20 min of 40+ wacks to where my arm/hand or wrist starts to hurt.

[Eljay]

The trick is to seat them a bit deeper first, which will break the layer of whatever's holding it in. Then use the bullet puller.

[Eljay]

Oh, and re: the primers, probably giving them a little shot with WD-40 is easier but any kind of oil or water will kill them. I'd still press them out smoothly and slowly just in case.

[Leon75x55]

WD-40 or oil does not kill primers. Just press them out slowly and not sharp pulls (that will set them off) I have deprimed thousands of live primers this way. Wear safety goggles just in case.

[CK_32]

WD-40 or oil does not kill primers. Just press them out slowly and not sharp pulls (that will set them off) I have deprimed thousands of live primers this way. Wear safety goggles just in case.

Same here. I've deprimed a ton of live primers as I would a standard dead primer still no issues. I don't stab with my press I smoothly press for every step. No reason to jab my equipment.

I've even reseated those same prices again with out issue nor performance loss. But then again I'm a average 1 MOA shooter so someone who shoots daily .00002" groups may differ.

[stilly]

I used to what the puller on wood. I found that using a bowling ball was too slick and I was told to switch to a metal plate or use a concrete slab. The wood is too giving and absorbs the energy and seems to slow down the puller instead of stopping it. I also learned that the tapping that I did was not good, but instead a few hard strikes with the snapping of the wrist will usually do the job. I can do many bullets now in 1-2 hits. Eljay has a good idea as long as you do not seat the bullet down tooooo much farther. Why kill the primers? Dump the powder, load the shells with only the primers and then shoot them off. They are really not that loud. They are kinda like caps from cap guns.

[Germz]

3. 3 Strikes.

[Eljay]

WD-40 or oil does not kill primers.]

Sure it does, if you're spraying it into the open end. See

http://theboxotruth.com/docs/bot39.htm

He debunks the myth that oil on the side that's usually exposed in ammo will kill it, but he starts by spritzing the side with the anvil and it kills them.

I agree there's no need, but if he wants to be extra safe WD-40 will definitely do it.

My apologies if it was unclear exactly what I was proposing, but I thought it was clear from the context.

[krwada]

Get out your bullet seater and push the projectile in by a few thou ... Then you should be able to remove the bullet with a couple of good whacks using your bullet puller.