Bullet Pulling Question

[SSG Graybush]

I got a bad batch of TTSX bullets and unfortunately only noticed after I had 10 already seated. Some imperfections were not glaring to the naked eye but to a caliper they were. I have never had to pull bullets before so I ordered up a RCBS bullet puller and properly sized collet. Once these bullets are pulled do I need to go through the sizing process again to ensure proper neck tension or can I go ahead and set a new bullet and go on with my day? I will check to see if the neck ID has changed at all once I get them pulled, but in the meantime some first hand experience would be good to hear. For context these are max 300 yard, 30-06 hunting loads. I wanted to verify my data since I had to dip into a new lot of bullets. I don't want my reloads to be the weakest link on my upcoming trip. Fortunately I have another new box from a different lot I will be utilizing going forward. View attachment 393567

Thats why I like buying the Redding deluxe premium die sets, they have a neck sizer die. Remove the decapper and put the tension back into the neck. With the primer still in. Thats the only use for a NK sizer die. Imo
Edit, the tension without a mandrel may be slightly off so I wouldnt do load development with those rounds. Use em for fouling/practice.

 

[Swamplord]

I always resize necks in that situation... Bushing dies work best to resize necks from pulled bullets, the entire case gets centered & fully supported by the time the neck starts getting sized the wee bit down needed to get that same bullet tension

as for the primers ? If they get punched out with conventional dies for cases I don't have a bushing die for, then I save them for fireforming brass & never use them for hunting ammo

 

[Lovellr653]

So I pulled the bad bullets this evening. My neck ID was .3065 (calipers only read to 0.001 needle was between 0.306 and 0.307) which was the same on the remaining brass in this batch I prepped but hadn't loaded yet. For what it's worth I anneal before every sizing and use a mandrel to set my neck tension. I seated new bullets without resizing since there was no difference in ID. I was also thinking resizing would probably work harden the brass more than just pulling and reseating resulting in potentially inconsistent spring back. I'm for sure over thinking this for the intended use of the cartridge but it's an interesting conversation to have with you all. I appreciate everyone's input.

 

[Lee7588]

really ? so what happened after the powder ignited ? did the kinetic hammer blow up or turn into a torch ? did you have to use a fire extinguisher to put out the flames ? Do you have pics of the burned out kinetic hammer that ignited the powder ?

I have so many questions, please tell us when & what happened so we can avoid a similar situation

The bullet dropped loose and at the same time the powder ignited. No explosion, it just burnt. No I didn't need a fire extinguisher, once the powder was finished burning it was done. I will have to look to see if I still have the hammer, if so I will take some pictures. That was the last time I used the hammer style.

 

[BillLarson]

I've used kinetic hammers before to pull projectiles and had the powder ignite so I only use ones that sit in my press

NEVER heard of this happening....
could you explain the procedure you were using so it won't happen to others.
I would also contact RCBS about your problem...

 

[Lee7588]

NEVER heard of this happening....
could you explain the procedure you were using so it won't happen to others.
I would also contact RCBS about your problem...

Well I put the shell in the holder, screwed it into the hammer, tapped it until the bullet and powder fell out. Pretty simple, not sure how else anyone would do it

 

[BillLarson]

The bullet dropped loose and at the same time the powder ignited. No explosion, it just burnt. No I didn't need a fire extinguisher, once the powder was finished burning it was done. I will have to look to see if I still have the hammer, if so I will take some pictures. That was the last time I used the hammer style.

Did you inform RCBS....????
I own 4 kinetic pullers.Been using them since 1962.Never a problem like you had...
There must be a million of them out there..
I,d like to no what ignited powder.... something musta dropped out of primer cup to set it off...
Glad nothing bad happened to you...

 

[Lee7588]

Did you inform RCBS....????
I own 4 kinetic pullers.Been using them since 1962.Never a problem like you had...
There must be a million of them out there..
I,d like to no what ignited powder.... something musta dropped out of primer cup to set it off...
Glad nothing bad happened to you...

No I didn't just because I can't see anyway that they would or could be responsible. I'm glad I wasn't hurt either or my wife who happened to be standing there.right after it happened I ordered one that sits in my press, I have found that it is a little quicker also

 

[BillLarson]

No I didn't just because I can't see anyway that they would or could be responsible. I'm glad I wasn't hurt either or my wife who happened to be standing there.right after it happened I ordered one that sits in my press, I have found that it is a little quicker also

I googled the suject.You are not the only one this has happened to,,,,,,
while substituting the collet with a shell holder.
Reason being using a shell holder of incorrect size can detonate the charge....

 

[coyotemaster]

This is this case for owning a neck sizer die. If pulled with a kinetic bullet puller I highly recommend re-sizing the neck. As an experiment I unloaded 30 cases (given to me) and put them on my concentricity gauge and they were all out of round. With a collet type bullet puller there is very little runout, but I still prefer to resize the neck.

I've pulled almost as many as I've fired and for what little time it takes neck sizing either with full length die minus pin or NS die is time well spent. I use a Forestser collet puller and I believe consistent neck tension is crucial.

 

[Lee7588]

I googled the suject.You are not the only one this has happened to,,,,,,
while substituting the collet with a shell holder.
Reason being using a shell holder of incorrect size can detonate the charge.

I googled the suject.You are not the only one this has happened to,,,,,,
while substituting the collet with a shell holder.
Reason being using a shell holder of incorrect size can detonate the charge....

I'll check it out. Here I was thinking I was special, guess my momma lied to me

 

[Shootin4fun]

After seeing this thread early on, then needing to pull some, I thought I'd run a test and post my results.

Pulled 8 rounds of 270win and 6.5CM each. Dumped powder (weighed the dumps in my chargemaster and yes all but one came back exactly as loaded- the one was .1 over, no big deal on a good OCW mode), charged them with a known good load, and fired over a magneto speed. They all reported within 11fps (faster) of expected velocity. SDs on both groups were in the single digits. 3.5fps for 6.5 and 8 for the 270.

I will note, they did seat easier than 1st loading and I expected there to be a difference in velocity.

Runout on my FL dies with deprimer installed is .001 and I'm lazy so I didn't want to change anything, like removing the depriming pin.

BTW, .289 bushing on the 6.5, and standard 270 die so no bushing or tension adjustability there.

Both were TTSX. Measured, no diff from me diameter in seated/ scraped area.

Just another datapoint.

 

[Shootin4fun]

One other thing about pullers. The first one I bought was the rcbs kinetic hammer type. One problem you will see with these is that the primer compound may actually get at least partially dispersed into the powder so that charge must be discarded and the same with the primer. I discovered this when I noticed that some of the powder kernels had a yellowish look to them. Upon closer inspection I could see it was a light coating of the primer compound. Also, I then tapped the empty but still primed shells on a hard surface and more yellow compound came out.

So I immediately moved to the collet puller.

 

[coyotemaster]

One other thing about pullers. The first one I bought was the rcbs kinetic hammer type. One problem you will see with these is that the primer compound may actually get at least partially dispersed into the powder so that charge must be discarded and the same with the primer. I discovered this when I noticed that some of the powder kernels had a yellowish look to them. Upon closer inspection I could see it was a light coating of the primer compound. Also, I then tapped the empty but still primed shells on a hard surface and more yellow compound came out.

So I immediately moved to the collet puller.

Very good observation. That would be a big time no bueno to have bits of primer mixed with powder charges.
Probably not good news for marketing in the kinetic puller field