I've been using intertia-type bullet pullers for over 35 years and have never had any problems with them. Still that doesn't necessarily mean they are safe.

Since I've started visiting these AR fora several years ago, I've seen several allusions to their danger. So, I have some questions which are not intended to start an argument, just to get me some more info for my own enlghtenment.

1. What do you guys think of inertia pullers? Safe? Yes? No?

Do you PERSONALLY know some real person who has had a "blow-up" when using one?

3. Can you direct me to any documented info about specific incidents caused by using them? Better yet, with pics?

4. Is there any way to improve the safety of an inertia puller (reduce the danger of having a "kaboom")?

Thanks,

AC

Hard work, horrible, inefficient,awkward, but not dangerous.
I just take the die out of press, grip bullet with a pair of electrical crimping pliers firmly flat across press top, lower press arm.. voila!

quote:

Originally posted by trans-pond:
Hard work, horrible, inefficient,awkward, but not dangerous.
I just take the die out of press, grip bullet with a pair of electrical crimping pliers firmly flat across press top, lower press arm.. voila!

yup.....I've posted a photo of my puller some time ago.....a fencing pinchers...it works on all sizes of bullet and does a great job.....

For those that are so squeamish that the bullet must be pulled without leaving a mark I say....get an expensive tool or use inertia pullers! but I don't hesitate to shoot the bullets I pull with my pinchers and they work just fine.

Once we get over the idea that a bullet must have no marks on it we can become very creative on pullers.

I used to have collet pullets but just refuse to use them anymore as overkill and take too much time and effort.....I gave up on inertia pullers a very long time ago.

Well, of course anybody can use pliers, but would you buy bullets that had marks on them? Not me.

The point of the inertial puller is to avoid damaging the bullet. I've found that it will indeed deform the nose on many bullets if you don't put some padding in the bottom of the thing. A foam earplug works great and stays put.

I've used one some and it doesn't bother me at all. My buddy cringes whenever I use it though.
I'm sure that there's never been a blow-up or we would still be reading about the lawsuits.

I would imagine that an ignition wouldn't be all that bad without the cartridge confined in a chamber. I still wouldn't want to be around. Someone needs to do a test and sacrifice a puller to see what happens to it.



.

Never had or heard of a detenation using an inertia bullet puller. I'm on my third and have two spares. The design itself seems to preclude an accidental KaaBOOOOM. Could it happen? Maybe. Would it create any significant bodily injury? Well that is again another weak maybe.

You have a far greater risk of injury driving a car, in my sometimes not too humble opinion. roger

Alberta Canuck.
I do not feel the inertial pullers are unsafe.
I have two, use them as needed. I also have a collet style puller and Forester speed pullers.

I also have heard the "myths" about the danger of using an inertial puller. But know of no accidental blow ups during their use. My personal experience with this type of puller is 20+ years.
The puller is well engineered.
If there had been any real danger with this design, the manufacturer would have discontinued making them years/decades ago. The personal injury lawyers would have already had a feast on the companys that made or sold the "dangerously defective" puller.
Let the fur fly.

muck

I am with Muck a collet puller can be had for a few calibers for $50 the do nothing to the bullet. I mostly do the pliers thing, just easiest. My collect puller I use a regular shell holder it holds the case alot tighter than the holders that come with the unit.

The only time I've ever heard of any problem with inertial bullet pullers is when trying to disassemble impact-fused spotter or incendiary military ammunition. These days that sort of stuff ends up in cartridge collections...when it's properly labeled.

I've never had a problem using the inertia puller, the kind that uses 3 different sizes, in over 25 years. But I don't screw up much, so don't use it much. I have never feared for my safety.

An explosion is very unlikely, even if the primer ignites.

I wear safety goggles, just in case.

Well, I did have a detonation a number of years back when using a kinetic bullet puller.

I was pulling some wildcat ammo for a friend who had over done it and had loaded some too hot. I did not realize he had already loaded this brass too hot and the primer pockets were loose.

As I was hammering with this puller the primer was bouncing up and down in the pocket. It finally went off!!! Scared the hell out of me!!
The powder did not ignite, but the primer went up in the rafters of my garage some place. It took me a while to get the courage to use that puller again.

I have used that puller since with rationally loaded ammo and have not had a problem.

I think Berdan primers with the primer against the anvil would be more dangeous. It does look a lotlike a pipe bomb.
Good luck!

It seems primers go off in these things from time to time, possibly related to primers seated a tad high or loose primer pockets. Primer goes off, propellant fortunately not...

See THIS THREAD

- mike

I've heard of one or two and know personally a friend that had one blow up. Put parts of it around the room, he found the parts and put it back together, still worked. Don't know any other details about the kaboom.

Thanks for the idea, Blueprinted. I have one or two calibers that are always slipping thorugh the shellholders. No "kabooms", but aggravating. Will have to try using the regular shellholders from my presses......

I already have been using a bit of foam rubber in the bottom to protect bullet noses, but think I'm also gonna try the "earplug" trick as it appears to bed a better grade of foam than what I got elsewhere.

As to the "pliers" type of bullet-pullers, I have a couple of commercial versions of those...think they may be Sinclair brand but don't recall for sure. They are each made for three or four different calibers...the one I use the most is for 6 m/m, 7m'm, and .308.

Are used just as described above: remove die from press; put round in press shellholder; raise press ram and loaded case until bullet is just above the hole for the die in the top of the press; grip bullet with pliers type bullet-puller and hold with moderately tight grip; lower press ram. Pliers come down against top of press, cartridge case/primer/powder continue on down with press ram, bullet stays gripped in bullet-puller. Nice thing about the commercial ones that work this way, unless the bullet is extremely tightly gripped, it comes out unmarked.

Anyway, thank you all for your replies. Am glad to hear there is pretty much a consensus that dangers of inertia pullers are usually somewhat overblown. Don't plan to retire mine anytime soon......

Wow, I'm surprised by that other thread that mho posted. I would have thought that these things would be outlawed with that many primer detonations.

I still don't think there would be huge pressure even if the powder did ignite though.

In a non compressed load the powder is as far away from the flash hole as possible at impact. If the primer is loose and manages to set itself off, the shape of the anvil would tend to deflect the flame and particles of the primer blast away from the flash hole. With no confinement of the primer and therefore its immediate launch from the pocket, flame may never reach the flashhole.

Also, a primer ignition, (I think), is a true detonation in which the shock wave travels faster than the flame (? or something like that). Maybe the primer leaves the pocket before flame even erupts from it. I still wouldn't bet money on the powder never igniting though.

Well, here is a living, breathing person that has had a mishap with an inertia bullet puller..me. It scared the absolute hell out of me and forever changed the way I pull bullets. I broke rule #1 with this tool, and am damn lucky to be able to talk about it. Rule #1, when banging the tool, be sure you are looking away from it upon impact with the floor or whatever hard surface you are banging on.

I was pulling some bullets from my 300 RUM, as an experiment with Scroccios on whitetails went south and I salvaged the brass and bullets on some loads that were no longer needed. Insert bullet, bang away at the floor while looking down at the tool. About the third or fourth rap on the floor...BANG! The primer detonated, but did not ignite the powder. Instead, the primer shot out of the case at a zillion mph and hit me at the corner of my right eye, unzipping my skin back to my temple before taking off for the wild blue yonder! It left me with a cute inch and a half by one quarter inch scar that is quite noticeable but that is all. How the powder did not ignite is beyond me.

What if I was leaning one quarter inch more to the right? I was told that the velocity was sufficient to, at a minimum, destroy my right eye, perhaps even penetrating my brain if the primer was traveling in that direction. I am in full and complete belief that if there is such a thing as a guardian angel there was at least a hundred of the little buggers with me at my reloading bench that day.

Got me a nice RCBS bullet buller with the assorted collets now.

Merry Christmas to all you fine folks.

There is probably nothing we can do that is totally safe, even getting out of bed. (My Mother broke her hip.)

I think the caps on these hammers need to be very firm to avoid a "double slam effect."

There is no need to be anywhere near over the top of the hammer.

Safety glasses anyone ??

My RCBS inertia puller is over 20 years old and has had plenty of use, especially when I first started reloading. I put some tissue in the base to prevent soft point damage, but have never had a problem with it. When I first got it the collet was turned curved side down (backwards) and I used it that way until I noticed the rim of the chamber(?) was getting chipped. Like I said, that was a long time ago. I have sat on the porch and pounded away, but now go in the shop and use the anvil on my vise; it puts the puller away from my face and in front of me. Last time I used it was a few years back when I bought some S&B ammo in 7.62x54r. It was so HOT I pulled the bullets and reduced the loads 10%.
Eterry

Hey Hank, Good story. Glad to hear you are no worse for wear.

By the way, I saw that WHOPPER TROPHY Buck you got in another thread. Great flick with that young fellow sitting next to you sporting the HUGE grin. Congratulations on "both".
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Plenty of examples in the thread about it happening. So, even the fools that frequent this Board should be able to understand the "potential exists" for a Primer to be ignited when using one of these devices. It really depends on the Strain the individual Primer is subjected to.

If you all are determined to use one, try to remember Hank's story and protect yourself.

Best of luck to all you guys.

Richard Lee in Modern Reloading says that he detonated some primers (he doesn't say how) and chronographed them at about 1700 FPS.

Howdy Hot Core, yep, glad my wife didn't get to cash in my life insurance policy quite so soon. I do love that shot of my deer, but the reason I posted it was because of the unusual performance of the Bal tips...they hardly ever hold together at all on our big deer, but this one decided to buck the trend and act like a partition. The guy next to me is our son...he went on his first deer hunt at one and a half years of age, killing his first deer at 8....won a brand new Z-71 with that buck but that is another story.
Not really worse for wear, still ugly as a train wreck.
Merry Christmas!

I do know that a primer when exploding (in a case outside a chamber) can and will tuck itself neatly under the skin of a finger - easy to remove - just under the skin. DON'T ASK how I know (actually that was so many decades ago, that's about all I remember).

My only complaints about them, were how they ruin the lead tip on Softpoint bullets, until I got smart enough to put some steel wool down in there for padding....

I broke two RCBS ones when I first started using them... but I bought a Midway one, with a metal handle and haven't had a problem since...

I prefer that over using plyers, and I tried the other tip, and me and them didn't 'dance well' together.....

I like my bullet puller hammers just fine!

I am considering buying a hammer type soon to "unload" some old ammo. I know ammo get s more sensitive with age so now I'll be extra careful.
I'll also second that primers shoot out very quickly when uncontained.

-Josh