Looking for recommendations for a bullet puller. Thanks.

RCBS Collet Bullet Puller.
Need to buy Collets in the required calibres but worth checking if these are sold in sets or only individually.
Doesn't hurt to have a backup kinetic bullet puller ( cheap ). If you go with the RCBS Collet Puller also obtain a small rubber / nylon hammer to tap the top of of the puller body to free the odd bullet that resists dropping sometimes when the collet is opened.

I sue the inertia puller from RCBS and Lyman. I prefer Lyman as it will handle .50 caliber cases where the RCBS will accept up to .45
Cal

Inertia (hammer) pullers work. But heavy crimps or lots of bullets to pull can be frustrating.

If you are only pulling a few, just make one.

I have used the RCBS die and collet type puller for decades. While collets are generally calibre specific they will work perfectly on other calibres close to that designated one e.g. to pull 404J bullets that are nominally .423" I use a 44 cal collet. The RCBS collets pull cast bullets no problem too.

You may not have such a use yet but the RCBS puller will serve nicely as a 5C collet chuck if wanting to work on projectiles in a lathe e.g to hollow point projectiles, shorten and lighten cast bullets, or as I do, turn a rebate for a gas check on plain base cast bullets.
Just replace the collet tightening handle with a bolt which can be access via the hollow spindle of the lathe.
Bullets can be processed quite fast using this method.

quote:

Originally posted by cal pappas:
I sue the inertia puller from RCBS and Lyman. I prefer Lyman as it will handle .50 caliber cases where the RCBS will accept up to .45
Cal

I have both styles and RCBS Collet I seldom use collet puller.

For soft point bullets put a piece of sponge at the bottom of the interior bullet puller to prevent damage tot he lead point at the tip of the bullet. The Die type of bullet puller does cause some damage on bullet and is not recommended if you are going to re-use the bullets for accurate shooting.

quote:

Originally posted by Reloader270:
For soft point bullets put a piece of sponge at the bottom of the interior bullet puller to prevent damage tot he lead point at the tip of the bullet. The Die type of bullet puller does cause some damage on bullet and is not recommended if you are going to re-use the bullets for accurate shooting.

Disagree on that statement about die type pullers. I have pulled lots of bullets of various calibres and reused then seeing absolutely no change in accuracy. Most times you cannot see a mark on the bullet jacket. You only tighten the collet enough to pull the bullet, most pull quite easily.

For absolute precision accuracy a shooter would be using new and carefully selected target bullets, anything less than that I would bet nobody could tell the difference between a collet pulled bullet and a new factory one that has been rumbled around in its box with 50 or a 100 others during transport and handling. If they can then they are likely miss-using the collet puller.

Collet type more efficiently de-mils stuff, especially with sealants. Nice when making Mexican match. If careful and consistent no trouble using pulled projos, certainly for blasting ammo.

Kinetic for general (most) purposes.

quote:

Originally posted by Homebrew:
Looking for recommendations for a bullet puller. Thanks.

well, it depends ..

1-5? 10-500? 5000? lead, jacketed, desire to reuse, etc..

1 to 5? pliers with electrical tape .. you likely have both in hand, put the round in the press, raise the ram, grab the bullet, lying the pliers on the top of the press, lower the ram...

under 100? bullet hammer - can likely get at the local gettin' place - pro tip -- i use a roughly 2' piece of 4x4 post as an "anvil" hitting on the grain end -- it's surprising how much easier and faster it is than hitting on the bench or on the longer part .. i think someone here told me to try that, 100 years or so ago

more than that? collet .. order it

I do not pull bullets; I fire them and thereby, they are not pulled, they are pushed, out.
In the rare occasion that I need to, such as after I make some dummies, I use a green inertia puller. Use shell holders instead of the 3 piece collet; sometimes. Rap it on top of the iron frame of the Rock Chucker, not on wood.

quote:

Reloader270
posted 14 May 2020 05:56
For soft point bullets put a piece of sponge at the bottom of the interior bullet puller to prevent damage tot he lead point at the tip of the bullet. The Die type of bullet puller does cause some damage on bullet and is not recommended if you are going to re-use the bullets for accurate shooting.

On the first sentence, agree completely. If no cushioning material in the tip of the chamber exposed lead and plastic / polymer tips damage easily. Wadded up paper towel works well for me. Also, since the powder also runs into the chamber and needs to be tipped out just ensure that no wadding material runs out with it.
To the second sentence this is incorrect 98% of the time. Heavy collet clamping is unnecessary for good grip on a bullet to be recovered, most of the time. However I damaged some very stubborn .270W projectiles this year. I had to screw the collet down excessively to obtain enough grip and had to hammer the press handle to get the dam bullets pulled. Then unscrewing the collet was another troublesome issue ! Anyway, the bullets came out but were heavily dented by the collet. Out of curiosity I loaded up 3 of them and shot them at the range at 200 yds compared to pristine bullets, both with the same load. Pristine bullets were perfectly in a small 3 shot cluster. The dented bullets shot about a 6 inch cluster, low and left.

Thanks for the responses. I have over 300 to pull. These are reloads that were given to me by a widow who lives in my home town. These loads are over 30 years old. The only markings on the boxes are the bullets they are loaded with. No charge load data. This guy was known as a hot rodder so I would rather pull the bullets and re-use the brass and bullets if possible. Some of the brass looks new but no way to tell how many firings some have had. And its good to have a puller for future needs.

quote:

Originally posted by Homebrew:
Thanks for the responses. I have over 300 to pull. These are reloads that were given to me by a widow who lives in my home town. These loads are over 30 years old. The only markings on the boxes are the bullets they are loaded with. No charge load data. This guy was known as a hot rodder so I would rather pull the bullets and re-use the brass and bullets if possible. Some of the brass looks new but no way to tell how many firings some have had. And its good to have a puller for future needs.

Be sure to seat them another 1/16 or so inch deeper to break any seal or weld which may have formed. The kinetic unit is slow but effective.

RCBS collet puller delivered today. Working well. Looks like I have a few hundred Nosler partition 175 grain bullets to salvage.

I had an RCBS collet puller for years but haven't used it since I got an inertia puller.

If a cast bullet, I don't worry about saving it--just re-melt. So if cast and it has enough nose to clamp onto I run it up through my press with no die in place, clamp onto the nose with vice grips and raise handle on press. If not enough nose to clamp onto, probably not enough for a collet puller so the inertia has to be used and that's only time I'll use one. The collet is faster and more efficient and I've not experienced any bullet damage with one.

I have both the press mounted puller w/ collets + the RCBS inertia puller. I use the RCBS mostly. I have packed fiber-fil in the bottom + it will not deform your bullet tips.

Being a shoestring reloader (hoping some day to save some money) I've found crimping pliers padded with gaffer tape, held over top of the press, leave fewer marks on the bullets than multigrips do.

If there are more than a few, I get a buddy to loosen them with an inertia puller first. This way the powder stays in the case.

sambarman338, Years of experimenting and testing have proven beyond any doubt, that we do not reload to save money. Rather, we get to shoot twice as much for the same dollar.

I made one of these: https://www.extremestore.us/gr...-pull-bullet-puller/

You can, of course, buy one as well.

Polish the edges and it won't mark the bullet. Way faster than the collet or inertia puller for me.

Jeremy

I know the OP has made his decision but I will make a suggestion anyway. I've tried inertia hammers and the RCBS Collet puller but the best (maybe safest as well) tool I've found is from Grip-N-Pull. I have both the small and large rifle tools which covers all calibers that I currently reload. I've use them several times over the last couple of years and they are extremely easy to use and work well. The tool does not damage the bullet and the powder stays in the brass and can be easily saved or disposed of.

quote:

Originally posted by Biggs300:
I know the OP has made his decision but I will make a suggestion anyway. I've tried inertia hammers and the RCBS Collet puller but the best (maybe safest as well) tool I've found is from Grip-N-Pull. I have both the small and large rifle tools which covers all calibers that I currently reload. I've use them several times over the last couple of years and they are extremely easy to use and work well. The tool does not damage the bullet and the powder stays in the brass and can be easily saved or disposed of.

I have a Grip-N-Pull too, and, though it's probably that I'm not using it correctly, I find pulling more than a couple of bullets at a time extremely wearing on my forearm muscles and uncomfortable for my hand: I seem not to have found the magic way to squeeze the handle in a way that doesn't wear out my muscles and make my hand sore. It just seems to me that the resistance of the handles to squeezing them to grip the bullet is more than I can do for only a few bullets.

If I have a lot of pulls to do, I use the Hornady puller.

That Grip-N-Pull looks good and should give more mechanical advantage than my crimping pliers.

However, my efforts have all concerned calibers between .338 and .458" and even there I might still buy a packet of the cartridges for $US40 - the pliers were already in the toolbox.

Were I to get a Grip-N-Pull, BL, I would consider afixing some large pieces of wood
to the handles, making the grip larger and more effective.

Yes, Michael, I doubt I'll ever amortise the costs in reloading but don't feel inclined to wear out barrels needlessly, either. I let the barrels cool well between shots at the range and after my allocated ammo is gone, so is the day. To shoot even more with the calibres concerned would probably have a deleterious effect on my nerves.

B L O'Connor, I've probably pulled more than 100 bullets but, no more than 20 or so pulled in any one setting. I keep the tool resting on the top of my single stage press and I haven't found the pressure needed to pull a bullet to be that much. Once you develop a rhythm, it goes fairly quickly. However, I do remember the first couple of bullets pulled, I did use more pressure than necessary and left a mark on the bullet.

I have one of those hammers, they are the pits, too slow for any real job..I even recall seeing one that blew up on a gent, scary..I only use it on rare occasions..

I have a set of collets for every caliber and I can pull 100 bullets or so in an hour or so..My puller cosist of a Lyman set and a RCBS set I picked up at a gun show some years for $10. for both including collets for both. They work well and fast and don't scar up bullets for the most part..Last week I pulled 300 bullets, saved the primed cases, bullets and powder as opposed t selling the loaded ammo at discounted prices..sold the primed cases and saved the powder (about 2.5 lbs) and bullets for my 30-06..I do this from time to time, good way to get through a Idaho winter...I tend to keep the dies because I seem to buy another of the same caliber sooner or later..Once you get the hang of it, you can pull a lot of bullets, pakage the powder and bullets and brass in just a few hours..figure on sore shoulders for awhile if you not in shape..