Exploding Bullet Puller

[Sixgun]

I tell 'ya guys, if there was ever a one in a billion chance for anything to go wrong, it usually happens to me. I must hold the world record for "weird happenings". But on the other hand, I've also had my share of "great things" to happen too.

So.....the story goes like this......

"The Gunny" stops over today and hands me bullets, brass, loaded ammo, dies, and crimp die for the 25-20 and tells me to get rid of it all. He sold his 92 src and don't plan on getting another 25-20. I'm presently organizing it all so I can sell it here on the board and of course, keeping some brass for myself. The loaded ammo was loaded by "The Gunny" and while I trust his handloads, potential customers don't. Besides, I have one load that I use and his jacketed loads did not excite me, so.............I started pulling the bullets with a kinetic puller.

I've had several of these break over the years but nothing like this. I was whacking it on a cut off piece of 4x6 and on about the 5 th bullet, the dang thing exploded, not real loud, but a sharp boooooomm. A piece of it went north and broke a fluorescent bulb and that pelosi went flying all over the place. The cat took off running and I still have not seen her.

Inspection showed the loaded round still intact. It was the hard plastic that "exploded".

Strange happenings---weird scenes inside the gold mine.------J.M.-----6



Broken bulb

[Mescalero]

Is that the fearless " guardian of the reloading " stuff cat?

[BenT]

You strong like bull! I had something fly apart on the workbench once and shatter the fluorescent bulb overhead and that does make a mess.

[Sixgun]

Is that the fearless " guardian of the reloading " stuff cat?

Yes, Mes, Miss Twinkles flew the coup. Here is a picture of her.

Oops, wrong picture. This is a picture of Obama and Chris Christy when they were kids.



Miss Twinkles

[Old Ironsights]

Bulb Sleeves are cheap insurance...

[Rifleman]

I hope the cat is ok!

[Sixgun]

I hope the cat is ok!

Thanks Rifleman! You got me to thinkin' so I started to look around and she was no where to be found. Then I remembered how cats like high places so I looked upward and there she is, guarding my stash of 168 gr. Hornady target bullets and the old hornets nest that's been sitting down here for 30 years.

Yes, a picture is always needed today for proof. Say "hi" to Miss Twinkles.-----6



Who cares about the stupid bullet puller, not me. I'm more interested in things that give me comfort.......animals. The good Lord made sure animals could not talk, therefore cannot deceive and lie.

[Centennial]

Maybe there was a primer stuck/left over in the hammer from a previous job.
One time a primer found it's way into my lead pot and made a substantial pop and a big mess.

[mack]

Bulb Sleeves are cheap insurance...

They won't save the bulb, but they sure do make it easier to clean up the mess!

[Old Ironsights]

Bulb Sleeves are cheap insurance...

They won't save the bulb, but they sure do make it easier to clean up the mess!

Depends on what hits it and how fast...

Bullet Puller Plastic (low mass/low velocity debris) might not break the tube after flexing the sleeve.

[Sixgun]

OI,
Yes, your right....on the bulb cover. In forty years, it's only happened once before and that time, the bulb just fell out and hit the floor...one of those $9.99 things that Home Depot used to sell. The one I use now holds 4 of those thin high intensity bulbs.

I call it "s{*# happens" ---6

[Mescalero]

Caca pasa

[OldWin]

Glad you and Miss Twinkles are ok. I've never seen that happen with one of those.

I may as well throw mine away. Every time I go to use it I'm going to think of that. I will never hit it hard enough to pull the slug.

[Sixgun]

Glad you and Miss Twinkles are ok. I've never seen that happen with one of those.

I may as well throw mine away. Every time I go to use it I'm going to think of that. I will never hit it hard enough to pull the slug.

Ha! I never thought about that one. Everyone who reads this post will now have a complex and will be timid when smacking their bullet puller. I can see it now, instead of one whack, there will be a thousand little ones, taking the better part of the evening for 3 loaded rounds. ----

[6pt-sika]

I have both a kinetic and a collet bullet puller I generally use the collet puller the most as it takes the least amount of effort . But of course sometimes it can't get a good hold on a round and I end up using the kinetic job !

This thread gives me reason to think , but I doubt if it'll slow me down any about using the kinetic puller when the need arises . Well that is unles I light one off as well

[.45colt]

Sixgun Wrote,"
Oops, wrong picture. This is a picture of Obama and Chris Christy when they were kids."
6 please don't compare the Little Rascals with low life politicians . Pete the Dog had far more Class than them. .

[Old Ironsights]

...
Who cares about the stupid bullet puller, not me. I'm more interested in things that give me comfort.......animals. The good Lord made sure animals could not talk, therefore cannot deceive and lie...

You have never met "dog who sleeps on bed" or "cat who has never been fed"... have you?

[Griff]

...was whacking it on a cut off piece of 4x6

The problem is two-fold... 1 - you're using one of them new-fangled Quinetics® bullet pullers. These are the same puller that used to be marked RCBS®. They differ from the new RCBS models in that there is a shaft of aluminum vs. plastic on the new type. 2 - you were hitting the thing against a piece of wood. After careful analysis of the position and nature of the broken tool... I have concluded that:

Your wood impact target has probably degraded from so many previous impacts that it no longer contains the structural rigidity necessary to adequately contain the forceful impact and has slowly begun to transfer some of the impact force into a deflection impact placing unanticipated torsional stresses on the plastic around the metal handle. The design of the tool requires that all the stress must be carried in a straight line... impact must be made with the handle as nearly horizontal as practicable. The allows all the stresses to be carried straight up all the way around the barrel of the tool, bypassing the handle and imparting the full force of the strike in stopping the cartridge case, yet not the bullet! By using a "soft" impact surface, your technique must vary in accordance to the varying plane of the impact surface. As the wood degrades, it's surface angle changes and therefore your impact angle and position must also. Your very choice of an impact destination caused the failure.

I've been whackin' the same type kinetic bullet puller against, 1st, the concrete floor of my garage in CA & 2nd, against the equally hard and unyielding concrete floor of my workshop floor in TX, for nigh onto FORTY (40) years. That's, THE SAME tool... not one like it, not two or three... but just the ONE. Why? Because I haven't tried to molly-coddle the stupid thing by thinking I would lengthen it's life by hitting it against something soft... If that was what you were thinkin', why didn't you go ahead & pad the thing with foam rubber?

[Pete44ru]

Maybe there was a primer stuck/left over in the hammer from a previous job.
One time a primer found it's way into my lead pot and made a substantial pop and a big mess.

It's my WAG that the plastic, that the kinetic bullet puller is made from, became brittle over the years and gave up the ghost (i.e. shattered) in a single blow.

I'm just glad you didn't "shoot yer eye out" ! .


.

[rbertalotto]

Yup...Smacking these pullers against wood sets up a secondary, first priority vibration that will shatter that plastic.

Must be whacked against steel or cement or something much harder than wood.....

[Sixgun]

Ain't that something! That's the third one I destroyed in 40 years and it took Griff the Scientist 3seconds to figure out I'm retarded. For real, I always thought a solid chunk of wood was the best thing to take the impact. And no Griff, the wood is not all beat up.....I use those big square chunks of wood from PECO or CHEP pallets. I just spread the forks of my lift and pop them out whenever I need a new one. Those blocks of wood also make great supports for under the axle or transmission when working on my Junkers.

Well guys, I'm a little slow but it's NO MORE WOOD BLOCKS FOR ME, I tell ya. Funny thing as right next to my blocks of wood, I keep a 10" section of rail (railroad rail) that I use as a poor mans anvil. I could have and should have been using that.


OI, what's with the cat that's never been fed or the dog that sleeps on the bed? I've been a little slow lately....Griff helped to point that out. ----6

45 Colt....yes, your right. I'd go as far as to say that the fleas on Pete have more class than the lying trash in the WH.

[Old Ironsights]

...
OI, what's with the cat that's never been fed or the dog that sleeps on the bed? I've been a little slow lately....Griff helped to point that out. ----6...

I've seen Dogs LIE about sleeping on furniture... to the extent of straightening the covers before People come home.

My cats LIE every day. If SWMBO feeds them before I talk to them, they will assure me that they have not been fed and are starving to death...

[AJMD429]

Gotta admit, I've always used wood to hit it on as well. I've probably only pulled a couple hundred rounds total though over the 30 or so years I've had the RCBS one I've got.

I always step outside and whack it on the balcony wood, though. Never liked doing that indoors, just in case this kind of thing happened.

I am amazed that you can hit CONCRETE with that thing thousands of times and it not shatter, or have the plastic crack where it wraps around the hexagonal aluminum handle.

[Mescalero]

Kinetic energy,
a little understod force.

[FWiedner]

Frankly, I am always amazed that my kinetic doesn't break when I use it.

[rogn]

Im too impatient to use the kinetic puller unless I ve got some irreplaceable bullet that needs to be saved , or a wadcutter. Ive been using a pair of crimping pliers that have wire strippers that go to 12 gage. I just put the cartridge in the shell holder, raise it through the press(w/o) die in place. I then firmly grip the ogive with the stripper, sharp side facing up, then raise e the handle and most bullets come out easily with out powder and bullets bouncing every where. I got tired of the bullet bouncing back into the case mouth and dinging it. The ogive usually has minimal damage so I use them for sight in or worst case barrel fouling. Takes little time and causes little noise.

[piller]

I have one of the all plastic bullet pullers, and I have been hitting it on wood. I have only done maybe 30 bullets, and I am glad to know how to make it work better. Thanks.

[jcw]

Use less crimp on the reloads......

[Sixgun]

Use less crimp on the reloads......

I have found that these pullers work better as the weight of the bullet rises. It's a joke knocking out 250-400 grain bullets. Just a little tap and out she comes. Light 22 and 25 calibers require more knocks and a special technique also needs to be applied. You swing it loosely with a follow through.

Your right, it just might be easier shooting the lighter bullets that have a heavy crimp applied. Rogn's method works great too but I reserve that technique for junky bullets. I was trying to save those 70 gr. Speers. I got out my other kinetic puller and finished up the rest of the box with no issues.......yea Griff, I used the same block of wood....screw you! ----6

[3leggedturtle]

My only mishap was. I had 25/20 ammo i was breaking down. One of the cases went flying out of the puller when it rebounded up wards, of course it fell between the only slat in the deck it could; down into the leaves below. I spent 45 minutes moving each leaf till i found it.