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Best collet-type bullet puller


Wyatt Earp SASS#1628L

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I find myself needing to pull about 300 .45acp RNL (230gr) bullets. Nothing wrong with the load but I'm going to sell my Kimber and won't need them. Since I am beginning to load 45 Schofield (thanks Prairie Dawg) I am going to repurpose them for that load. I can also reuse the 231 powder and sell the primed cases.

Been looking at the Hornady and RCBS collet pullers, watching a few Youtube videos as well. One says the Hornady collets are thin at the mouth and subject to chipping, another touts the ease of use of the Hornady cam lock lever with no mention of the collets breaking.

Consensus seems to be they are both better with jacketed bullets.

I would like to hear from you all on the pros and cons of each and which you would recommend for my purposes.

BTW, I do have a couple impact pullers but for this amount I would like a more efficient method.

Thanks

Wyatt

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I can only speak about the Hornady which I have and used quite a bit. I like it, it did a great job for me. I pulled some very heavily crimped 44 mag jacketed bullets 

and other not so crimped along with some other sizes. 

Sorry I can't speak of the RCBS, having never used one.

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I have both. The cam lock is kinda nice on the Hornady but the RCBS has more collets sizes available. I purchased the RCBS in the 80s and have more collets for it so its the one I use when I need one.

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14 hours ago, M.T Chambers, SASS#76185 said:

When I bought this one in the '80's it was sold as RCBS. It has pulled hundreds of bullets and is still going strong.

If I break it tomorrow, I will order a Quintics.

Quinetics Kinetic Puller

 

Sorry Wyatt, I mis-read that you want a Collet puller

 

I sure would like to see how their shell holder works.  All of them I have tried were a PITA.

 

BTW I use the shell holder from my single stage press to hold the case. only one piece to keep up with.

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Save your money and just buy a kinetic bullet puller. They come with collets to fit all calibers except the 22 RF and will pull lead and jacket bullets. The RCBS and Hornaday pullers were designed to pull jacket bullets without mangling them.  My 45 Colt lead bullets pulled with the Hornaday look like they were in a train wreck.  

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I know this isn't what you are asking but.....

 

Forget buying a puller. Simply use a single stage press with no die in it and a pair of slip joint pliers. Bring the round up thru the hole, latch on with the pliers, bring the piston down and you have a pulled bullet. You'll save the brass, primer and powder. The bullets may or may not be able to be reused depending upon the crimp that you used. You could probably do all 300 in an hour. I figure that my time is worth something and I don't like spending hours being aggravated with bullet pullers.

 

Just a thought.....

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Thanks for all or your responses. Just to try it, I pulled out my kinetic puller and managed to get through a 50 round box in about 30 minutes, including separating the bullets and powder. Not bad really and  the majority came out with one good, solid whack. I think I'll pick up the Hornady anyway to see how well it works. Can't have too many reloading tools:D

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Never had much luck using a collet type on lead bullets.   Using the hammer style with an RCBS style shellholder like Sedalia Dave mentioned is my choice      

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They all work better if you have a solid base mass to strike them against.  Harbor freight sells several small sizes of anvils.  The 5 or 8 pound ones ($5-10 range) work great, then stash away when not needed.  Their flat surface does not chip or crack the inertia puller face.   Be cautious trying to use them as a bench block however.  They are cast steel and WILL mar firearm surfaces. 

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I have both an RCBS and a Hornady, and I prefer the Hornady for a small run of bullet removal. For a larger volume I prefer the kinetic bullet puller. If you use a standard single stage press shell holder, in place of those 3 triangles held together by an o-ring, and place the cartridge upside down in the puller, the cap screws on right over the shell holder. Easy in and easy out. Two good whacks and it is pulled, no marring of the bullet. Pour it out into a bowl and separate bullet from the powder later.

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6 hours ago, High Spade Mikey Wilson said:

I have both an RCBS and a Hornady, and I prefer the Hornady for a small run of bullet removal. For a larger volume I prefer the kinetic bullet puller. If you use a standard single stage press shell holder, in place of those 3 triangles held together by an o-ring, and place the cartridge upside down in the puller, the cap screws on right over the shell holder. Easy in and easy out. Two good whacks and it is pulled, no marring of the bullet. Pour it out into a bowl and separate bullet from the powder later.

+1, I also put a cleaning patch in the bottom so the ridges don't mar the bullet. I also put a rubber sleeve over the handle on mine as the ribs get to your hand quickly. Also, it seems to work better if you don't hold it too tight and let it sort of bounce on impact. I think the rebound effect helps the inertia.

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i rather like that idea of the shell holder , may have to look at that should my current one go bad - not out of the realm of reality , i have already broken two , i must pull too many bullets - i used to take down a lot of surplus , now im limiting to cast only 

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12 hours ago, High Spade Mikey Wilson said:

I have both an RCBS and a Hornady, and I prefer the Hornady for a small run of bullet removal. For a larger volume I prefer the kinetic bullet puller. If you use a standard single stage press shell holder, in place of those 3 triangles held together by an o-ring, and place the cartridge upside down in the puller, the cap screws on right over the shell holder. Easy in and easy out. Two good whacks and it is pulled, no marring of the bullet. Pour it out into a bowl and separate bullet from the powder later.

OK, I just did this with mine. Again I say genius. I don't know why I never heard of this before or why I never thought to try something as simple as this instead of just plucking along with the 3 piece rubber bandy thing.

Thank you Pard.

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Yeh, the shell holder is the way to go. Someone posted the suggestion on here a while back. Takes the aggravation out of using the hammer immensely.

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On 1/31/2020 at 3:23 PM, M.T Chambers, SASS#76185 said:

When I bought this one in the '80's it was sold as RCBS. It has pulled hundreds of bullets and is still going strong.

If I break it tomorrow, I will order a Quintics.

Quinetics Kinetic Puller

 

Sorry Wyatt, I mis-read that you want a Collet puller

 

I have the RCBS version.

Put a wad of cotton in the bottom and there's no bullet damage. 

All the collet type I have seen leave marks and such on the bullet.

YMMV,

OLG 

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