Bullet Pullers

[SJB358]

I am looking at getting a press mounted bullet puller. I think I like the Hornady Cam Lock, but really don't know anything about any of them. I want something that won't ruin the bullets and won't make a huge mess. I do that enough on my own! Any real negatives with the Hornady? I need to pull some 338 bullets. Scotty

 

[DrMike]

Scotty,

I've used the Hornady Cam Lock for many years. It is as good as they come, so far as I am concerned. I use the inertia pullers frequently, but for the larger cases, it is hard to beat the Cam Lock.

 

[SJB358]

Well, I think I will get the Cam Lok. I looked at the Forster also, but the Cam Lok looks easier to manipulate. I have a spare press I can leave the puller set up in, as I don't think the COAX is meant for pulling operations. Scotty

 

[DrMike]

I use my Cam Lock on a Redding T-7 press, and before than on my Rock Chucker. You are correct to be cautious about using it on the Co-Ax, though I don't believe I'd be overly concerned about using it there as the check of damaging the shell plate seems remote.

 

[SJB358]

Well, I just ordered the Cam Lok, with the 338 collet! I only needed verification it wasn't junk. I figure there isn't much need to shoot the RL22 and IMR7828SSC loads out of my 338 as the RL19 loads worked very well. I can't see the others being any better in speed or accuracy. I have been meaning to get a puller for awhile, just always ended up shooting the bullets. Scotty

 

[JD338]

Scotty,

I have a kinetic bullet bullet and a Forester collet bullet puller.

JD338

 

[SJB358]

I guess they all work. Just never did the operation, so I wanted your guys advice. The Forster looks pretty similar to the Hornady. I guess it was 6 and one half dozen. Scotty

 

[FOTIS]

I have the rcbs press mounted collet bullet puller. Got it from ebay cheap with a boatload of collets. Works great!

 

[HeathSexton]

I have the rcbs press mounted collet bullet puller. Works great!

I use the same one, I really like it.

 

[FOTIS]

http://cgi.ebay.com/RCBS-BULLET-PULLER- ... 2c53f4240a

 

[BigJakeJ1s]

The cam-lock puller works fine on my co-ax. When pulling bullets, you do not advance the ram all the way up, just far enough to get the case neck to the bottom of the die (the bullet sticking up inside the collet), so the co-ax handle does not interfere with the puller lever.

Any press that can pull a case out of a full length sizing die will pull bullets with the correct puller.

The RCBS and Forster types (not including Forster superfast pullers), all use the same screw mechanism to adjust and to close/open the collet when operating. Thus, every time you open the puller collet to release the pulled bullet, you destroy the setting. The cam-lock has a screw-in adjustment with a lock nut, that keeps the same setting after closing/opening the puller with the lever, so you get consistent bullet grip without over-gripping and messing up the bullet.

The screw-type pullers like RCBS and the latest version of Forster's puller for the co-ax must have the body tight in the press so that the screw handle for opening and closing the collet has something to turn against. In the co-ax floating die system, the puller body would just spin, and not allow you to open/close the collet. The T handle on these pullers also makes them unusable on a turret press if other dies are installed adjacent to the puller.

Andy

 

[SJB358]

Well, I ordered the Cam Lock with the 338 collet. I don't have a need for any other calibers right now, but I will get them as I need. I think they all probably work about the same, and I will actually set the puller up on my older RCBS Partner press. Since I have gotten my COAX, the Partner has been sitting unused. Scotty

 

[rick smith]

I originally ordered the Forster and still use it but had to get the Hornady for WSM cases. They would not fit into the Forster.Rick.

 

[SJB358]

Well, that is good to know. I have a WSM, so hopefully I am covered with the Hornady. Scotty

 

[DrMike]

Scotty,

I use my Hornady bullet puller on everything I have had to pull from 375 Ruger to 325 WSM and 280. It works fine for all that I have used.

 

[DaveA37]

I might as well throw in my $0.02 worth here too.

I have two bullet pullers, a RCBS kenetic and the Hornady Cam lock. I do NOT like using the kenetic puller and prefer the Cam lock. The only thing I don't care for is there are some small linear marks from the collet jaws on the pulled bullets from the Cam lock. These small marks don't seems to have any effect on the bullet travel when reloaded again. At least I hve not seen any problems to date.

 

[SJB358]

Thanks for all the heads up fellers. I will let you know how my Cam Lock works, should have it this week and I am going to pull some of the 225gr SST's I loaded with RL22 and IMR7828. The RL19 is all I want and more. Scotty

 

[SJB358]

Cam Lock works fine for me. I just pulled 12- .338 225gr SST's and it was fairly easy. It is probably the hardest my little Partner press has worked in a long time, but it seems to works fine for that operation.

Another question. I pulled the bullets and dumped the powder, can I just recharge them with my desired powder charge and seat another bullet on top? Just wondering if I need to resize them?

The puller works great. Didn't see any marks on the bullets at all. Pretty happy, for 20.00, doesn't seem too bad to me! Scotty

 

[DrMike]

Scotty,

I remove the expander ball and simply use the die body to ensure that the neck is resized correctly.

 

[SJB358]

Rgr, thanks Mike. Those bullets seemed to be in there pretty good. I couldn't see them moving under alot of recoil. Now I know what you all mean about neck tension. It is certainly more than I thought it ever was. Scotty