Reloading error: How best to pull .204 39 gn SBK ?

[Cyres]

Help/advice please.

On Sat I reloaded 50 .204 rounds. They are loaded with 39 Blitz kings at 2.250.

Yesterday I commented on the thread on here re .204 powder and posted I used 20.5 grn of Reloader 10x. I noticed Steve said he used 25.1 grn of 10x. It then occurred to me that my load is 25.2 gn of 10x. When I got home last night I checked my notes and balance which was set at 20.5. I pulled a round using my Quinetics inertia puller and checked the charge and it was 20.5.

So I have 49 to pull. My neck tension is tight and despite using my inertia puller and hitting a piece of railway line it takes up to 10 hefty blows to shift the bullet. Takes ages and ? is it the best way to go about it. Also the 3 piece collet on my puller has seen better days and now will not clamp into the case rim.

My rounds are loaded at 2.250 so there is minimal amount of the straight part of the bullet to get hold of so I do wonder if a collet type bullet puller would have enough to grip on the bullet to extract it. (was thinking I might need to buy a RCBS or Forster .204 bullet puller)

So

1 any body out there had any experience in pulling .204 rounds.

2 Will a replacement RCBS collet fit in my inertia puller

4 where can I get an original replacement collet for my inertia puller.

4 Anybody used a grip and pull as they look good and if so who in UK stocks them.

5 As a last resort would it be safe to shoot them as its such a reduced load. I can run it through Quik Load.

Regards

David

 

[finnbear270]

Unless you have buried your bullet way down into the case?, you should be able to grip a good way out onto the ogive with a collet puller.

 

[Sinistral]

Help/advice please.

On Sat I reloaded 50 .204 rounds. They are loaded with 39 Blitz kings at 2.250.

Yesterday I commented on the thread on here re .204 powder and posted I used 20.5 grn of Reloader 10x. I noticed Steve said he used 25.1 grn of 10x. It then occurred to me that my load is 25.2 gn of 10x. When I got home last night I checked my notes and balance which was set at 20.5. I pulled a round using my Quinetics inertia puller and checked the charge and it was 20.5.

So I have 49 to pull. My neck tension is tight and despite using my inertia puller and hitting a piece of railway line it takes up to 10 hefty blows to shift the bullet. Takes ages and ? is it the best way to go about it. Also the 3 piece collet on my puller has seen better days and now will not clamp into the case rim.

My rounds are loaded at 2.250 so there is minimal amount of the straight part of the bullet to get hold of so I do wonder if a collet type bullet puller would have enough to grip on the bullet to extract it. (was thinking I might need to buy a RCBS or Forster .204 bullet puller)

So

1 any body out there had any experience in pulling .204 rounds.

2 Will a replacement RCBS collet fit in my inertia puller

4 where can I get an original replacement collet for my inertia puller.

4 Anybody used a grip and pull as they look good and if so who in UK stocks them.

5 As a last resort would it be safe to shoot them as its such a reduced load. I can run it through Quik Load.

Regards

David

1. Yes, Hornady V-Max with a Forster collet press puller. With an IP even a few crimped 5.56 strains the wrist. You find that out the next day.
2. Yes
3. Norman Clark does Quinetics
4. No
5. Yes.
6. Yes. QuikLoad is the last place I would look for an answer to almost everything.

 

[ashray]

good afternoon cyres, is the 20.5 gr below the starting point for that powder? if not dont pull them use them.often the lower charges can be as accurate and with you having 49 you can use five to zero your rifle and have 44 to use on vermin/game/target/or fun.

 

[zzr600]

This is a great piece of kit Hornady Cam-Lock Bullet Puller (HORN-050095) - CDSG Ltd

I use it to pull .308 at a rate of 1 every 10 seconds or so

 

[purdeydog]

Loads less than 21.6g of 10x, sierra don’t recommend. I did see you had put 20.5g, Mine is 25.1g with 39sbk. Made me double check mine.

 

[Highlandsjohn]

If your load is not too compressed you can seat them a bit deeper to free them up.. try one and see if it helps. john

 

[Alantoo]

It is possible to use the press case holder in an inertia hammer...

Though when it has been mentioned before somebody referred to an incident of one going bang...there were various theories about the primer being shifted in and out by momentum / inertia but I couldn't see it. When I traced the incident back to the guy saying it happened to him, his description mentioned that the bullet ended up lodged in the ceiling with no mention of damage and rebound from the floor or bench...so my conclusion was that he had turned the hammer over the wrong way and struck the cap. He did not specify whether it was a case holder from a Lee trimming set or the press but my Lee trimming case holder had a machining bit left on the face which coupled with turning the hammer over the wrong way could conceivably have caused it...the press case holder has a void for primers to pass through so I found it impossible to see how anything could have been in contact with the primer.

Apart from that I bought a Hornady Cam-Lock Bullet Puller which has sensitive adjustment to get just sufficient grip to remove the bullet without marking it.

Muir has mentioned that just putting the round back into the seating die to push the bullet a bit further back in if the case mouth has been crimped will break the lock...but that will obviously reduce any parallel area to grip on further.

Alan

 

[Ttocs]

I use a pair of cheap wire strippers to grip the bullet just above the case. Place the wire strippers above the press with the bullet sticking through the hole and lower the ram to withdraw the bullet. This has the disadvantage of marking the jacket but it’s very quick and cheap.
Ttocs

 

[Cyres]

Thanks Guys, having seen the grip and pull video I thought that the wire stripper/crimper may be the way forward.

I will update if I find a solution.

D

 

[Cyres]

problem now resolved.

Quick search in the garage last night found a set of professional cable strippers/crimpers.

Took die out of press and ran a load up. Carefully gripped bullet just above case mouth with suitably sized stripped (it was the largest one in my tool) and then withdrew round. On first two stripper slipped but by applying a bit more pressure to the stripper bullet pulled with remarkable ease. It took about 10 mins to do the whole lot. Stripper jaws just left 4 tiny marks on the bullet which look insignificant so reloaded all of them.

So if anybody else finds themselves in a similar issue just look at the grip and pull video and then use a wire cable stripper in exactly the same way.

Happy days

D

 

[AN DU RU FOX]

beats using your teeth!,glad your sorted now buy a puller.

 

[kenbro]

I use a pair of cheap wire strippers to grip the bullet just above the case. Place the wire strippers above the press with the bullet sticking through the hole and lower the ram to withdraw the bullet. This has the disadvantage of marking the jacket but it’s very quick and cheap.
Ttocs

I’ve found there’s no apparent loss of accuracy reusing the marked bullets.
Ken.