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Posted: 1/25/2016 8:57:51 PM EDT
| So a while back I had my nephew helping me reload while I went to work. I specifically told him to use my automatic powder measurer to add powder to case and press projectiles in. I had primed them all hand primed. Ok getting to the point I have a bunch of 223 with no powder in them..so my question is...do impact hammers only work when there is powder behind the projectile. |
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Quoted: Weighing them is how I found out they were empty. But I can't get my impact hammer to get any of them out. |
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Quoted: you need a solid surface, but put a piece of leather or towel down. you have to hit it pretty good about 3-5 times to get a light weight bullet out, especially if its crimped. Quoted: Quoted: Weighing them is how I found out they were empty. But I can't get my impact hammer to get any of them out. This. The back of a vise works well. I use the concrete floor in my basement.  It takes a lot of force. I put everything I have behind my kinetic puller. A better option would be to buy a collet puller if you have quite a few to pull. |
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It's the sudden short stop that will eject the bullet.
Hitting it hard as in mass isn't the key, that's why plastic kinetic pullers work. You must swing as fast as you can and on a solid non forgiving surface such as concrete or a thick peice of steel, it's speed your after. After the first one releases you'll get the technique down and really pump them out. |
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If you have a single stage press you can try what I did.
Raise the rifle cartridge in the press with no die in it. Grip the bullet with a pair of vice grips. Slowly lower the ram until the pliers meet the top of the press. Lower the ram with steady force and the bullet should stay in the vice grips. This might mar the bullets a little, so not recommended for saving match bullets, but for blasting ammo, it works fine. I just unloaded 45 .223 cases like this the other day. |
| I have to use the concrete floor and it takes me 7-15 hard whacks to pull a light .223 bullet from a case. The impact puller doesn't work well for light bullets. Make sure the hammer handle is parallel to the floor when it hits and not angled. I've broke 2 hammers and wore out a few aluminum collets pulling lots of .223 bullets. After many years I finally bought a collet puller die for my press. Could kick myself for not buying one a long time ago. I bought the RCBS collet bullet puller but lots like Hornady's Cam Lock puller which is faster. |
If bullets are tight, seat them a slight bit and this will break the seal and bullets will come right out when you strike concrete. If you have a lot to do, get a collet puller and a 22 cal collet. Between Hornady and RCBS, the Hornady is the better and easier to use tool. |
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Quoted:
Hammer will work, just smack the crap out of it and try not to let it rebound. If you want to protect the meplat, put an earplug into the bottom of the hammer tube. Makes for a soft landing. Well this would have been a handy idea before I wrecked about 20 perfectly good Hornady AMAX bullets when their plastic tips got broken off. Thanks for the idea! |
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Quoted:
Just save yourself a whole lot of frustration and get a collet puller. Yep, have two kinetic hammer pullers on my bench, and they collect dust since it's the Hornady cam lock puller in the Chucker that I will use every time instead. To take it even farther, back in the Korean import days (30-06), you could get the KA corrosive ammo so much cheaper than the PS no corrosive ammo, it was not funny (cheaper than you could reload it, even after changing the primers). The only difference between the two was just the primers used, so with just a little work with the cam lock puller, it was easy to pull down the KA ammo by the crate to change the primers to no corrosive primers instead. Plus gave you a chance to work with the powder levels to really make the ammo sing in rifles as well. So two's and few rounds, the kinetic hammer will work, but if you have say 20 or more rounds to pull down, then save your elbow with all the banging and buy the collect puller instead. And again, the Hornady cam lock is easy and faster to use. |
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FYI, when you order it, make sure to load up on all the collects that you think that you may need down the line (unless you have somewhere close by to drop in to buy them later in person instead). The collects are only about $10 each, but the cost of shipping will eat you alive if you have to order them one by one instead.
Collect chart in the option pull down menu at the bottom if you need it,so for 223, you need a #2 to start with. http://www.hornady.com/store/Collet-1-.17-Cal-1-Each/ |
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Quoted:
This. The back of a vise works well. I use the concrete floor in my basement.
It takes a lot of force. I put everything I have behind my kinetic puller. A better option would be to buy a collet puller if you have quite a few to pull. Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Weighing them is how I found out they were empty. But I can't get my impact hammer to get any of them out. This. The back of a vise works well. I use the concrete floor in my basement.
It takes a lot of force. I put everything I have behind my kinetic puller. A better option would be to buy a collet puller if you have quite a few to pull. It is a kinetic energy device. It requires velocity, not force. You can use it with only two fingers. |
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Last week i pulled about 350 .40sw and 150 .44 mag. I used a kinetic puller with a foam earplug in it. This was over the course of three nights... What some people do to save money...
I have a foot long piece of two by four i clamp in a vise. I need a new piece of wood after this little venture... 
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Quoted:
I'm pretty sure the instructions say NOT to hit the hammer on concrete or steel. This is why many of them break. I hit mine on the end of a 8" long 4x4 wooden post. I've been using the foam stuffed down in it forever. I thought everyone knew that trick. Motor +1 I hit it on a random board laying around the garage. |
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Hey I'm just saying what the directions say. Considering the same company makes them for everyone I'd say the directions are for all of them.
The end of a hard wood or treated post is plenty hard enough to create the kinetic energy needed especially after it gets seasoned by the impacts. I've pulled hundreds of 7.62x54R with mine without moving the bullet first with a seating die or anything and the end of my puller looks as good as the day I took it out of the box new. The "style" of strike has everything to do with it. You want a fast snappy strike not a heavy hit. All you guys using concrete should at least give the hardwood a try. It's much easier on everything and works at least as well. 
Motor |
I've had a Midway one for years and it's been used a lot too. I usually use a piece of wood on the concrete floor. I have several good dents in the top of my work bench too. You have to hit it very hard to get them to work, especially if you have crimped the bullet. When I first got mine I didn't think it was working until I found out that love taps do not work! Smack it hard!!! I haven't broken it yet!! 
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