The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

I have resorted to going outside and using a paving stone before i got all my tools unpacked. I usually use a piece of narrow gauge train track from my sheet metal working tools.
Other advice is ditch the collars that come with the hammer. Use your shellholders

Blackstuff wrote:

David Nimrod wrote:

Blackstuff wrote:What have you done to them that make you say they can't be pulled?

One bullet is most of the way into the case aaarggh

The rest, should 'pull', I just may not have used the kinetic hammer hard enough!

With a normal light crimp and using the amount of force I use it takes between 20-30 hits to get the bullet free (.223). When I'd 'He-man' crimped one it took close to 40!

I obviously don't crimp hard enough then.... it normally only takes 2-3 whacks on a concrete slab to pull any of my calibres.

Even that batch of .308 I made that was crimped so hard it crimped the jacketed bullet, came out after 4-5 whacks.

I always use the square block between the planks of a pallet,
found them easy to hold in one hand and the kinetic hammer in the other,
easy peasy

Paving slab

These days I use a collet puller

Kinetic hammer on the concrete garage floor has never failed me.

shugie wrote:Kinetic hammer on the concrete garage floor has never failed me.

Ditto....

I once had to pull nearly 1000 9mm!!

Sim G wrote:

shugie wrote:Kinetic hammer on the concrete garage floor has never failed me.

Ditto....

I once had to pull nearly 1000 9mm!!

Same here, concrete floor in the reloading room. I tried using a collet die when I changed from a .222rem to a .223rem rifle and ended up with a couple of hundred bullets to pull but reverted back to the kinetic puller after only 40 or 50 rounds because I found that worked quicker and easier.

Daryll wrote:
I obviously don't crimp hard enough then.... it normally only takes 2-3 whacks on a concrete slab to pull any of my calibres.

Even that batch of .308 I made that was crimped so hard it crimped the jacketed bullet, came out after 4-5 whacks.

As a collector and loader I pull all sorts and while I have yet to break a hammer, I have wrecked several sets of collets....which is annoying.

You will probably find that a lighter bullet will be harder to pull with a hammer as there is less kinetic energy from the lighter bullet. Some of my really small pistol calibers and some steel cased 556 I gave up on.

Concrete is the gear though

Well... I pulled all the cartridges, simply by whacking the hammer against a solid brick wall of my Victorian house, not, as I'd done before, a softwood plank!

Everyday, I learn...

Maggot wrote:

Daryll wrote:
I obviously don't crimp hard enough then.... it normally only takes 2-3 whacks on a concrete slab to pull any of my calibres.

Even that batch of .308 I made that was crimped so hard it crimped the jacketed bullet, came out after 4-5 whacks.

As a collector and loader I pull all sorts and while I have yet to break a hammer, I have wrecked several sets of collets....which is annoying.

You will probably find that a lighter bullet will be harder to pull with a hammer as there is less kinetic energy from the lighter bullet. Some of my really small pistol calibers and some steel cased 556 I gave up on.

Concrete is the gear though

A common problem with ex-military ammo is the sealing gunk that they almost glue the bullet into the case with. That stuff certainly makes it harder to pull bullets. One tip that often helps is to actually push the bullet slightly further into the case with a seating die before attempting to pull the bullet. This has the effect of breaking the seal.