Bullet Pulling

[mritter]

I had several different 6.5 loads nicely organized in an MTM box ready to test at the range. Dumped the box by accident and now have no idea what is what. Going to have to start all over....

I've never pulled bullets before. I do have an RCBS puller and the proper collet. Question is, do i need to neck resize before reseating the bullets...again?

Thanks a million,
Mark

 

[JimGa]

Yes I do

 

[Muley Buck]

Yes, I would size the necks. If you have a bushing die just run the brass through that and then proceed to dump powder and seat.

 

[muddydogs]

So you don't have this issue again get a few different colored Sharpie pens. Write down the powder charges for the work up load on paper then put a Sharpie color next to it, as you load each round color the primer with the correct color for the powder charge. If you have more loads then colors use just a line across the primer on some as well as the paper and a fully colored primer on others as well as a circle on the paper.

 

[4ester]

Man I've been there. In the future just write your powder charge on the brass with a sharpie so you don't have a wasted trip to the range. Cleans off after a run through the tumbler.

 

[Boonechaser]

Absolutely! And the writing the charge on the case is a great way to make sure it doesn’t happen again. I was once in the same situation and learned this leason

 

[Montana Slim]

I would neck size just to keep things consistent. Sharpies are your friends the second batch of reloads I ever did them same thing happened to me

 

[Laelkhunter]

You can just run them through the sizing die, but remove the decapping stem first.

 

[mritter]

Sharpie it is! Thanks guys.

 

[Ashue2214]

Yep I use the sharpie. I’ll even write the charge load on the side of the brass when I’m working up a load

 

[NBChance]

Yep, I resize the neck again after pulling bullets. Takes a little time, but keeps neck tension consistent, and consistency is what generates tight groups.

 

[Unknown Munitions]

Yes you must resize the neck or you risk improper data from your testing from varied neck tension. And we would never reuse the bullet after pulling ;-)

 

[NBChance]

Just to clarify on your wink emoji... I use an RCBS collet style bullet puller and tighten with just enough force so it fully grips the bullet during the extraction process. I see no issue in reusing the bullet unless something went wrong and it was significantly scarred during the process. I'm pretty much only loading Nosler and Barnes premium bullets in my hunting calibers and these don't come cheap. This has never caused an issue for me.

 

[Unknown Munitions]

Just to clarify on your wink emoji... I use an RCBS collet style bullet puller and tighten with just enough force so it fully grips the bullet during the extraction process. I see no issue in reusing the bullet unless something went wrong and it was significantly scarred during the process. I'm pretty much only loading Nosler and Barnes premium bullets in my hunting calibers and these don't come cheap. This has never caused an issue for me.

As a precision ammunition manufacturer serving customers, we would never risk an issue with a pulled bullet. As a personal reloader, if you're comfortable reusing it I'm sure it would be fine and acceptable for personal consumtion. I think bullet type should be payed attention to though, as thin jacketed hunting bullets made for expansion may suffer some issues not visible to the naked eye. Wouldn't want to risk a flyer on the only shot that counts! These are just my opinion of course, I have never collected data on effects of collet pulling on bullet runout or flight.

 

[Rich M]

Can you weigh the bullets and separate that way? Sometimes my storage system leaves a lot to be desired.

I weigh the ammo and sort by weight, pull one and see what that batch is...