Alternative Method of Pulling Lead Bullets
Posted: 19 Nov 2017 20:50
My M&P 9 is my IPSC pistol. It has a very tight chamber. My TL 124-356 2r mold dropped bullets right at .356 and when seated the cartridges were a snug fit just passing the barrel drop test. In an attempt to improve bullet release I cleaned and polished my mold and re-smoked it. That really improved the mold but it also slightly increased the bullet diameter. Unfortunately I loaded 400 rounds with this enlarged bullet and didn't discover the issue until my pistol wouldn't fully close up after the first shot at a match. Apparently the larger diameter bullet was expanding the case out enough to prevent it from fully chambering. When I got home I was faced with the dilemma of all those bullets having to be pulled, cases resized etc. I decided to try a different approach. I removed the deprimer rod from my sizing die and ran each case into the die. The bullets compressed as expected but as lead deforms easily they stayed at the compressed diameter. The brass case sprung back enough to allow the bullet to be easily removed with just the finger and thumb. The powder was left in the case and after filling up a 50 hole reloading block I switched to a Lyman expanding die and then the bullet seater and seated some new bullets that had been sized down to .356. The new cartridges passed the drop test. I have since used the same method with some 45 Colt lead bullets that I wanted to replace with some better casts. I haven't tried it with a jacketed bullet and don't think it would be possible with a bottleneck case. I am sure others use this method but haven't read about it so I thought I would share here.