I have. It broke pretty much where yours did.

 

To make bullet pulling a little easier first put the loaded round in the seat die and just push the bullet in about a sixteenth of an inch. This will break the anode cathode effect and allow easier extraction.

 

Yes. On my third one now. Since I don't break down factory rounds, the failures were on reload mistakes. The good part is I caught the mistakes. The bad part is I made the mistakes.

 

Oddly enough,....YES! I had one with the aluminum shaft. I took it out to the garage to smack a few primers that went in a few cases sideways. BANG!, snapped all the primers and left it on the mower to go check da mail. Well, I forgot about the hammer and went inside. Few days later I start the mower, go to move it and hear a CRUNCH. There's my hammer in pieces with the handle lookin' like it is pretending to be a horseshoe. Now I have the plastic one like you broke and just know SOMEDAY itsa gunna break! peops don't know that as plastic ages, it gets hard/brittle. Good thing they iz cheap

 

fortunately, no or not yet ...

 

Not yet.

"What one man can do, another can do."
:⁠-⁠)

 

I didn't break one, but I had a round go off in one. It destroyed it. Yes, I changed my underwear afterwards.

 

damn Kieth, I didn't think that would be possible. You sure know how to live on the edge ... 🙉🙊🙈

 

Yup , broke one in the same place.
Called RCBS and they sent me a new one.
That was years ago so they may not be as forgiving.
I also asked about a plastic hammer/trigger gauge that exploded (broke in many places while sitting in a box, unused) and the rep simply said yeah, they will do that.

 

That sure can be a bad omen for sure.

 

The interesting thing is, it broke on the opposite end from where you strike it on something hard.

 

Bought a Lyman puller four years ago. Used it when I bought ammo in private sales to inspect powder, to make sure not reloads and other boring stuff. Still working on busting it up but I'm super "canal" minus the C when I'm loading for metallic, much more so than when I reload shotshells. It probably wont get much use as I only reload a couple few hundred a year for metallic.

 

Have the Midway version with the aluminum handle. Had it forever but have never broke it. It’s been used. I was given a lot of 30 cal ammo that had been in a flood and pulled a bunch of those bullets.

 

With the hammers do the bullet tips get distorted?

I got an insane low price on some Nosler 260 Rem ammo with their E-tip lead-free hunting bullets and bought 200. I only use that rifle for long range targets and want to pull them for my 6.5 Grendel and 6.5 CM. Those non-lead bullets usually sell for over $1 each.
I bought an RCBS collet bullet puller but haven't tried it yet.

 

With the hammers do the bullet tips get distorted?

I got an insane low price on some Nosler 260 Rem ammo with their E-tip lead-free hunting bullets and bought 200. I only use that rifle for long range targets and want to pull them for my 6.5 Grendel and 6.5 CM. Those non-lead bullets usually sell for over $1 each.
I bought an RCBS collet bullet puller but haven't tried it yet.

Randy,

Put a ball of cotton or cloth inside and it will help cushion the bullet

 

Not yet, but hate to use them.

 

My Kinetic magnum model is 45 years old and hasn't failed yet, but I have to brag a bit it has been used about 75 times in 45 years of reloading. I don't want to leave the impression that I don't make mistakes, but... luckily I haven't made many.

 

Anyone ever break one of these?

Yes. Pretty much like yours broke, and I was hitting a 2X6 sitting flat on my concrete front porch. Old 357's I loaded back in the late 90's, they weren't accurate, and wanted to recover the brass. Mine was one with the aluminum handle.

 

Buy them two-at a-time.
Be prepared. 🇺🇲

 

After more than 25 years of use, the RCBS bullet puller gave up on 02-Aug-2019. No complaints. It served well for those many years. Replaced it with a another RCBS plastic handle. Still going strong after 6 years.

 

I have used one since 1967 ... and never broke it ...
But I was blessed with a little common sense and don't abuse it and followed the directions for use that came with it in 67 ... also
Breaking the crimp on a loaded round before you attempt to pull it ... is very important .
A round that has had the bullet crimp broken is much easier to pull than a fully crimped round ...
Trust Me On This !
Gary

 

Breaking the crimp on a loaded round

How does one break a crimp?

 

Not broken one yet, but I don't like using them, prefer using a collet puller if I have the right collet.

 

I haven’t broken one either, but I’ve never pulled a bunch of bullets, just one every now and then. That said, I’ve had to whack some of them so hard I feared it would break.

 

Yep, I did, and RCBS replaced it ! 🙂

 

Yep, on my fourth one, Quinetics, RCBS, Hornady (Quinetics) and now using Frankford Arsenal.

Called RCBS they told me I had to ship it to them to be replaced, it was not worth that for a 20 dollar item.

 

I've broken a couple. I have a habit of picking up live rounds left on the ground at my range. I won't risk shooting other people's reloads or unknown ammo, but I will pull the bullet, dump the powder, and then re-use the case/primer for practice ammo. I usually wait until I have a few hundred of these range farm rounds before I start pulling bullets, so I'll be using the puller for a while (which takes its toll).

 

Somebody was very smart to invent these pieces of 💩, they were made to break so you had to buy another one to keep on keepin' on. I broke one with little effort.

 

Yep I’ve broken 2 Of them. Got myself a bullet puller. Problem solved and much more efficient