Pulling little bullets is a pain!

[TedH]

I bought a used 223 rifle from a friend a while back. He got it from a friend of his, and had never fired it. His friend gave him some ammo that was loaded by who knows. I thought about trying to fire some of the ammo in my AR, as it was loaded in 5.56 brass, but the first round wouldn't even chamber, so I scrapped that idea real quick. I decided to pull the bullets and save them, the brass and primers, and just dump the powder. I did a few with my impact bullet puller, but it takes a good many hard whacks to get those little 55 gr. bullets to move! Frankly I just don't think it's worth the effort unless there is a better way.

[EdinCT]

They work slighty better if you seat the bullets a tad deeper to break and bond that may of formed. also a collet is easier but you can damage bullets if you don't adjust it correctly(just so).

[TedH]

Don't want to use a collet since the Hornady bullets are the thing I'm trying to salvage. I'll try seating a touch deeper before smacking them.

[Washita]

Get a collet bullet puller. They pull bullets a lot faster, far quieter, with no damage & don't waste the powder. A coupla years ago I got several hundred 5.56mm ball (.223") rounds with 55-gr bullets, pulled & 'em all and replaced 'em with 52-gr. sierra Match Kings. Presto! Several hundred new rds. of match ammo, dirt cheap! Wish I could get a bunch more. I've pretty much relegated my old inertia puller to the rare instance where I have just a coupla odd-sized bullets to pull, don't care about losing the powder & don't have the right sized collet; which is to say almost never.

[Sixgun]

Get your single stage press and insert a .223 shell holder . Insert a loaded round and drop the handle so the loaded round protrudes from the top. Grab the bullet with a pair of pliers, using the wire cutting part of the pliers and just raise the handle.

You may lose a few bullets but it's either that or just chuck them all in a pond.----6

[Griff]

If done right, a collet puller won't damage the bullets. As long as they weren't over-crimped when first loaded.