[MtJerry]

I was in the garage with my boys waiting for the school bus to pick them up for their summer swimming program and I was pulling some 45ACP with a Frankford Arsenal Inertial Bullet Puller (hammer type) and I had primer detonation that set off the round.

The scariest part of this deal was that my boys were standing right next to me when it happened. When the round went off, they scattered. And to be quite honest, I ran too.

I quickly checked my boys who were uninjured (thank God), but understandably shaken and scared.

After spending some time calming them down, I started trying to piece together what happened.

I have no idea what caused this. I have had this pullet for about 3 years and have used regularly without a problem.

The round was as I said a 45ACP (unknown brass because I can't find it) loaded with a 200gr Hornady Combat/target SWC, 5.5gr of W231, and a CCI LP primer.

The round went off on about the third blow.

I found the pieces of the Intertial Puller and the only damage is a large crack in the top locking collar as seen below:

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f17/MtJerry/Reloading002.jpg

And here is the indentation made by it when it struck the ceiling of my garage:

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f17/MtJerry/Reloading004.jpg

I still have not found the collet that was holding the base of the brass, or the brass itself. I am SURE it didn't "grenade" as the hammer portion of the tool is undamaged and none of us received any injuries.

Now, what did I learn from this? I will NEVER use an inertial puller again. I am a safe reloader and when my boys are helping me, I am extra safe. I am at a loss for what happened in this case. If anyone has any ideas, let me know.

I need some coffee ....

[Turtlenapper]

OMG I'm glad that ya'll are ok :up:

That is something. I have watched
My honey reload and am glad nothing
has happened. So glad that ya'll are ok.

[7.62mmFMJ]

:OMG: :eek: :OMG:

[malibuman]

Tell God thank you and hug your boys :D


Cord

[BigBore]

I have that exact same bullet puller only mine was purchased from Midway under their name but I believe Frankford makes them.

I have always been wary of those things and this is the first instance of a discharge I've heard of. I've often wondered how I would react to, or prevent injury to myself if one did discharge. The good news is that you and your children were not injured and that sort of makes sense given which part will go airborne (the brass), but the collet part would be my worry as you have mentioned.

Thanks for sharing this important piece of information with us.

[MtJerry]

Tell God thank you and hug your boys :D


Cord

Done did that ... before I started looking for the pieces.

Honestly, as I hugged them, I was looking for shrapnel wounds ... :(

[ruger22com]

Dang, glad you are ok!
If I mess up a round, I have a thick steel can I toss em into (live round can). Pullers scare the heck outta me.

Hope you got the "stain" outta yer pants!:D

[Joe B.]

Glad to hear no one was injured. I use this same tool myself when necessary, but it does carry a minimal risk of ignition.

In all actuality the puller worked as designed. It released pressure at a reduced level, that while it may have caused an injury would not have likely been severe unless eye impact resulted. Pressure would not have been sufficient to shred the cartridge case, but powder burns and flying debris are no fun. If the cap had not given way and hit the ceiling, it would have just vented the pressure around the collet. Eye, ear and preferably full face shield protection are highly recommended. And no one nearby.

And then you sometimes hear of multiple primer detonations with automatic feed priming tools too. I use only the press mounted single primer seater or a ram prime. One primer at time. Just not in that much of a hurry.

Oh, and if you are not concerned with saving powder and primer for reuse, just wanting case and bullet, stand the bases of the cartridges in a shallow pool of WD40 for a few hours. Unless the primers are varnish sealed, it should render them inert. At least less likely to detonate.

[Saunders]

I'm glad you and sons are ok.

[Nes]

Good to hear all are ok.

[bob winfield]

Glad to hear you are all OK after that,if you get it figured out let us know.

[MtJerry]

I have this topic posted on some of the other boards I frequent and the leading thought right now is that I had a primer that was not fully seated and with the blows, it seated itself and did so in a way that caused the anvil of the primer to put enough pressure on the primer material to detonate.

I WILL NEVER USE AN INERTIAL PULLER AGAIN!

There absolutely NO WAY to ensure this does not happen again, so I will be buying a collet puller from RCBS to go on my press.

[7.62mmFMJ]

I always wondered about the wisdom of banging a loaded cartridge with a hammer-like instrument. I guess it is a matter of "when" not "if."

I am just glad to hear that it were no injuries.

[LeiraHoward]

WHEW.... Hair-raising experience, that's fer sure...:horror::eek::OMG::bolt:

[MaidMarian]

I have the same puller at the house. You can bet it only takes one story like this to persuade me to throw it away.

Thank goodness you and your boys are okay.

[Redrum]

Glad you and your youngins are ok!!! I'm not sure if I will get rid of mine...I may have to rethink how and when I use it though....

[MtJerry]

Some more pieces of the puzzle. I spend almost an hour looking in my garage after coming home from work and FINALLY found the bullet, shell casing and the collet.

And what I found really frightened me more. The case did indeed "grenade" as it left the inertial puller. And I found the bullet in the ATTIC of my garage. I found a small hole where it passed thru the sheetrock, pulled out the ladder and found it laying in the insulation.

Apparently my sons were in serious danger when this occured, fortunately all these pieces were found in the opposite direction from where they were standing.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f17/MtJerry/brassbullet.jpg

Here is a look at the primer ... It has a horseshoe shaped crease in it. I have no idea what may have caused it.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f17/MtJerry/brass.jpg

[John Henry]

That did it !
Trash pick-up is Thursday .... my "hammer-type" puller will be in it.
I've always wondered if this could happen.

[Joe B.]

I hereby stand corrected, and flabbergasted. And humbled.
Joe B.

[MtJerry]

Ok, I think I solved this mystery ...

First of all, I still think I had a primer that was not fully seated.

And second of all I created an unsafe set-up by not using the proper equipment. Instead of using the collet supplied with the puller, I was using an RCBS shell holder (proper size for the caliber). THis is a common practice that others have used and I myself have used it for several years. The collet supplied has three pieces to it that are held together with a rubber band thingie ... it can be a real pain at times.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f17/MtJerry/accident001.jpg

When it is fitted correctly into the puller, it grabs the bullet by the rim, and leaves lots of room around the primer pocket and as you can see below, there is little chance of accidental firing of the primer even if it is seated high.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f17/MtJerry/accident.jpg

The RCBS shell holder holds the case by the rim as well, BUT it severly reduces the free space around the primer pocket ...

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f17/MtJerry/accident002.jpg

... and when it is placed in the puller it is possible for the primer to shift enough to get the primer underneath the lip of the shell holder.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f17/MtJerry/accident003.jpg

So, in short this accident was my fault, not the equipment's.

There are a lot of "shortcuts" out there in the reloading world, and this is one that is dangerous and should not be practiced.

I learned a valuable lesson ... and I hope someone learns from my mistake. Please be safe out there.

[Popeye]

Upon further investigation...

[MtJerry]

Upon further investigation...

Be gentle will ya ... my pride is hurt enough already ...

[Blammer]

Glad everyone escaped with intact hides, and a lesson.
Fear is as good a teacher as pain.......... nuf sed.