I was loading some 10mm yesterday and went to use some nickel plated brass for the first time along with some 200gr XTP's. Whenever I switch components, I make a dummy round to set seating depth and crimp and fit in my firearm. Afterwards, I went to pull the bullet and it would not come out. The core ended up finally coming out of the jacket but the jacket is still stuck in the case. OAL is 1.260 and the crimp is my usual .423 same as my other rounds with the regular starline brass. I have not used nickel brass before and am wondering if this is typical of that or perhaps the XTP's? Not sure I want to fire a round that is stuck that tight!

Thanks for any help/advice!

Ron

That is strange.  I've done the same, but never had a core come out of the jacket like that.  The nickel brass does have a higher neck tension (new), and one reason I prefer nickel.  I've not pulled a bullet from a dumby round, so maybe the powder charge helps push the bullet out.  Never really thought about that.

It was definitely a first for me but also the first time I have used the nickel plated brass and the 200gr XTP's. I guess I need to try loading some other bullets with this brass and see what happens when I try and pull them. I hate to waste brand new brass and bullets but better safe than sorry. They are a lot less expensive than missing fingers and a blown up G20.

rgold1963, what did you use to pull the bullet with?  Kinetic puller?  Collet puller?  Other?

I use a kinetic Type and never had an issue pulling bullets with it...Many thousands pulled and some were glued in place.
I use the end grain of a 4x4 block to rap the puller against, lighter bullets are harder to pull than the heavier ones.

A kinetic puller and I thought for sure I was going to break it trying to get that bullet out. It was a 200 grain JHP and I was hitting the puller against a cement floor.

Ron

Ditto on strange.  I've had some 200gr loads that I didn't think the bullet would ever come out of before destroying my kinetic bullet puller.  Somehow I've got through all the times I've tried without destroying my kinetic bullet puller.  Seems like a miracle sometimes though.

My overall experience has been the opposite of The_Shadow's.  I have the most problem/difficulty with the heavy bullets and not much issue with the lighter ones.

Wow... I have never had that issue...Or perhaps I have a different threshold on how hard I hit my puller.

Maybe you simply have a superior puller.  I use Hornady's model, and I doubt Hornady actually manufactures it.  You know I never thought to look...wonder if it's made in China?  I'm out of town for a while, but now I'm curious to check as soon as I do get back home.

I load Starline nickel and regular brass in my Dillon 550. I have noticed that the nickel brass is a bit more brittle compared to standard brass. I have loaded 135 grain bullets up to 180 grain. Usually with the nickel brass I load 175 Silver tip hollow points. Never had an issue with my kinetic puller either. I did break one a couple years back..

QuoteThe core ended up finally coming out of the jacket but the jacket is still stuck in the case. 

Got a picture?

Sorry, I'm having a hard time believing a Kinetic puller could separate the core from the jacket of and XTP, or any bullet for that matter.

I will get a picture for you today. I have two that did this. The first core is completely out of the jacket and the second one is almost all the way out. I thought that the first one might just be a defect but it appears it was not. I need to try loading some other bullets in this brass as soon as I have time to see what happens with them. I have several other brands so perhaps this is just a problem with the XTP's.
As far as the kinetic puller goes, I really would expect the plastic to break before a core separated from the jacket of a bullet. Must be some damn tough plastic!

If the core separated from the Hornady XTP then there was something wrong with that bullet...

Those who read here, know I have done many pull-downs and I use the RCBS kenitic bullet puller to make short work of this operation.  As I mentioned previously I use a piece wooden of 4x4, standing on end, to rap the puller against, this is to protect the puller but still allow the work to be performed.

BTW you don't have to hit all that hard to get the bullet moving, making several raps to ease the bullet out is OK!  Let the bullet's weight do the work.  When I pull pointed bullets and soft points I place a piece of paper towel in the bottom of my puller to cushion the pulled bullet to eliminate d nose distortion and damage.

When I see that the bullet is about to pull free I use an even lighter touch to contain all of the powder without any loss for the  weight of the powder charge.

The hardest thing to pull is a gas check that stayed inside the casing, simply not enough physical weight to pull free.  Using a tiny screw driver you can turn it sideways, get the powder out then pull the check free with a needle nose pliers.

Just take your time, you don't need to rap the puller like you are driving 16D nails, try using it like driving a finishing nail.
It is better to hit more times that to hit too hard. 

This is the first time I have ever had a problem pulling a bullet and hitting it soft simply didn't do anything. I continually increased the strength of the impact until this happened.
One of the reasons I am going to try a Nosler and Sierra bullet when I have time is to see if it is indeed the XTP's or the brass that is the problem. As you can see in the images, there is still a tiny amount of belling showing in the case so it's not crimped too tightly. I can also see a slight mark from the seater which shows there must have been a lot of resistance as the bullet was being seated. I checked the bullets with a micrometer and they are the same diameter as all my other 10mm bullets which I have never had this problem with.

The first case and separated core.

[attachment deleted by admin]

The second case with the core coming out. As soon as I saw the core on this one, I stopped trying to get the bullet out.

[attachment deleted by admin]

Quote from: rgold1963 on May 29 2013 08:59:19 AM MDT
I will get a picture for you today. I have two that did this. The first core is completely out of the jacket and the second one is almost all the way out. I thought that the first one might just be a defect but it appears it was not. I need to try loading some other bullets in this brass as soon as I have time to see what happens with them. I have several other brands so perhaps this is just a problem with the XTP's.
As far as the kinetic puller goes, I really would expect the plastic to break before a core separated from the jacket of a bullet. Must be some damn tough plastic!

rgold, sounds like a weird situation, although I can see how this could happen if the neck/bullet friction is high enough. Is the inside of that nickel brass very rough, in the area it contacts the bullet? (Might want to look at a bunch of them, you may only find a few that would stick the bullet like you've described.) I wouldn't be surprised if there were some quality control issue with either the brass or the bullets, given the mad rush by manufacturers lately to keep up with demand.