Stuck Gas checks in neck of pulled bullets

[KHornet]

I never had a problem pulling bullets (for what ever reason) and leaving gas checks in the necks of the case, until I started using alum checks that didn't crimp well. However, Have found a simple remedy to the problem.
If you take a pair of pliers/vice grips/etc, and bend the mouth/neck to an oval, the check and powder (if it was a charged case) will just drop out with a slight tap on the mouth of the case. Done carefully, just running the case back thru the sizing die, with the depriming pin backed way out, and you are ready to reload. Never had this problem with Hornady or Gator Checks.

I most often have to pull bullets when I reload to many test loads, and find that after 10 rounds, they are inaccurate. Cure for that is to load less test loads initially. Need to remember that.

Paul

 

[S Mac]

Many times I don't even deform the neck, spin the check sideways and work it out.

 

[Maven]

An old steel dental pick is ideal for turning that check sideways and hooking it under its lip for easy removal.

 

[Josh]

I have always turned them sideways and pulled them out.

 

[Brad]

I find a firing pin pulls bullets very well. Seems to remove powder too......

 

[Rick]

I'm with S Mac, Maven and Josh. I use a small punch to turn it sideways and then a small pair of needle nose pliers to pull it out. Simple as can be.

 

[KHornet]

Agreed turning them sideways and pulling them out does work great, BUT, if the
GC is right at the very base of the neck, turning them sideways doesn't always work,
and they drop into the powder area.

 

[Rick]

Yeah it's a real PITA when that happens. Can still get them out, turn the case upside down and jiggle it until the edge of the check is at the beginning of the neck & use the needle nose pliers. Works on many cases except long necks like the 30-30. Still a PITA & kinda depends on how important one case is to you.

 

[John]

Bend the end of a paper clip for the deeper ones.
As far as weird in the neck, I shot a friends contender once and heard a clunk when I opened it. Inside was a large RCBS depriming pin. The cartridge fired just fine, impacted on the target and the pin stayed in the case. His comments were " I wondered where that went to". I no longer shoot his loads.

 

[Chris]

Get a set of these. Poke the check enough to upset it and then yarn it out of there.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/STAINLESS-S...-FORCEP-5-5-FINE-POINT-SERRATED-/251146672275

 

[KHornet]

Thanks Chris, ordered a pair.

 

[KHornet]

To me all good serviceable brass is important to me, except maybe for 9mm that
I have about a gazillion cases of. It is true what most have written, about removal
of GC's, and I agree in most cases. However my agreement changes when it comes
to 22's and 6MM's. Real PIA's.

Paul

 

[9.3X62AL]

At some point in my long and checkered reloading career, I have used just about all of the above-listed fixes to retrieve a gas check left behind inside a case neck. This hasn't happened a whole lot--maybe a dozen times since I started casting in 1981. But, "happen" it does. The Last Resort--a slight squeeze to the case neck--has been the remedy about half the time--the other 50% behaved well enough to tip sideways and enable needle-nose pliers to extract them. There is comfort in knowing that I am not alone in this course of occurrence.

If I doubt the safety of a load for some reason, I won't risk emptying the contents through the muzzle--I will pull the bullets. If they are safe but just inaccurate--pull the trigger. My most recent bullet-pulling occurred a couple weeks back, when some lots of test loads in 38/55 loosened primer pockets on 20 cases. A primer leak on one of these was the pre-cursor clue, and upon processing all of these 20 cases had loose pockets after their first firing (Starline). A little disquieting, that. So, 130 bullets got pulled--which is a TOTAL PITA. The good news--not one gas check didn't come out with its bullet. OF COURSE they behaved--that big ol' 3/8" hole would have been child's play with the pliers if the check got stuck. Still wondering why just a 5% uptick in powder amount with 2 fuels made such a dramatic difference--but it did, so there it is there. I can recycle the bullet metal easily (92/6/2), and the IMR 4198 and Alliant Re-7 were salvaged and re-used when I resized the brass and reloaded the unfired cases. Net loss was the timeinvested and the Hornady gas checks--maybe $3.50-worth. I don't charge myself to entertain myself, so that was a wash.

 

[KHornet]

Well written Al, and I appreciate what you say. I have not had a great deal of a problem with
this issue after about 50 years of casting, reloading etc. But as you say, a real PIA when It does
happen. My biggest problem that I can remember occurred about 40 years ago with the Lyman
gas checks of the period (non crimp) in a 222. Same situation as you cite, had a couple of primer
leaks, and decided to pull the rest of those loaded. Think it was only 25-30 rounds, but little gas
checks, in a long neck 222 case------eh!

Might have tried needle nose somethings if I could have
found one that small back then, or even been able to afford one at the time. Don't recall the load,
but know it was with 4895. I ruined a couple of cases before I found the trick of the oval squeeze
on the neck. I have over the years been able to extract a check or two from short neck brass like
308 with a crochet hook.

Life is a live and learn proposition, and often times we don't live long
enough to learn all that we would like or need to know.

Paul

 

[Ian]

Allen, if we paid ourselves to entertain ourselves we'd be wealthy indeed. Instead, I'm just amused, most of the time. At least I work cheap.

That's the second time I've read about Reloder 7 getting spooky pressures with a small increase in charge, but at least it's reassuring that 4198 did the same thing, so maybe not an anomaly with the high-nitro powder.

As for checks, I'm with Brad, but all of the above tricks were absorbed in my brain via osmosis on another forum, long ago. Quite handy at times. One check in particular beat me, though, and out of spite I removed it with the trigger anyway, sans bullet.