Best way to pull a 5.56 bullet without a bullet puller?

Ammunition & Reloading
1

Got a friend retiring today - he was heavily involved in military ammo contracting.

As a jokey celebration of his last day at work I want to pull the bullet on a 5.56 round, dump the powder on the ground and take a picture for him.

I don’t reload and don’t have a bullet puller. Any recommendations for a way to pull a bullet with common tools that will least mangle the bullet (it’s a green tip and I’d like that to be visible in the photo)?

2

Unfortunately there is no easy (or safe) way to pull a bullet without a collet or impact puller that will not mangle it. milspec ammo is always crimped so that is even harder.

If you have a bench vice, you can try clamping the round by the case head, wrap the bullet with duct tape, and use vice grips to wriggle it out. It will take a lot of time and effort and the bullet will be marred. If you do not have a vice, you can chuck the bullet end of the cartridge in a drill and wiggle the case to loosen the case neck. The drill is only to hold the round, not to spin it. If you try spinning it, the bullet will get mangled beyond recognition.

If you want, I can pull an M855 and take photos for you.

3

That would be awesome if you have time today. I’ll give you 2 M855’s in exchange! :smiley:

4

Ideal photo composition:

“Blank” background (non-patterned, concrete floor)?

Pile of powder in the middle

Bullet on right side at a roughly 45 deg angle, green tip towards camera

Empty case on left side at a roughly 45 deg angle, open neck towards camera

5

Oh, and if you can leave some space on the top/bottom border of the photo so I can insert some text…