Which Collet Bullet Puller for .45-70?

[broken_mold]

I'm considering purchasing a collet bullet puller in order to salvage the cases from some loaded .45-70 rounds I bought from a friend. I've looked at RCBS and Forster pullers but neither have collets for their pullers that are very close to the bullet size. The closest size collet that RCBS has for their puller is .451" and the closest one for the Forster is .457". Are these close enough to pull .45-70 bullets as both of these companies assure me? I'm not so interested in saving the bullets as I am interested in saving the brass. If in the future I need to pull some cast bullets will either of these collets do the job even though it may booger up the bullet?
The Lee Lube and Size kit resizes to .457 but isn't that a bit small for .45-70? I think the 450 Lyman sizer will size cast slugs to .458 or .459. If slugs are sized to .457 the Forster puller would seem to work but I can't see how the .451 RCBS collet would grip. If cast bullets are used unsized or sized to .458 or .459 how well would either of these pullers work?

[gdmoody]

Welcome to the Forum, broken mold.

I don't shoot a lot of 45/70, but I have had to pull some of the bullets. I personally use a RCBS kinetic bullet puller.

I would think that the Forster with the .457 bite would probably work a little better since it has the larger diameter. I don't know how many you are talking about, but the kinetic puller might be the easiest way to go, at least on the billfold.

[broken_mold]

Thanks for the welcome and the advice.
I have looked hard at the all the different brands of kinetic pullers and it seems the RCBS gets the highest recommendations of any of the brands except maybe Quinetics. The reviews I have read on all the brands speak of the same problems, broken caps, broken heads, broken handles, and collets that don't grip properly. Having never used a kinetic puller I can only trust what others who have used them say. Are they just hitting them too hard or using them improperly? Do some of the different brands of collets grip better (or with less bullet damage) than others? Can standard shellholders be used instead of the provided collets as some say? I still plan on getting a kinetic puller (mainly for cast bullets) but would also like to have a collet puller since they aren't overly expensive. I have the kinetic puller choices narrowed down to RCBS or Quinetics based solely on reviews but am still mighty confused about the collet pullers for .45-70 bullets. I don't plan to disassemble lots of rounds but want to be able to do so without a lot of hassle, expense, or unecessary damage to bullets or casings.

Yeshua Shalom,
Nathan

[gdmoody]

I have been using the same RCBS kinetic puller for a little over 35 years. I have not had any broken handles, heads, or caps. It has the original collet in it, the little rubber O ring broke about 10 years ago and a visit to the hardware store took care of that problem. I have smacked it on wood, cement, and granite without anything breaking. That is not saying that it won't break the next time I use it, but I figure I got my moneys worth out of it.

I do also have the changeable collet type RCBS that works with the reloading press. I have 5 different collets that range from .204 cal to .40 caliber. The .30 caliber collet gets the biggest work out. They work very well for getting the bullet out of the case with very little damage to the bullet and NO damage to the brass. It is particularly handy when pulling the .308 because I use a lot of Hornady A-max bullets and the kinetic puller will smash the plastic tip on the bullet when it hits bottom.

No matter what brand of puller you get, any time you tighten a collet onto a bullet, it is going to leave an indention (ring) around the bullet. I have never found this to be a problem with the accuracy of that ringed bullet, it is just not a pretty as an unpulled bullet.