----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mark Branstner" <[log in to unmask]>
>
> The logic behind cutting metallic cartridges to salvage lead and powder 
> seems a little "forced" to me.

It always seemed a bit "forced" to me, too *chuckle* ... that we were 
forced-by-necessity to salvage and re-use what we didn't have the money to 
buy. Though after the Great Depression, in the society of my youth, 
cleaning-up one's misfired cartridges was still part of the responsibility 
of becoming a man ... just like accepting the responsibility for cleaning 
one's own gun, squirrels and fish. Everything that could be adapted, 
salvaged and/or re-used ... was.

A pair of pliers to pull
> bullets make a lot more sense, and would be a lot safer than cutting into 
> loaded cartridges,

I've done it both ways ... the pliers method not only requires more effort, 
but it's also less-safe (disregarding the fact that there's no way to exert 
enough force to pull the slug out of the cartridge without pointing it, at 
some point, at your belly ... if the cartridge discharged during the 
process, which it sometimes did ... it wasn't the heavy bullet that was 
gonna cause you any harm ... the slug would still be in the jaws of your 
pliers while the casing was whizzing-off your noggin, after richocheting off 
the wall ...

and frankly, I would assume that most lead
> bullets could be dislodged from most cartridges using simple hand/finger 
> power, even without a pair of pliers.  But I haven't personally tried that 
> ...

... you should try this ... it won't make you laugh *chuckle*

>
> .22 caliber wind chimes made me laugh, though ...
>
I guffawed ...
>
>