Where to reload.

[Lurch37]

Hello,

After a 6 year absence I want to start relaoding again. My problem is space to be honest, as in I don't have enough. I've been looking at my shed to the side of my home a lot lately. It has a workbench and I could put up some shelves and the like. My only fear is of storing all the components, powders, primers, bullets, press, scales, etc., in an outdoor enviroment. This shed is not heated nor does it have a/c.

The shed is well constructed and weather tight, allthough it is by no means a sealed enviroment. Would being outside cause any problems with the above listed components as in rusting of metals, fouling of powders and primers, or any other numerous items. The temperature spreads here can be in the 100's in the summer and -20 in the winter.

My only other option is to build a bench down in the basement near where I do all gun related work. The maximum size this could be is 19" deep by 4 to 5 feet long with some space for shelving above and below. I really dont want to try and use my "gun" bench for reloading also as it is cramped enough already.

Thanks.

 

[hivel37]

Maybe with a minimal amount of carpentry work, the shed can be converted to an indoor environment. You will need electricity run out to it, which shouldn't be a big deal. A building away from the house is the ideal situation, I think. It keeps your hobby from being "underfoot", and becoming an aggravation to anyone who might become aggravated.

 

[firechicken]

I do my reloading, and store all my equipment/components in a detatched garage. No heat or A/C. This makes reloading an early morning or late evening task in the summer. In the winter, unless it's really cold out, temps aren't too bad in the middle of the day. Spring and fall I can reload anytime I want. I've been doing it this way for about 12 years with no problems yet. The only extra precaution I take is putting all my primers in zip-lock baggies.

 

[Buckythebrewer]

In my experience the dies rust very easily:barf: .I would keep them were it is dry and temp stable.I also believe your primers will take a wicked toll if they are not stored in a dry area, JMO.I reload from a converted wire spool(the kind that holds really large wire and is usually converted into a round table for the poor like me).I have reinforced it and it works great ,so IMO you don't need much room.p.s. firechicken,that is nice to know about the primers and that you have been doing it that way for so long.I might try setting something up outside in my cover-it garage

 

[JJB2]

what you described in your basement is about what i have to put my press on.... it's just a piece of plywood counter top attached to the wall with some very heavy shelf brackets i found...... i have all my dies and misc. stuff in a small drawer type tool box.. my bullets and such are kept in a free standing shelf set.. the whole thing takes up less than 7' by 3'by 4'........ and it has 2 single stage presses and a powder measure mounted on it! i did get a 4 lamp light bar with aimable lamps on it to hang on the wall over it so i have lots of light to work by....... the stool i load from is one of those computer knee stools and it fits under the loading bench..... it really don't take alot of room to make great ammo at home!!

 

[2400]

My only other option is to build a bench down in the basement near where I do all gun related work. The maximum size this could be is 19" deep by 4 to 5 feet long with some space for shelving above and below.

This sounds like the best option you have. I loaded many thousands of rounds for many years on a 3'X2' bench.

 

[Scorch]

I'll agree with 2400. 3'X2' is enough to set up a press and relaoding equipment. Not ideal, but plenty. Just remember to keep your bench uncluttered, otherwise it doesn't matter how big it is.

 

[El Paso Joe]

In one of my previous marriages, I had a bench in the bedroom (I still can't believe my chutzpah). Actually, I started reloading with a Lee Loader on a board on the kitchen table. Currently, I load on a bench in the basement that I bought from Lowes. I mounted a 2X4 on the wall with a ramset and screwed the top part of the bench to it. The bench has four drawers, a pegboard back, a top shelf, and a really large bottom shelf. It is set up in the furnace room which has a locking door. It works well year around. Oh, I do casting and other things that produce noxious fumes in a corner of the garage.

Of all the places in a lot of houses, apartments, etc where I have reloaded, the basement is the best. The important part is to have the bench be sturdy and secure, and be able to lock up the stuff when you are not using it.

 

[moredes]

In one of my previous marriages, I had a bench in the bedroom...

That's why it's called a 'previous' marriage ... or do you have the same set-up now, besides what's in the basement?

I live in Mississippi. My reloading stuff is all in a detached room off the garage. I work there anytime I want, and it was supposedly 99* today with the heat index when I loaded up 500 rounds. No insulation, but fairly well sealed (read that hot at summertime noons). I have A/C in there, but don't use it unless I'm moving around a lot. If I'm static at one place, like sitting at a reloading press, I have a fan blowing directly at me. It provides enough relief that I can work til I wanna quit. Obviously, it ain't balmy, but it's not intolerable, either. I use a small 4-inch Dayton Axial Fan (#4WT47 - 105 CFM - 115 VAC - 2900 RPM) that cost me ~$20 off EBay, I think. I have two of them set up, one in front of each reloading press. It doesn't bother my electronic scale, because I direct it right at me, and not at the scale; 105 CFM is actually quite comforting, and not so strong as to be distracting--it's not like sitting in front of a box fan.

http://bestbudsgreenhousesupplies.com/images/fa133infopic1.jpg

I store all my powder, primers, assembled bullets, magazines, gun parts, dies, and anything else I worry about that might rust, in 3 derelict refrigerators (the kind with the rubber seals, not the metal locking mechanism). I got them for free from Home Depot. HD removes old refrigerators for folks who've purchased new ones. I think they charge $10; I asked the HD manager if I could pay him for the derelicts and haul them off in my truck. He said I could have as many as I wanted; all I had to do was provide my own muscle and delivery.

As insurance, I bought a dehumidifier for $120. It runs more in the 6-8 weeks of peak summer than any other time of year. I have a roll-away tool chest, drill press, and other metal tools unprotected but in 3 years, I've not had any exposed tools rust, and the dehumidifier's set at less than "Normal" setting. I think the extra charge to my electric bill is probably $100-120/year, but most likely, that's the stereo next to the press that's soakin' up the juice. I could probably reduce the dehumidifier's use by half, but I don't have the nerve to test the humidity, and $120/year is a small price to pay to utilize a workroom area that's 450 sq ft and away from the house.

 

[BigJakeJ1s]

I use a hand press (Lee handheld for depriming, and Huntington Compac for everthing else), and do most of the steps from my easy chair, and the rest (dump powder and seat bullets) at the kitchen table. My whole setup stores away in a big rubbermaid tote when I'm not using it. Oh, yeah, I keep the tumbler in the garage...

Andy

 

[JJB2]

i just measured the top on my loading surface an it was only 36"by 18" so like i said it don't take much room!!.............

 

[Lurch37]

Thanks all

I just wanted to thank you all for the replys and advice. I have decided to reload downstairs for now. Even if funds allowed to spruce up the shed to where it was practical to use I have decided I'm too anal/paranoid/chicken to have that stuff outside in a shed.

Anyways, again thanks to all.

 

[skeeter1]

When I was reloading 12-gauge shotshells, I got an old kitchen table cheap (OK, free) and put it in the basement. Worked well, and you can't beat the price!

Now that I'm reloading brass, I like doing it at the kitchen counter (it's pretty big) with a Lee hand press. It's slow, but the TV is right near by, and I can socialize with the cats without being close to the litter boxes in the basement. I just don't like being in the basement.

 

[JJB2]

heheheh skeeter .... when i first got my first press it was bolted to an old door someone had nailed some legs on!!!!!! then i moved here and put up the piece of counter top... it worked on the old door too ......



LIFE IS SHORT..............

 

[gandog56]

"I use a hand press (Lee handheld for depriming, and Huntington Compac for everthing else), and do most of the steps from my easy chair, and the rest (dump powder and seat bullets) at the kitchen table. My whole setup stores away in a big rubbermaid tote when I'm not using it. Oh, yeah, I keep the tumbler in the garage..."


Don't work too good for 44 magnums unless you're Charles Atlas!

 

[castnblast]

I think 19" by 4-5ft is more than enough. I'd go in the basement.

 

[BigJakeJ1s]

I've never been mistaken for Charles Atlas, but 45 Colt is not a problem at all... The double handles and W linkage system of the Huntington provide a lot of leverage in a small package. Plus the dual guide rods (ala the Co-Ax) and the opposing forces from the linkage help make for a really accurate press.

It wasn't that bad on the Lee hand press either, though.

Andy

 

[cloudcroft]

I live in an apartment, so I wanted something small, sturdy, portable and fairly easy-to-move, not only when I pack up to move elsewhere, but also every time I want to use it and need to bring it out of its hiding place against the wall.

So I made (just finished it) what looks like a small workbench (something like 1/4 size of a full-size workbench more or less) especially for my reloading equipment. Am pleased with the final result as it meets all my requirements stated above...and to me, it looks good. It's a bit on the heavy side though but that's okay: Any reloading chore is not going to stress this pece of furniture whatsoever!

It took way too long to complete with all the waiting for many coats of polyurethane/paint to dry and epoxy to cure -- and time taken to fix my screwups -- but since I'm retired and HAVE the time, I can't really complain.

And except for having to buy quite a few lag screws, nuts/washers, some carriage bolts, shelf brackets, some dowells, polyurethane and a little paint, the wood itself was free since it came from construction site trash-piles I'd check out whenever I could drive by those places.

Finally, although I'm not an environmentalist/Green Peace type, recycling scrap ("trash") wood into something useful -- instead of just seeing it go to a landfill --seems to be a good thing in itself.

-- John D.

 

[chaplain john]

Breakdown Bench

I was pressed for space and needed something that would stash away easily so I used a piece of scrap 3/4 plywood cut to fit into the cuttingboard slot in the kitchen counter. I left it long enough that when it was all the way in the slot there was about eight inches sticking out. "My RCBS Rock Crusher" was bolted to the plywood. The Powder measure and the rest of my equipment sat on the counter. The press remained on the plywood and was stashed in the closet along with the proverbial plastic storage bin with the rest of the stuff, Only drawback was the wife couldn't cook while I was loading... more room and the new setup is much better!