POST PHOTOS & INFO of your Loading Area - See Backstrap Bill's Loading Room!

[Two Flints]

Hi SSS,

How about posting some photos of your Loading Bench and Loading Area setup. 

I am looking for ideas on how to set up my loading room, which will be located in the upstairs floor of my garage.  All I have so far is a very solid loading bench.  But everything is located in Maine, while here I sit in Massachusetts broken hearted so far away from my home in Maine!

Also, which press(es) do you own? and well, what components (BP & Smokeless) do you use in loading your 56-50, .45 Schofield, or .44 Russian ammo. 

Your ideas would be appreciated.

Two Flints

[Two Flints]

Backstrap Bill sent me the following information on his Loading Setup at home.  The photos and description come from Backstrap Bill.  Bill many, many thanks for your time and effort!  Two Flints


Hello SSS,

Well, here is the layout.   
This is the result of 3 decades of loading experience, and accumulation.  We moved into this house in 1995.

My Loading room is located in the basement.  There is a room under the stairway which holds all of the loaded ammunition.

In the garage, I have set up a ventilated casting station so I can cast bullets all winter long.  The ventilation system uses a discarded kitchen range hood and took advantage of a wood stove chimney installed by the previous home owner.  When we converted the kitchen stove over t natural gas, I used the freed-up 220 circuit to wire the casting station & to power a gas furnace installed to heat the garage.  Let me know if you want pictures of the casting station.

In this first photo:


This is the view from the doorway to my play room.
From the left:  the main reloading & project table, large corner cabinet used to store brass of various types with shotshell components on top of the cabinet, then there is a gun safe and my original loading bench which is now used to lubrisize bullets and store other components.


The original bench has a machinist's cabinet as the base.  I picked it up at a sale for $20.  The bench top is doubled 3/4" CD plywood that is glued & screwed together.  The surface of the table is pressed board, or as we called it in the old days, "hardboard".  The shelve unit on the back can be removed for moving.  There are 2 60 watt light fixtures to give good shadow-free light when inspecting bullets & working the lubrisizer.  I hung a plug strip on the side.  Hanging on the right side of the shelf unit is a Dustbuster, a very handy tool.  1000 bullet boxes are stored under the base.  The locking cabinet on the right side had 2 shelves on slides, it is used to store primers.  I have 4 lubrisizers I can mount via t-nuts, each has a different lube: home-made black powder, SPG, Javelina Alox, and Blue Rooster hard.  There is a heater base unit under the lubrisizers for melting the hard lube.


The big white donut at the top of the picture is a magnifying lens/light fixture.  A handy tool to have on the bench.


This is the main bench.  It is set up as an island, accessible from all four sides.  The bases are machinist's cabinets, two of them screwed together back to back.  The top is the same doubled 3/4 inch CD & hardboard.  The trim is installed 1/4 inch above the working surface to prevent things from rolling onto the floor.  The presses are mounted on 1/4" hardboard bases to bring them flush with the top of the trim.  Bench top measures 42" x 52".  3 presses are permanently mounted, a Dillon Square Deal B (left), Dillon 550 (center front), RCBS Rock Chucker (back side behind the red coffee can).  The right side has t-nuts installed through the underside to allow shotgun presses to be mounted as needed, shown is a MEC Grabber 12 gauge.  I also have a MEC Jr. for 16 gauge that stores on the floor (right side in background).  When shotshell presses are dismounted, the bench top is free for gunsmithing projects.  The work light is a free standing unit that I can move around to provide good light on any project or press.


Presses on the long-sides are mounted so they are between the two sets of drawers, allowing access to all the storage when the presses are in use.  Note the tools hanging on the end of the table.  Overhang of the table top is 4" on each side, there is no give when working the presses thanks to the doubled screwed-glued 3x4" plywood under layment.  All  All of the dies, toolheads, powder measures, etc., are stored in the table.  Under the table are the extra lubrisizers, stored on a piece of hardboard.  Note that the 550 press does not have a powder measure mounted on it.  That's because I have been loading black powder ammo for which I use a Lyman 55 powder measure that attaches to the table top with c-clamps & is on a bracket tall enough to allow use of a 24" drop tube above the table; sorry I didn't take a picture of the Lyman 55 & its bracket.


If you look closely at the Rock Chucker, you can see the 1/4" hardboard base.  I find the new Folgers plastic coffee cans handy when working with black powder brass.  The cans don't rust after being used with still-wet, just-washed brass.

When I get rich, I am going to replace this old warhorse with the ambidextrous model.  I get tendonitis from working the lever a lot.  I still use the single-stage press for all my match-grade black powder ammunition, and for 50 cal (56-50 Spencer, etc.) because the Dillon presses do not accommodate the 50 cal. case heads.


Closeup of the Square Deal B.  This press was purchased in 1986, had loaded countless thousands of rounds, and is still going strong.

Each press is disassembled, cleaned, and greased every year.


Detail of table top & machinist's cabinet bases.

There is 3x4 inch oak planking under the table legs to keep them from rusting and/or staining that great red carpet (came with the house, what can I say).

Well, that's the tour.  Write if you have any questions.  Now add your own reloading setup here!

Happy New Year,

Bill