Where do you reload?

Johnny Cicero · December 19, 2009, 11:22:30 AM

Hey all,

While I'm getting snowed in here in Maryland, I thought I'd take some time and ask you folks a reloading question. Where do you reload. I assume most do it in a garage or the basement, but living in a townhouse, I don't have a garage and my basement doesn't really have room for a small bench (finished with only small unfinished laundry area).

I'm thinking about putting the gear in an upstairs spare bedroom. Anyone see any hazards with that? Static from carpet an issue? Anything else that I should be aware of?

Thanks,
Jason

Pitmaster · December 19, 2009, 12:19:16 PM

I load in the basement and it works for me. I have a nice workshop that I converted into a 2nd Amendment room.

My wife doesn't want a basement in our next house so I'll use an extra bedroom. I don't see any problem. Given a choice I would prefer a hardwood floor. I wouldn't be too concerned about static electricity. Although having a fire extinguisher in the room wouldn't hurt. Of course a fire extinguisher should be in any reloading area.

Curley Cole · December 19, 2009, 04:53:40 PM

Never seemed to have the space open to load in garage, so I put my loaders on a 2x12 bolted to a folding sawhorse. Most of the time I load in the living room, keep an old towel under and if you look close in the pix you can see the tv on in the background.

Wife don't mind, as we are together...and she usually makes a bigger mess than I ever do...

Just don't let stuff distract you from the important parts, lilke powder chargin etc.

I done it this way for goin on 25 years.

good shootin
curley

Johnny Cicero · December 19, 2009, 05:06:07 PM

Quote from: Curley Cole on December 19, 2009, 04:53:40 PM

Never seemed to have the space open to load in garage, so I put my loaders on a 2x12 bolted to a folding sawhorse. Most of the time I load in the living room, keep an old towel under and if you look close in the pix you can see the tv on in the background.

Wife don't mind, as we are together...and she usually makes a bigger mess than I ever do...

Just don't let stuff distract you from the important parts, lilke powder chargin etc.

I done it this way for goin on 25 years.

good shootin
curley

Nice solution. Something else for me to consider. Thanks for sharing!

-J. Cicero

Johnny McCrae · December 20, 2009, 12:50:12 AM

Howdy JC,

I use an upstairs bedroom for an office and also do my reloading there. Space is limited so I made a reloading bench out of an old drafting table. I also use the reloading bench as a gun cleaning station. My tumbling and cleaning is done in the garage.

Jefro · December 20, 2009, 06:24:30 AM

I reload in the garage now that I have one, but before I used the dining/office room. I was crammed in between a copy machine and a set of file cabinets. I used a little typewriter table with a fold up leaf, reinforced the leaf with some brackets and added apeice of 3/4'' plywood on top. Started out with a Lee Classic Turret and Mec Jr 650, later got a Hornady LNL progessive and a Mec Grabber. Drilled holes in the top to match each press, now they are all mounted on a peice of 1'' wood. You don't need alota space to produce a bunch of ammo. Good Luck.

Original Setup
With Progressives

Garage Setup
More Garage
Lee Auto Disk on Hornady LNL

Jefro

Johnny McCrae · December 20, 2009, 07:09:05 AM

Jethro is right. You don't need lots of space to produce a bunch of ammo. My entire loading area fits into a 24" x 60" space.

Adirondack Jack · December 20, 2009, 12:24:06 PM

When we were apartment dwellers, my whole outfit was inside a 32X16X 6ft high cabinet that when closed, folks assumed was a linen closet.

I just doubled up the shelves where the presses mounted, secured em with some cleats screwed to the sides, and anchored the whole deal with a discrete coathanger screwed into the side of a nearby door frame and to the corner of the cabinet top. it worked fine.

Buffalow Red · December 20, 2009, 05:36:08 PM

i built a 8'x14' shead with a/c & ele heat for reloading & gun stuff my wife calls it the man cave

Bitter Creek Jack · December 21, 2009, 09:54:20 AM

When I first started reloading I used an old coffee table. It was well made and square so I could mount a press on one side then turn it for the next press. I could easly put it out of the way.

As cold as it has been the last few days I wish I still had it so I won't have to freeze my butt off in the garage this winter.

Fingers McGee · December 21, 2009, 12:42:02 PM

I use a spare bedroom upstairs as my 'Gun Room'. Safes are in the closet, reloading and cleaning is done at a Craftsman workbench with drawers on one side for cleaning equipment, wads, belts/holsters, gunsmithing tools; the other side has shelves for storage of brass & bullets, and 2" high drawers to hold some of the C&B revolvers. On the wall there are a couple 36" wide wall cabinets. One holds reloading dies, primers, manuals, and other supplies, other holds books, C&B supplies (caps, flasks, balls, etc), and some old 12 ga reloading tools.

Reloading presses are mountes on 2x12s so they can be C-clamped to the workbench top when needed. Have a Hornady L-N-L; RCBS Rock Chucker; 2 MEC shotgun loaders; and A Lee Loader II 12 GA press mounted that way. When not in use, they're stored on top of a bookcase, or in the closet out of the way.

Had vinyl flooring put down when house was bulit so it would be easy to keep cleen. On one wall is a hat/coat rack that I use to hang gun belts, holsters, spurs, hats and other CAS items.

Also have a desk and a couple bookcase to hold magazines, books, and papers.

Adirondack Jack · December 24, 2009, 03:48:46 PM

Quote from: Buffalow Red on December 20, 2009, 05:36:08 PM
i built a 8'x14' shead with a/c & ele heat for reloading & gun stuff my wife calls it the man cave

When we moved, I bought a 12X16 shed, insulated and sheetrocked it, built a wood-fired masonary heater, and it became "sanctum sanctorum", including a laptop, my reloading gear, etc....

pony express · December 25, 2009, 01:36:03 PM

I've seen Fingers' setup once, and it's nice!

I don't have anything so organised though. Just the kitchen table and a homemade press stand, an old metal kitchen table base, the kind with one metal pipe post, with four feet at the bottom, with a short piece of 2X6 bolted to the top, with holes for the press. I got the idea from the portable base that Midway sells. Still using the Lyman Spartain press I bought 35 years ago..

Now that there's a baby in the house, I'll need to find that "Roundtuit" I lost so many years ago, and remodel the tool shed behind the house, to keep all the "smaller than bite sized" components out of her reach.

Wilfred Aubrey · December 29, 2009, 12:37:37 PM

When I was married to my first wife we lived in a two bedroom town house. We had one of those 6-8 wide closets with the sliding doors. I was able to set up a Sear's work bench and keep my gun safe in there too. The closet was in the spare bed room and as long as you kept the doors closed when not in use nobody who came to visit even knew it was there.

long ranger rick · December 30, 2009, 10:58:17 AM

I have a work shop behind the house that is dedicated to reloading. The wife and I both shoot, and where we live you can do that every weekend. So not wanting to spend all my time reloading, (i.e. TV time) the wife has been good enough to line my reloading benches with Dillon products!

Also on the static electricity thing, I tend to ground my machines, but thats just a carry over thing from work. Not much danger with propellants or percussion caps.

delmar · December 30, 2009, 05:01:35 PM

Quote from: Johnny Cicero on December 19, 2009, 11:22:30 AM

Where do you reload?

In my armory, where else? The people who owned my house before me had a day care center, that they built a large room addition for. It is too big to heat all the time, so I put a wood stove in the corner and use it for my workshop/armory. My wife helps me clean it up, from time to time, when we has people over, but it works out really well.