I have the best aunt (and uncle) on the planet

AllaSnackbah

NES Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2009
Messages
8,245
Likes
11,342
Feedback: 2 / 0 / 0
My uncle, who was more of a second father to me than an uncle, passed away in 2004 of pancreatic cancer. I was still in highschool at the time. He was great, a constitutional libertarian and shooter/prepper, he taught me a lot about guns and politics when i was young. When i turned 21 and got my pistol permit, my aunt gave me his GP100 .357 mag, and a brand new Glock that was his. I never knew he had the Glock, but looking at the receipt i realized that he had bought several days after he had found out he was terminally ill. She said it was to give to me when i got old enough. So yeah, he was a pretty great guy.

Fast forward to the past few weeks, my aunt and i were talking and she mentioned that she had some reloading equipment and a work bench that my uncle built that i could take for my house if i wanted. So yesterday i went over and picked it up.

Well a work bench and some reloading equipment turned into an "arsenal" of stuff. She gave me a massive tupperware full of ammuntion, i havent counted it all yet but there is 1000+ rounds of 9mm hollow points, a ton of 45 ACP, 223, 38, 357 mag, and .380. Reloading equipment including probably 10 dies for 308, 223, 9mm, 45, case trimmers, a redding single stage press and thousands of good quality 9mm, 308, 223, and 45 bullets. Tons and tons of stuff I still havent gotten to the bottom of it all yet.

The best thing she gave me though is this work bench it is pretty cool, and since my uncle built it it means a lot to me.





now i need to get into reloading, the press was out in the barn and is in pretty rough shape so i might have to get a different press, was thinking of getting a progressive one anyways. Are dies pretty much compatible across press manufacturers? I think most of the ones i have are RCBS or Redding. Ill be posting a bit more in the reloading section i just wanted to share.
 
That bench is a beast. Every time you use it you will think of them.

it weighs about 400lbs haha. its wild though it is completely modular, the top pops right off and the bottom disassembles quickly with a few dowel pins. I will definitely think of my uncle every time i use it which makes it awesome to have.
 
Nice timber frame lower cross brace with mortice and tenon joinery.. That will last a lifetime (the bullets and powder, not so much [grin]).
 
awesome bench and story

take some more pictures of how you found it all for yourself in the future.

I have a bunch of tools from my grandfathers and as time passes I find myself confused as to where some stuff came from. being a tool junkie doesn't help--I'm always bringing old stuff home. I know now you think you'd never forget what is what but decades forward, you'll be happy you have some photos of this moment and how you found it.

also, I keep some old stuff, like the vintage boxes, intact and just put it on the shelf out of sentiment but most stuff I USE as my grandfathers did. enjoy it.
 
Have you done any reloading? I just took a reloading coarse presented by EddieCoyle (found on NES) and thought it was a great class. I am in the process of slowly buying reloading stuff now.
 
great story...family stuff always means so much more.....that thing looks like you could park a VW Beatle on it haha
 
Back
Top Bottom