The Reloading Room

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I just finished completing the benches for my reloading room. They are 22" deep, 36" high, and each bench is 8' long for a total of 16' of bench length.

The bench that has all the stuff on it now will be the bench for the reloading presses. My Ponsness Warren 800+ is arriving tomorrow, I'm ordering a Dillon Super 1050 in 2-3 weeks and my trusty Rock Chucker will be mounted on that bench also. The bench that is empty of clutter as of now will be used strictly for brass prep, I've outgrown my Frankford Arsenal tumbler and I'm placing an order for a Dillon CV-2001 in the morning along with the large dillon media seperator.

The space on the bottom of the benches will have 3/4" thick plywood to act as a shelf. I just have to rip the 8'x4' sheet of plywood down tomorrow. I use VCT tile for the top of the benches because they are extremely durable and easily replaceable if they get too dinged up.


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So am I missing anything that I should add before I get everything all set up?
 
It helps things a whole lot to lag the bench into the wall. When you yank down on the press handle things wont move all over the place. Great pictures, thanks for posting.
 
It helps things a whole lot to lag the bench into the wall. When you yank down on the press handle things wont move all over the place. Great pictures, thanks for posting.

The one bench is against the wall but I rent a condo until this spring and can't anchor anything into the wall. As soon as I get a house this spring I'm building a dedicated reloading/gun room in it and will have everything anchored down.

Now I just want the PW to arrive tomorrow and get onto ordering the super 1050 in the next couple of weeks.
 
The one bench is against the wall but I rent a condo until this spring and can't anchor anything into the wall. As soon as I get a house this spring I'm building a dedicated reloading/gun room in it and will have everything anchored down.

Now I just want the PW to arrive tomorrow and get onto ordering the super 1050 in the next couple of weeks.
Lots of weight on the bottom shelf might be your option. Looks like you will have to load allot of ammo. [smile]
 
Lots of weight on the bottom shelf might be your option. Looks like you will have to load allot of ammo. [smile]

Right now I'm shooting about 12-15K of 12ga per year and this will probably jump to between 20-30K/year within the next year or so. I have about 10-15K of .223/5.56 brass that needs to be reloaded so the Dillon Super 1050 will work quite nicely.
 
So where are the pallets of shot bags? [laugh]

-Mike

Actually I'm working on quite a large purchase of shot but I'm going to wait until shot is back to the low $20s or so before I buy. I would like to pickup at least 25-35 bags of it.
 
Wow, you found room for that in a condo? Nice work! (Clearly your priorities are in order.)

Just keep all the lead on the bottom shelf and it won't go anywhere. (Except for maybe through the floor.)

If you want to unload that tumbler you've outgrown, I was thinking about buying one from Midway anyway (they're on sale right now); PM me if you want to talk?
 
Wow, you found room for that in a condo? Nice work! (Clearly your priorities are in order.)

Just keep all the lead on the bottom shelf and it won't go anywhere. (Except for maybe through the floor.)

If you want to unload that tumbler you've outgrown, I was thinking about buying one from Midway anyway (they're on sale right now); PM me if you want to talk?

I'd sell you my tumbler but the switch went on it so I bought a 3 prong plug and attached it to the cord so now when its plugged in its always on and to turn it off you have to unplug it. I will say though that the F/A tumbler is great, I've done probable 20K or more round with it in the past year, many times for 2-3 days straight, and the thing keeps running. They're a great value for the price. I'll still be keeping it for small loads of pistol brass.
 
I'd sell you my tumbler but the switch went on it so I bought a 3 prong plug and attached it to the cord so now when its plugged in its always on and to turn it off you have to unplug it. I will say though that the F/A tumbler is great, I've done probable 20K or more round with it in the past year, many times for 2-3 days straight, and the thing keeps running. They're a great value for the price. I'll still be keeping it for small loads of pistol brass.

* Actually I still live at home and after I told my Dad I was going to turn my bedroom into my reloading room he told me to move out because he was afraid I was going to blow the neighborhood up with gun powder, primers, etc. So I was able to talk him into turning the garage over to me for my reloading activities. Now I have a decent sized place to store reloading supplies and do my work.
 
Be sure to have some way of preventing the tumbler from crashing to the floor if left unattended while running. I have not done it yet but others I know have. Quite the setup. Mine will be this winter I hope.
 
if you've got access to lead, and really go through that much 12ga....invest in a shotmaker.

Magmaengineering.com -- check out the Littleton Shot Maker. its ~ $400, and with even a reasonable supply of lead, could cut your costs DRAMATICALLY.
 
What I noticed is that you may have problems mounting a press (or presses). Most presses need clearance under the bench for travel when you pull the arm down. Unless you use a Dillon strong mount then you may find that you need to cut a slot into the 2x4 to allow for the travel. Try placing a press on there to check before you finish up.
 
Be sure to have some good ventilation for that tumbler. Its best to do that task away from where you load. (Mine is in garage and my loading room is in basement) Your biggest exposure to lead will be the dust from tumbling. My.02

Nice bench!
 
if you've got access to lead, and really go through that much 12ga....invest in a shotmaker.

Magmaengineering.com -- check out the Littleton Shot Maker. its ~ $400, and with even a reasonable supply of lead, could cut your costs DRAMATICALLY.

I've considered that but I question the quality of DIY shot.
 
I've considered that but I question the quality of DIY shot.

how do you think the big guys make lead shot? there arent a whole lot of ways to make tiny little lead spheres (they sure as hell arent using molds)

if you have access to the lead, your only real expense would be graphite (to lube the shot)
 
how do you think the big guys make lead shot? there arent a whole lot of ways to make tiny little lead spheres (they sure as hell arent using molds)

if you have access to the lead, your only real expense would be graphite (to lube the shot)

I've heard people that say DIY shot isn't as round as factory shot, etc. I wish I could try before I buy something like that before I drop $400+ on it. I'll have to see if anyone at my gun club has one.
 
What I noticed is that you may have problems mounting a press (or presses). Most presses need clearance under the bench for travel when you pull the arm down. Unless you use a Dillon strong mount then you may find that you need to cut a slot into the 2x4 to allow for the travel. Try placing a press on there to check before you finish up.

Very good point! I found that out the hard way ( and ceiling height issues ) when I got my 650. Fortunatly the presses he has require no clearance.
 
I've heard people that say DIY shot isn't as round as factory shot, etc. I wish I could try before I buy something like that before I drop $400+ on it. I'll have to see if anyone at my gun club has one.


that's why they recommend having the shot drop into a dish filled with All (laundry detergent). i honestly have no idea why they suggest laundry detergent, but it does have something to do with making the shot as perfectly round as possible.

if you watch the video on youtube that was posted above...it does appear that it is dropping into a container full of soap-ish liquid.
 
how do you think the big guys make lead shot? there arent a whole lot of ways to make tiny little lead spheres (they sure as hell arent using molds)

if you have access to the lead, your only real expense would be graphite (to lube the shot)

Factory shot is dropped in tall "towers" into liquid. The idea being that the shot is hard before quenching and becomes "rounder" as it falls. The shot from home shot makers tends to be slightly teardrop shaped. Also, arsenic is added to the shot alloy for 2 reasons. One, it slightly slows the hardening of the drops, giving the spheres more time to become round before quenching. Two, it helps make the alloy a little harder.

Don't know about you but somehow the potential of turning arsenic into a gas makes me a little leary
 
I have looked into DIY shot making, but a new baby and down to <5k rounds a year has me just buying it or exchangeing lead ignots for home made shot @ about 40/60
. I have not been able to get the home brewers to exchange since lead dropped in price.
If you do get a shot maker get jim stewarts better shot maker. Its another task you really need time for. Just finding lead cheap or free them smelting it down into ignots is a task in itsself. I gave away my large smelter and now just do a few batches here and there on a turkey frier burner. I think modern shot is now made from extrussion then tumble to round out. The use of Anti freeze or deturgent or other types of coolant is to cool the shot and slow the shot down a bit as it falls through the solutions. The use of water creats a popcorn like effect.
http://www.trapshooters.com/cfpages/sthread.cfm?threadid=199139#468028

http://www.trapshooters.com/noframes/cfpages/thread_archive.cfm?threadID=163681

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