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Posted: 11/29/2008 9:26:46 AM EDT
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I am finally going to get setup to start reloading. I'm going to start with a basic single stage press then look at getting a Dillion progressive press in the future.
How much room do you guys recommend for a reloading area? What kind of table or bench should I look at buying or making? Space is going to be pretty limited so I need the space I have to be as efficient as possible. |
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I'm pretty happy with my set up on a Kobalt Work Bench
With the 550B on the left and the RCIV on the right I have plenty of room to do all my loading. Now I just need to get another area to do all my gun cleaning/work. 
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I modified an old oak desk that my kids used when they were young. I added a 2'x6' 1" thick pine top for extra thickness, tacked on a ⅛" thick Masonite top for a smooth, hard surface, and mounted my press. I've loaded over 100K rounds on it and as you can see by mine and the one above, you don't need a huge area if you keep it well organized.
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| I just built a reloading bench with dimensions of 28" tall x 40" long x 18" deep. It's built out of 2"x4"s and a melamine (that might not be spelled right) board for the top. I still need to screw it into the wall for that extra support while using the press. But it works great and fits perfectly in the area it was designed for. Total cost for supplies from home depot was $28, this even included them cutting all the pieces for me... |
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Quoted:
I modified an old oak desk that my kids used when they were young. I added a 2'x6' 1" thick pine top for extra thickness, tacked on a ⅛" thick Masonite top for a smooth, hard surface, and mounted my press. I've loaded over 100K rounds on it and as you can see by mine and the one above, you don't need a huge area if you keep it well organized. This is probably most key. It was thanks to COSteve's setup that my wife allowed me to go ahead and get my reloading stuff. (Thanks, Steve) 
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Quoted:
My pleasure. That's why my space is so clean. The wife said yes to it in our finished basement as long as I kept it up. Her exact words were, "It's clean or it's gone!!" After 35yrs of marriage, I said, "Yes dear." and its been clean like this for 7 years.Quoted:
I modified an old oak desk that my kids used when they were young. I added a 2'x6' 1" thick pine top for extra thickness, tacked on a ⅛" thick Masonite top for a smooth, hard surface, and mounted my press. I've loaded over 100K rounds on it and as you can see by mine and the one above, you don't need a huge area if you keep it well organized. This is probably most key. It was thanks to COSteve's setup that my wife allowed me to go ahead and get my reloading stuff. (Thanks, Steve)  Quoted:
I can't resist...you mean this one, right?
I love the picture of COSteve's brass in the pretzel jars! 
BTW, the .223 jugs hold 1,600cases, the 45acp jugs hold 2,000cases, the 40sw jugs hold 2,500cases, the 10mm jugs hold 2,200cases, and the 30carbine jugs hold 2,000 cases. 
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If you look closely, you'll see that the right hand lower jug is also .223 so I have 6 full jugs and one ⅔ full for a total of ≈ 10,600 empty cases. I also have over 3,500 rounds of reloaded .223 on hand besides the cases shown so I have over 14,000 .223 cases in my stock. The 12,500 40sw cases shown don’t include the 4,000 rds and the 10,000 45acp cases don’t include the 3,500 rds I’ve got on hand already loaded. In addition to the empty cases shown, I’ve also got 2,000 rds of 30 carbine and 1,100 rds of 10mm loaded.
I've collected many, many more .223 cases than that (over 11K in the last year alone), however, most have been F-C cases and I trade them to a local house for reloading components. For instance, a few months ago I traded 6K F-C cases for 15K of Win primers; 10K of Small Rifle and 5K of Small Pistol which were worth $421 at that time. As the brass was courtesy of the Denver SWAT team’s practice for the DNC last August, I feel that I’ve done very well with my brass stock. I've also got a gallon Zip Lock baggies of pistol cases for calibers I don't currently have weapons for such as .38Spl, .357Mag, 44Mag, and 45LC and hundreds of .308, 30-06, and 8mm rifle cases. I use them primarily for trading. Persistence, patience, and lots of good luck have paid off handsomely for me over the years. And............Don't get me started on my bullet collection! The white and brown boxes under my desk are just a bit of my collection. Most of them are in a storage room out of the picture on the right. I've always been of the mind to stock up on non-perishable items and I've been lucky and placed orders during some very large competitively bid bullet buys our club did a number of years ago (upwards of 200K bullets per order). Buying by the pallet load with truck freight rates is much cheaper. In addition, I buy heavy when I find some great sales (e.g. 6 yrs ago I got 25K of Rainier 180grn 40/10mm bullets for $31/K and 10K of 110grn 30carb. for $19/K delivered!). All told, I still have over 83K of 5 calibers of bullets (.223, 30carb., 40/10mm, and 45) in my remaining stock. I'm currently working on a bit of trading for a couple of more kegs of powder and when completed, I'm set for the duration. |
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