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Posted: 1/17/2012 9:03:12 AM EDT
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I may be a bit over cautious here, but is it safe to have a stocked reloading bench, ham shack, and model rail road all in the same room? I assume if I follow all the safety procedures for each hobby I should be okay, but I worry about the potential of a lightning strike to my ham radio equipment to cause sparks to fly and catching fumes or dust in the air from the powder.
I of course plan to keep all powder in their original containers, ground all equipment, etc. Space is limited and so the hobbies are being limited to one room. |
| I should add that I would most likely only be doing one hobby at a time. I may listen to the scanner while I reload but I typically like to listen to music so I can focus on what I'm doing. So if I'm reloading, the radios and trains would be turned off. And if I'm talking on the radio, I wouldn't have anything open or out on the reloading bench. |
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Unless you've got a crazy rats nest of bare wires or shoddy connections hanging all over the room like a spider-web, or the stuff is all on one table together, I wouldn't worry about it.
If you think about all the folks who do bullet casting with a lead pot, cooking away at 600-900 degrees for hours at a time, (and fluxing with wax or sawdust, creating smoke and flames...) and never have a problem, that's a much more consistent and regular day-to day source of ignition for loose gunpowder etc, than a freak lightning strike would be. And the casting is generally going to be done right at the bench among the reloading gear. Not across the room. Just keep stuff stored in factory containers, neatly on a shelf or whatnot, and build a powder magazine box/cabinet and a primer one if you exceed the limit where you're required to have it. You'd really have to work at it to somehow have HAM gear or a model RR ignite a bunch of powder and primers. There really isn't much in the way of fumes or airborne dust when reloading. Honestly, I've been on gun forums before there was a web, (Usenet/rec.guns) and the worst powder accidents I've ever heard of were about vacuum cleaners going POOF! when someone tried to vac up an area that was just lousy with loose powder because they'd been reloading over carpet for months at a time. And even then, besides some dirt and smoke, and being rather embarassed, and needing clean underwear, nothing was really damaged beyond the vacuum cleaner bag. 
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I don't think you're in danger of ignition, but I don't know if static is an issue. If it is, or you just want to feel safer, get one of those large, grounded, anti-static mats that they use to assemble computers on, and use that to cover your bench. Some folks also ground their presses/powder measures, to keep static from making powder stick.
The anti-static mats are grounded, but also have enough resistance that the grounding doesn't cause arcs. |
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I know of a gun shop with its reloading supplies 6 ft from a wall mount gas heater that you can see the flame in lol...... it still here after 10-15 years i think your G2G There's a reloading shop in my town which even makes me wonder... It's in a building in a guy's back yard, not much bigger than a garage. They an unbelievable amount of powder and primers in there (more than any other gun store in the state), stacked on shelves that are so close that it's kind of tight even walking between them. No fire suppression. And... they run an automated casting machine inside, no ventilation or anything. |
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.... Some folks also ground their presses/powder measures, to keep static from making powder stick. ... Now that's not a bad idea. I've had a couple times when the powder would stick to the funnel. Wonder if this would help solve that problem. Yes, it will. It's just inconvenient sometimes. |
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I have no useful information other then the fact I have plenty of electronics around my relaoding and worry about static from the TV more then anything.
When I read your post I immedieatly pictured a model train laiden with cars full of gunpowder, speeding toward a pig tied up on the tracks, like a porky pig cartoon
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I dont think you will have any issues, but you better trade in all your ham radio equipment for Class 1 Zone 0 equipment.
In all seriousness, http://www.saami.org/specifications_and_information/publications/download/SAAMI_ITEM_200-Smokeless_Powder.pdf is a good read on storage of smokeless powder considerations. |
| Speaking of vacuum cleaners, I saw a guy once at the dealership where I worked try to remove gasoline from a fuel tank they dropped to replace the pump in with a wet/dry shop vac. You should of seen the flames come out the top of the vacuum when those fumes passed by the exposed brushes! They were over 8 feet... |
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The one serious reloading incident that I am aware of involved shotgun powder in a plastic container that melted upon direct contact with a hot light bulb (maybe a halogen bulb - I can't remember the details). The powder flashed and the shotgunner was badly burned and died some time later. Make sure your antennae are properly grounded and that you have spike protectors installed. Most of all, keep your powder away from flames and heat.
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Spoil9, Wow!!!! That is exactly what I have. Just recently bought a house with a 10X20 room behind the garage. Remodeled, rebuilt it and it has my 5X10 model railroad (HO), my ham radio gear, an IC7000, and my reloading bench. Since it is detached from the house, I use an electric heater for warm, window AC for cool. I do store primers and powder in the house. Ammo in the "man cave" along with the safe.
I am located in the Austin, TX area, so, mostly just need to keep cool. |
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Spoil9, Wow!!!! That is exactly what I have. Just recently bought a house with a 10X20 room behind the garage. Remodeled, rebuilt it and it has my 5X10 model railroad (HO), my ham radio gear, an IC7000, and my reloading bench. Since it is detached from the house, I use an electric heater for warm, window AC for cool. I do store primers and powder in the house. Ammo in the "man cave" along with the safe. I am located in the Austin, TX area, so, mostly just need to keep cool. Hahaha, I knew someone on here had to have had the same idea/ hobbies. I'd love to hear some feed back on anything you can offer. Interference, static, grounding, any tips you can offer for my future room set up? |
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If you're a responsible amateur, your rig should be no problem at all across the room from the reloading equipment same with th emodel railroad stuff. Keep your primers and powder put away when you're not using them, and all will be well.
I'm assuming that your antenna/antennas is/are outdoors here. Even an antenna for a low power rig that was inside the same room as the powder would be a bad idea, not because of RF energy as such, but because it could cause sparks in inconvenient places that were not all fully bonded and grounded. |
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