Reloading in the basement

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00-Guy

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Recently, my shop in the (unheated) garage flooded and the water froze to a depth of .5 inches. Since the temps here in Maryland have hovered at or below freezing for a bit, the ice isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Now I need to reload. (I did mention that my reloading bench is in the aforementioned indoor ice rink/garage?)

I have space in the basement for a temporary bench. The dilmena is that my oil furnace is also there. The area being looked at is about 15 feet and around the corner from the furnace. I recognize that powder is not as flammable as gasoline. But am I tempting fate by temporarily using the basement for reloading?

This is the part that concerns me. From the NRMA pages on the Basics of Reloading

7. Set up your reloading bench where powder and primers will not be exposed to heat, sparks or flame.


00-Guy
 
I don't see a problem with fire but I will tell you that dampness will effect
the quality of powder or ammo stored in a damp basement.
 
Actually the powder and primers are stored in yet another out building on the property in a cool dry location. (Without enough space for a reloading bench!)
 
With that said I cannot see 15ft from furnace causing any problems, powder burns slow unless contained. I know I would not worry if all is as you explained.
 
Sparks, Flame

I don't imagine there are any sparks or flame from your furnace otherwise you would not consider being down there. The only problems I see are cold hands and feet.
 
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Yet another reason to bolt the press to a board and clamp the board to a bench where ever you want to load; the range, the basement, or the upstairs.
 
I got moved to the basement about one month ago when my oldest child moved back home. 2nd floor to the basement lickety split.
I'm right next to the furnace also. Heck, I'm right next to the oil tank. I have a barrier between me and the tank, and I have the primers/powder as far from the furnace as possible. Probably not the best place, but it's nice and quiet down there.
 
15 ft from the furnace isn't a problem. I reloaded about 10 ft from a natural gas furnace for about 25 years until we moved a few years ago. Unless you get all crazy-go-wild and start flinging powder around the room, it shouldn't even come near the furnace.
 
For 15 years, I did my reloading in an unheated room attached to the back of our house. To keep this icebox warm enough in the winter, I employed both a wood-burning barrel stove about 15 feet away, and a kerosene heater much closer than that. While this was a far from ideal situation, I managed to survive and suffered nothing untoward all those years...but I was careful.
 
My dillon 550b is roughly 10 feet away from the central natural gas furnace, 6 or 7 feet away from a NG clothes dryer.
Luckily, less than 5 feet away, an electric hot water heater.
 
Portable Bench

I like to reload while watching TV in the living room with a C-Tool and powder measure mounted on a small Black & Decker folding work table topped by a 3/4" piece of plywood (like to keep my hands busy while watching TV!). The powder scale goes on an adjacent small table to keep it from being jarred. My main reloading bench is in a shed, but this is fine for small batches. Reloading powder, primers, and loaded ammo need to be stored where it is always cool and dry...good for the dies and manuals, also. An old disconnected refrigerator is nice...
 
I like to reload while watching TV
Click to expand...
Distractions while reloading can prove disastrous. Not just personal opinion, every reloading text I've read stresses this point.

Back to the topic: I reload in the basment laundry room furnace, hot water heater are all less than 10 feet away. Keep your workspace clean and there shouldn't be a problem.
 
I wouldn't have a problem reloading next to the furnace -- but I WOULD get everything out of the garage, including dies, presses, and so on. When that ice melts, it's going to be very humid in there for a while, and you can look for a lot of rust and corrosion on anything you leave in there.
 
If you have sparks coming out of an oil furnace, you have far greater problems than reloading near it. If anybody told me I had to load in a garage, or anywhere outside, I'd laugh until it hurt. Load in your basement and stop worrying about it.
 
I'm also 10' from a natural gas furnace. Thought twice about it when I first set up back there but I didn't have anywhere else to reload. No problems.
 
Clark is right

I have presses mounted to steel plates and am able to move them off the bench to another room when needed. That's why I reload. Sometimes I need ammo and the store isn't feasable.:D
 
Distractions while reloading can prove disastrous. Not just personal opinion, every reloading text I've read stresses this point.
Click to expand...

Handloading can be exacting and it can be repititious boring.

I like to have a radio within reach when handloading.
I turn Rush off when I am calculating a seating depth, but the radio is where my mind is at when I am on a run of 1000 rounds in a single stage press.
 
You have to separate the boring and repititous parts from those which require great care. Basically, inspecting cases, charging, and sometimes priming cases (depending on how you do it) are the parts where attention is required.

On the other hand, you can let your mind wander while standing there running a thousand cases through the sizing die.
 
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