Show us a picture of your reloading bench - Page 3

LAH · October 15, 2006, 03:57 PM

Redneck I love that desk/bench.

44/45 the local gunshop has a Tru-Line Jr. for sale.

44and45 · October 15, 2006, 06:41 PM

Well, recomend the Dillon for handgun flake powder, or extruded rifle powder, does a good job with its metering slide bar.

The Lyman Tru-line Jr. uses only small 5/8X30 threaded 310 dies. These little dies can be used with a Lyman tong tool that slightly resembles a nut cracker.

However, and this is pretty weird, the little 310 seating die does a beautiful job on roll crimping my big bore handgun brass.

Even with a tong tool, a guy can crank out (slowly) excellent ammunition.

Jim

Liberty4Ever · October 15, 2006, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Even with a tong tool, a guy can crank out (slowly) excellent ammunition.

Lee Precision makes a big deal about some pretty amazing shooting (even by today's standards) that won a major shooting competition, and the ammo was manufactured using a Lee Loader, which is a very simple aparatus that started the home reloading market in the 1950s. The entire Lee Loader was very inexpensive and shipped in a cardboard storage box not much bigger than a deck of cards. I believe the customer did request a slight modification to the die, though, to increase accuracy a bit. The Lee Loader didn't use a press at all. Instead, a hammer was used! It was noisy, but effective. Hard to believe such precise ammo was made by hammering on it.

JDGray · October 15, 2006, 07:22 PM

Heres my reloading desks

caz223 · October 15, 2006, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Lee Precision makes a big deal about some pretty amazing shooting (even by today's standards) that won a major shooting competition, and the ammo was manufactured using a Lee Loader, which is a very simple aparatus that started the home reloading market in the 1950s. The entire Lee Loader was very inexpensive and shipped in a cardboard storage box not much bigger than a deck of cards. I believe the customer did request a slight modification to the die, though, to increase accuracy a bit. The Lee Loader didn't use a press at all. Instead, a hammer was used! It was noisy, but effective. Hard to believe such precise ammo was made by hammering on it.

After using a lee loader for a few years, there's nothing about that I don't believe.
The leel loader makes great ammo, esp in the magnum calibers.
The .41 mag ammo it was was every bit as good as any cranked off in any press, using any dies, provided the components are good.
The accuracy mostly has to do with how the case is sized. (Neck size.)
Neck sizing in combination with using the brass in one gun over and over fireforms the ammo to your gun's chamber, making that accuracy possible.

cloudcroft · October 16, 2006, 01:16 AM

Redneck,

Many years ago, I used a Lee Auto Disk powder measure (standard version) and it worked fine.

Recently, when I got back into reloading, I had read that the Lee PRO auto-disk powder measure worked better due to the teflon coating that the standard auto-disk doesn't have (and I guess the elastomer wiper on it is better, too). Also, I got the adjustable powder charging bar for it so I do not use the fixed powder disks...it also works fine.

-- John D.

Redneck with a 40 · October 16, 2006, 01:58 AM

Personally, I'm ok with loading 50 rounds/hour, I'm getting very accurate and consistent ammo. Plus I like being intimate with the reloading process.

Yeah it takes awhile, but I enjoy the time spent doing it. Just this week alone, reloading 1 hour a day, I''ve loaded 400 rounds of ammo. Since I only shoot 50 rounds/week, this is sufficient. I'll stick to my current method, the accuracy I'm getting is awesome.

Liberty4Ever · October 16, 2006, 11:32 AM

If you enjoy 50 rounds per hour, more power to you. I agree, if you enjoy doing it, it's time well spent. I can sympathize with not wanting to mess with the primer feed on progressive presses. That seems to be the biggest problem with Lee progressive presses, and it can flat take all the fun out of it.

But I like fiddling with machines. I also like to shoot a lot. I reload 200-400 rounds an hour, and I shoot 200-400 rounds of 10mm when I go to the range. Lately I've been reloading 9mm to shoot in the Kel-Tec SUB-2000 9mm folding carbine, and it's a hungry little beast. It's so much fun to shoot that I seldom get away before firing 300 rounds, not to mention the ammo expended taking friends along to introduce them to shooting.

The differences in our reloading habits demonstrates the wide range of interests reflected in reloading. Soon, I hope to have a very accurate long range high caliber rifle. Then, I expect to enjoy slow and careful hand crafting of fire formed ammo for maximum accuracy, which is very different from sitting down to make a lot of high quality pistol plinking ammo.

Next up for me: .223 and .308. - plinking at first, then more accurate (but still progressive reloaded for semi-autos).

LAH · October 17, 2006, 10:06 AM

OK JDGray what's that hanging behind the paper towells?

JDGray · October 17, 2006, 06:31 PM

Duct tape & a bore snake

Your probably wanting to know what that relic pinfire revolver is? Well, its DA SA, 9mm(near as I can tell) Says "systeme italie" on the frame, and a word I cant make out starting with a G and ends with Br. In other words, I got no idea

JackOfAllTradesMasterAtNone · October 18, 2006, 12:16 PM

I could have sworn I posted a pic of this at one time or another...

Liberty4Ever · October 18, 2006, 12:49 PM

Can we assume that WD-40 is on the reloading bench for the times you need to deactivate primers?

JackOfAllTradesMasterAtNone · October 18, 2006, 02:25 PM

No. I don't deactivate primers. I just throw them into the fire.

JDGray · October 18, 2006, 04:04 PM

The WD-40 makes good case lube, everybody knows that

LAH · October 18, 2006, 06:12 PM

Some nice stuff there Jack.........Creeker

Arkie · October 20, 2006, 02:22 AM

Well one of these days I will have a bench with more stuff on it. LOL...

Bench...

LAH · October 20, 2006, 08:50 AM

Hey Arkie.........tell us about that bench? Looks great.......Creeker

JackOfAllTradesMasterAtNone · October 20, 2006, 02:54 PM

Arkie's bench is much too clean for me. I need to know where things are at all times. Usually right on top of the bench.

But there's a ton of components on the shelves to the right. Loaded ammo is locked in the cabinet on the left. I have kids that shoot, still, I keep things locked up. Their friends are the one's I worry about. The safe is in the same room. It is a down stairs/basement room in the corner of the house. 10'x11'ish. The door to the room also locks, although it's not a reinforced fire door. (yet) Next challenge is to figure out a sprinkler system for the room. There's a copper water pipe just above in the false cieling.

-Steve

Arkie · October 20, 2006, 05:22 PM

The bench is a Craftsman work bench and I got real cheap with the backboard also. It has a light on it also.

Nice solid top with 5 drawers to put everything in.

It's clean cause I just got everthing all arranged on it and haven't started working yet. LOL...

Don't worry, it will get messy.

oh, and the eagle in the middle is a dinner bell.

SIRVEYR666 · October 21, 2006, 06:54 PM

Here's my humble set up:
I do mostly 9mm and .45ACP. Occasionally, I'll do up a few .38SPL or .357MAG.

My reloading assistant:
He can find anything that I drop...and eat it.

JDGray · October 22, 2006, 09:40 AM

Looks like you size and deprime on the single stage, like me

Its a PITA to do it on the turret, with spent primers going everyhere.

Liberty4Ever · October 22, 2006, 10:00 AM

The new Lee Classic Turret Press is getting very good reviews. It addresses a lot of the concerns from their previous turret press. The spent primers are neatly routed to a container or straight into a waste basket for disposal. The new Lever Primer System is also reported to be very simple and reliable.

http://www.realguns.com/archives/122.htm

It's currently on sale at MidwayUSA. Check out the customer reviews.

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpag...eitemid=814175

Even with the auto-index, it's still not as fast as a progressive press, but it's also a lot simpler and probably a lot more reliable. I'm committed to my progressive LoadMaster press, but I'd like to try the Lee Classic Turret Press. I wouldn't mind spending more time reloading

and less time working on the press and clearing jams stemming from priming problems.

JDGray · October 22, 2006, 11:33 AM

I wished I'd waited a month, befor getting my turret press, as Lee came out with the classic just after I got mine bolted to the bench. After priming cases,500 usually at a time, I can reload 100 cartridges in 10-15mins, easy. I still clean the primer pockets, and like priming, off the press. I have probably 1000 9mm & 500 45ACP cases ready to load, at all times, just sitting in coffee cans

, which I noticed alot of people have on their benches.

v65magnafan · October 22, 2006, 11:55 AM

I started reloading about one month ago.

ir3e971 · October 22, 2006, 06:25 PM

Here is my humble reloading area.

It works well for me.

Bob

October 18, 2006, 12:16 PM	#61
JackOfAllTradesMasterAtNone Member Join Date: February 12, 2005 Location: Lynden, WA Posts: 1,439	My modest bench. I could have sworn I posted a pic of this at one time or another... __________________ Colt's, Ruger's, Dan Wesson,& Kimber are my friends! Proud to be a U.S. Navy Veteran. Critical thinking keeps people from freaking the hell out every time some half baked blogger forgets his meds.

October 18, 2006, 02:25 PM	#63
JackOfAllTradesMasterAtNone Member Join Date: February 12, 2005 Location: Lynden, WA Posts: 1,439	No. I don't deactivate primers. I just throw them into the fire. __________________ Colt's, Ruger's, Dan Wesson,& Kimber are my friends! Proud to be a U.S. Navy Veteran. Critical thinking keeps people from freaking the hell out every time some half baked blogger forgets his meds.

October 20, 2006, 02:54 PM	#68
JackOfAllTradesMasterAtNone Member Join Date: February 12, 2005 Location: Lynden, WA Posts: 1,439	Arkie's bench is much too clean for me. I need to know where things are at all times. Usually right on top of the bench. But there's a ton of components on the shelves to the right. Loaded ammo is locked in the cabinet on the left. I have kids that shoot, still, I keep things locked up. Their friends are the one's I worry about. The safe is in the same room. It is a down stairs/basement room in the corner of the house. 10'x11'ish. The door to the room also locks, although it's not a reinforced fire door. (yet) Next challenge is to figure out a sprinkler system for the room. There's a copper water pipe just above in the false cieling. -Steve __________________ Colt's, Ruger's, Dan Wesson,& Kimber are my friends! Proud to be a U.S. Navy Veteran. Critical thinking keeps people from freaking the hell out every time some half baked blogger forgets his meds.

October 21, 2006, 06:54 PM	#70
SIRVEYR666 Member Join Date: February 18, 2005 Location: Michigan Posts: 379	Here's my humble set up: I do mostly 9mm and .45ACP. Occasionally, I'll do up a few .38SPL or .357MAG. My reloading assistant: He can find anything that I drop...and eat it. __________________ Rudy Project USA Competition Squad Ask me how to save 40% on Rudy Project gear.

October 22, 2006, 11:55 AM	#74
v65magnafan Member Join Date: August 1, 2003 Location: Near the Second Amendment but Not Close Enough Posts: 68	Just Starting I started reloading about one month ago. __________________ NRA, CSSA, 2AF, CCRKBA, “A liberal is a communist who has not yet confiscated your guns.”

October 15, 2006, 03:57 PM	#51
LAH Member Join Date: January 2, 2003 Location: In The Hardwoods Posts: 758	Redneck I love that desk/bench. 44/45 the local gunshop has a Tru-Line Jr. for sale.

October 15, 2006, 06:41 PM	#52
44and45 Member In Memoriam Join Date: March 3, 2003 Location: Northern Wisconsin Posts: 466	Well, recomend the Dillon for handgun flake powder, or extruded rifle powder, does a good job with its metering slide bar. The Lyman Tru-line Jr. uses only small 5/8X30 threaded 310 dies. These little dies can be used with a Lyman tong tool that slightly resembles a nut cracker. However, and this is pretty weird, the little 310 seating die does a beautiful job on roll crimping my big bore handgun brass. Even with a tong tool, a guy can crank out (slowly) excellent ammunition. Jim

October 15, 2006, 07:22 PM	#54
JDGray Member Join Date: September 16, 2005 Location: SW MI. Posts: 4,601	Heres my reloading desks

October 16, 2006, 01:16 AM	#56
cloudcroft Member Join Date: September 13, 2006 Location: Galveston, TX Posts: 334	Redneck, Many years ago, I used a Lee Auto Disk powder measure (standard version) and it worked fine. Recently, when I got back into reloading, I had read that the Lee PRO auto-disk powder measure worked better due to the teflon coating that the standard auto-disk doesn't have (and I guess the elastomer wiper on it is better, too). Also, I got the adjustable powder charging bar for it so I do not use the fixed powder disks...it also works fine. -- John D.

October 16, 2006, 01:58 AM	#57
Redneck with a 40 Member Join Date: July 26, 2006 Posts: 2,273	Personally, I'm ok with loading 50 rounds/hour, I'm getting very accurate and consistent ammo. Plus I like being intimate with the reloading process. Yeah it takes awhile, but I enjoy the time spent doing it. Just this week alone, reloading 1 hour a day, I''ve loaded 400 rounds of ammo. Since I only shoot 50 rounds/week, this is sufficient. I'll stick to my current method, the accuracy I'm getting is awesome.

October 16, 2006, 11:32 AM	#58
Liberty4Ever Member Join Date: October 7, 2006 Location: Lexington KY Posts: 147	If you enjoy 50 rounds per hour, more power to you. I agree, if you enjoy doing it, it's time well spent. I can sympathize with not wanting to mess with the primer feed on progressive presses. That seems to be the biggest problem with Lee progressive presses, and it can flat take all the fun out of it. But I like fiddling with machines. I also like to shoot a lot. I reload 200-400 rounds an hour, and I shoot 200-400 rounds of 10mm when I go to the range. Lately I've been reloading 9mm to shoot in the Kel-Tec SUB-2000 9mm folding carbine, and it's a hungry little beast. It's so much fun to shoot that I seldom get away before firing 300 rounds, not to mention the ammo expended taking friends along to introduce them to shooting. The differences in our reloading habits demonstrates the wide range of interests reflected in reloading. Soon, I hope to have a very accurate long range high caliber rifle. Then, I expect to enjoy slow and careful hand crafting of fire formed ammo for maximum accuracy, which is very different from sitting down to make a lot of high quality pistol plinking ammo. Next up for me: .223 and .308. - plinking at first, then more accurate (but still progressive reloaded for semi-autos).

October 17, 2006, 10:06 AM	#59
LAH Member Join Date: January 2, 2003 Location: In The Hardwoods Posts: 758	OK JDGray what's that hanging behind the paper towells?

October 17, 2006, 06:31 PM	#60
JDGray Member Join Date: September 16, 2005 Location: SW MI. Posts: 4,601	Duct tape & a bore snake Your probably wanting to know what that relic pinfire revolver is? Well, its DA SA, 9mm(near as I can tell) Says "systeme italie" on the frame, and a word I cant make out starting with a G and ends with Br. In other words, I got no idea

October 18, 2006, 12:49 PM	#62
Liberty4Ever Member Join Date: October 7, 2006 Location: Lexington KY Posts: 147	Can we assume that WD-40 is on the reloading bench for the times you need to deactivate primers?

October 18, 2006, 04:04 PM	#64
JDGray Member Join Date: September 16, 2005 Location: SW MI. Posts: 4,601	The WD-40 makes good case lube, everybody knows that

October 18, 2006, 06:12 PM	#65
LAH Member Join Date: January 2, 2003 Location: In The Hardwoods Posts: 758	Some nice stuff there Jack.........Creeker

October 20, 2006, 02:22 AM	#66
Arkie Member Join Date: October 6, 2005 Location: Arkansas Posts: 595	Well one of these days I will have a bench with more stuff on it. LOL... Bench...

October 20, 2006, 08:50 AM	#67
LAH Member Join Date: January 2, 2003 Location: In The Hardwoods Posts: 758	Hey Arkie.........tell us about that bench? Looks great.......Creeker

October 20, 2006, 05:22 PM	#69
Arkie Member Join Date: October 6, 2005 Location: Arkansas Posts: 595	The bench is a Craftsman work bench and I got real cheap with the backboard also. It has a light on it also. Nice solid top with 5 drawers to put everything in. It's clean cause I just got everthing all arranged on it and haven't started working yet. LOL... Don't worry, it will get messy. oh, and the eagle in the middle is a dinner bell.

October 22, 2006, 09:40 AM	#71
JDGray Member Join Date: September 16, 2005 Location: SW MI. Posts: 4,601	Looks like you size and deprime on the single stage, like me Its a PITA to do it on the turret, with spent primers going everyhere.

October 22, 2006, 10:00 AM	#72
Liberty4Ever Member Join Date: October 7, 2006 Location: Lexington KY Posts: 147	The new Lee Classic Turret Press is getting very good reviews. It addresses a lot of the concerns from their previous turret press. The spent primers are neatly routed to a container or straight into a waste basket for disposal. The new Lever Primer System is also reported to be very simple and reliable. http://www.realguns.com/archives/122.htm It's currently on sale at MidwayUSA. Check out the customer reviews. http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpag...eitemid=814175 Even with the auto-index, it's still not as fast as a progressive press, but it's also a lot simpler and probably a lot more reliable. I'm committed to my progressive LoadMaster press, but I'd like to try the Lee Classic Turret Press. I wouldn't mind spending more time reloading and less time working on the press and clearing jams stemming from priming problems.

October 22, 2006, 11:33 AM	#73
JDGray Member Join Date: September 16, 2005 Location: SW MI. Posts: 4,601	I wished I'd waited a month, befor getting my turret press, as Lee came out with the classic just after I got mine bolted to the bench. After priming cases,500 usually at a time, I can reload 100 cartridges in 10-15mins, easy. I still clean the primer pockets, and like priming, off the press. I have probably 1000 9mm & 500 45ACP cases ready to load, at all times, just sitting in coffee cans , which I noticed alot of people have on their benches.