Portable Reloader Options

I just got a deal on four 30 cal ammo cans brand new for $20.00

Fill em with ammo and your good to go!

No on portable reloading next I can tell

Here you go:https://www.titanreloading.com/lee-...reloading-kits/lee-breech-lock-hand-press-kit

Loonwulf made a nice little portable reloading setup. I'd get the Lee hand loader and a dipper set.

Phlier said:

Here you go:https://www.titanreloading.com/lee-...reloading-kits/lee-breech-lock-hand-press-kit

Click to expand...

Phlier pretty much covered what you can get for a hand operated press. My question would be, why the insistence on having a hand press you can use at the range? One still needs to take powder and projectiles. One still needs to not be distracted. Why not just get a good Single Stage press and load at home until you get familiar with the process? You are going to be able to produce much better ammo with a powder scale and a c-press mounted to a bench for only a few dollars more, and odds are you won't be wanting for something better right away. JMTCs.

And if the range is any appreciable distance from the house, a portable setup will help cut down on the making rounds that shouldn’t be and pulling them apart after.

Doing the prep at home, charging the cases and gently placing a bullet upside down in the mouth to be seated properly at the range can be as safe there as anywhere. Honestly, I probably get more non distracted quiet thought time at the range...

For full length sizing you may want to get a press that can be benched. I do all of my depriming on a Lee hand press. I could not imagine resizing anything with it...

A single stage bench mounted press really is invaluable. Though it can be done with less.

I used to reload in a closet that was 2 feet deep and 2 feet wide. Built a shelf to mount c-press. Sat on a folding camp stool.
Also, you can mount a press to a 2x6 and then clamp that to a table, bumper, tailgate, etc.

I have lots of presses but never really warmed up to the idea of a hand press. I can walk and chew gum, so I imagine I could use a hand press but still don’t find the difficulty on mounting a press well enough it can stand upright on its own and be ridged enough to use.

jmorris said:

I have lots of presses but never really warmed up to the idea of a hand press. I can walk and chew gum, so I imagine I could use a hand press but still don’t find the difficulty on mounting a press well enough it can stand upright on its own and be ridged enough to use.

View attachment 875392
View attachment 875393
View attachment 875394 View attachment 875396 View attachment 875397

Click to expand...

I particularly like the stump and the 5gal bucket seat!

jmorris' post has great ideas. Lots of ways to set up a SS press to be portable, and you could look at your surroundings and resources and come up with a good solution.
OTH, I have a Lee hand press that I take with me boondocking in the desert to putter around with at camp.

Not to be too negative, but I think being a new shooter and trying to juggle portability and variable surroundings is a bad idea.

When starting any new multi-faceted activity, particularly one with high safety-related stakes, I am a big fan of controlling as many variables as possible. I think you want to load in a very controlled environment, with things set up in a consistent manner and a lack of distractions, until you have your feet well under you.

If portability is eventually a goal, mounting a simple press onto a board that could then be attached to other things is fine. But I wouldn't plan on moving it to the range anytime soon.

ATLDave said:

Not to be too negative, but I think being a new shooter and trying to juggle portability and variable surroundings is a bad idea.

When starting any new multi-faceted activity, particularly one with high safety-related stakes, I am a big fan of controlling as many variables as possible. I think you want to load in a very controlled environment, with things set up in a consistent manner and a lack of distractions, until you have your feet well under you.

If portability is eventually a goal, mounting a simple press onto a board that could then be attached to other things is fine. But I wouldn't plan on moving it to the range anytime soon.

Click to expand...

That's not being too negative at all, IMO.

Even though I've been reloading for 40 years and can operate all of my presses via muscle memory and brain auto-pilot, when anyone enters the reloading room, my son and I will immediately stop reloading. And we don't start again until that person leaves the room, and we can resume concentrating on what we're doing. I'm probably taking this to a little bit of an extreme, but I don't even allow music to be playing in the reloading room when we're actively loading ammo. There's just too much at stake to risk a distraction causing a tragedy.

One of the things you pick up over a few years of reloading is how to notice things that are different and matter, as compared to small differences that don't matter. Things that we might feel/notice/see as we're reloading:

• That primer felt like it seated a little easier/harder/with a catch/made a sound.
• The bullet didn't feel completely straight as it entered the seating die.
• The powder level appears to be a skosh higher in that case than the one before.
• The crimp die didn't feel like it did as much work on that round.

OK, which of those matter? Well, it depends. How much easier was it to seat the primer? What was the sound? How crooked and what kind of bullet/purpose are we talking about? Are the brass cases the same headstamp? Are all the cases trimmed to the same length? With experience, we have a good "feel" for how much of a difference matters and how much is well within normal variation.

New reloaders don't have that "feel" yet. So they are in a sea of small differences. They have a couple of options: one is to take all the small variations seriously and carefully measure and work through them. The other is to ignore anything but the grossest deviation and trust their process (a process that isn't close to ingrained or proven).

Throwing someone at that stage into a noisy environment, with the wind blowing scales and grains of powder and pages of manuals, heat or cold or range time burning causing impatience, etc., is asking for trouble.

I made mine out of a workmate style bench from harbor freight. It still folds and is easy to transport

I'm about far of the Lee hand press. It is also very handy for depriming before cleaning cases, and priming if you have carpal tunnel.

The hand priming tools aggrevates my carpal tunnel like crazy

The main problem you have with range loading is measuring powder. The slightest breeze will interfere with your trickling and scale weights. Make sure you have enough interior space at your range or in your vehicle to safely measure powder loads

ancientnoob said:

The tail gate got me! That’s awesome eh?

Click to expand...

My favorite is the trailer hitch mod.

Like troy fairweather said, a hand press with the dippers is the most basic set that works well. Not affected by the wind, no need to bolt or clamp anything down. KISS rule applies.

Here is a simple loading bench I made for loading at the range. It has enough space even for a cleaning cradle and accessories. Folding legs allow compact fitting in vehicle. Hood type press folds flat to only 2"

As you can see, reloading "styles" are a pretty personal thing. I had a portable set up when I didn't have a dedicated place to reload and it was on a Workmate. I also had a kit consisting of a Lee hand press dies, a couple sleeves of primers, a small box of bullets and a few tools, all in a plastic shoe box. Powder was carried separately. One thing I did to ease away from home reloading was to size, trim and prime my brass at home and just charge and seat when I was away. I was using dippers, but I had a lot of experience with Lee dippers and was pretty accurate/consistent, but today I would probably add a scale to the kit.

Some redundancy with powder dispensers but you get the idea. I have a second Lee Classic Turret on the home bench and just swap out die turrets once I'm satisfied with the load.

here's mine

Nice rig, LW.

Thanks
Less than 100 bucks and nearly as functional as my normal gear...it gets drug around the house even, and by accident the clamps fit in the box with the rest of the loose gear lol.