Ideal dimensions for a loading bench

You're going to get a lot of opinions on this but my take is 24" deep. By doing this it forces me to keep the clutter to a minimum while also keeping everything in easy reach. I also like about 16' of bench in an "L" shape.

It all depends on how you work

I clean my brass then deprime using a Lee hand press
Resize if needed
Reclean if needed
I also use a hand primer

So after that it’s add powder, bullet and seat

I’ve worked off a Workmate, a temp setup on my workbench and now on a new bench.
So to me I just need enough space to hold my manual, supplies and tools.

I’d say make it as big as you can, but beware flat surfaces tend to have a way of getting things to jump on them and cause clutter.

So the real answer is you’ll have to figure out what is best for you.

Build it as large as you can for the space available.
I seem to keep expanding and have never wished I had a smaller area.

6 feet wide and 2 feet deep would work very well for me. Storage it the problem.

I like the 2' deep suggestion. As far as length go as long as you have room for. If you can get an L config that is nice. You'll likely not have enough room..

-Jeff

2' deep is a good idea. Otherwise as long as you can minus some space for standing shelves or cabinets just for storage. Standing height.

I don’t have much room for the equipment I have so my bench is only 18” deep and L shaped, with shelves above and below to keep as much stuff off of it as possible.



A good rule of thumb is to have as much bench as you can.

I wanted some space to spread out. So I went to Lowes and got a nice 8x4 sheet of 3/4 plywood. The good stuff. I had them cut it in half for me. Using one leftover cabinet (wrong size) from the kitchen do over, and another snagged from a cousin, I made a bench with a cabinet on either end. It's eight foot, but you could make it shorter. Underneath I made a shelf using 2x4's which also made a nice place to put my feet up and store spare brass. I wired up some electric to the front of the bench and some more overhead. Don't forget lighting. I have two presses mounted, one dillon swager, brass tumbler, and on one end I have a drill press (for lack of a better place). I have a side table for my auto powder measure that way I can use the press while the charges are being spit out. In the NE we have under the house workshops (called basements) which means I have a nice poured floor for stability.

The nice thing is you can ask here and we get all sorts of advice/info on our setups. You can take all that info and think it through for something that fits your needs.

Look up the drawings for the "official" reloading bench put out by outfit, its a good size. The problem with building really big is you WILL find something to put on the table, reloading related or not. If you can make yourself keep it neat, then build as big as you can. If not, keeping it smaller will help with it not being cluttered.

Can't have too much bench, but don't fall into the trap of letting your bench become a storage shelf. If you have to move stuff out of the way to start loading, you're loading on a storage shelf instead of a bench. Only things on my bench are plastic trays, bowls, and scales. Powder is in a refrigerator on opposite side of room by the brass. Bullets and other equipment are in a nice file cabinet I found, and is at the end of the bench. Most people could walk in the room and not know I reload there. My table is almost 3 feet deep by 6 feet long, with another small table for dirty work like trimming. A lot of rifles get built there also.

Two 8' X 2', "L" shaped with shelving above and below.
Works ouir well because a 3/4 sheet of plywood is 8X4 and splitting it lenghtwise and gluing the two halves together, (with a 2X8 1/2 sheet of masonite on top) gives you a nice sturdy benchtop.

I use my bench not only for reloading, but also for other reloading tasks (brass sorting, putting rounds in boxes, QC stuff, etc.), also I do all of my gun repair and maintenance on the same bench, so I keep one side free for those tasks.

Lots of storage!!! You will never have enough!

No matter how big you make it, you will wish it was bigger within a year. Trust me!!!

Anything over 3 foot deep becomes problematic to me. Reaching over close items is a pain and reaching to higher shelves while being too far off wall.. otherwise bigger the better

Good bench size? About twice as big as you first thought. Reloading benches, like tool boxes and tackle boxes shrink over time. I have about 16' of linear bench space and three years later it's pretty full (but everything has it's place so it's not messy)...

I did as dh1633pm did only the sizes differ and most likely the bench height. I was able to salvage two kitchen base cabinets from a remodel job that were going to be thrown away. One cabinet has four drawers with the bottom one being extra deep. The other cabinet has a top drawer and a bottom door with a shelf. For the bench top I have an old industrial desk top that is very high density composite that also has a laminate surface. This top is 30" deep and 40" wide. It is set at 28" above the floor so I can comfortably sit at it and still see inside the press and reach everything on the bench. Before the comments about the height and sitting I have to do it because of a disability. So then the two cabinets are both covered with a pcs. of 3/4" ply cur to cover the cabinet with a 1/2' over hang on all sides but the front. Also for those wondering I had used this pcs. of desktop as a bench before and it will hold a 175hp outboard engine with ease and not distort.

For myself the impression is the bench size doesn't make that big of a deal, while working I only need so much room. Storage space is a much bigger factor to me. After cleaning I do sort my pistol brass by headstamp so that now takes 5 containers in itself just for 9mm and another 5 for 45acp.

Like a garage, your bench can never be "too big". The future may hold the addition of a bench primer or more than one scale, powder thrower or press. Having some good shelves over your bench and cabinets/storage beneath helps keep stuff close without cluttering the bench. Since I prefer to sit when I reload, I try to keep everything I need to reload within arms length. So my bench is only 24" X 48". But I also have a 48" X 48" drawer unit directly behind me along with three shelves above my bench and a set of drawers below on one side.

Another person I know took an old metal 2 door tall cabinet and built a benchtop inside it with a shelf above and below the bench. When he is not working at it he is able to close the doors and lock everything up. Not the biggest room in the sport but it certainly does work for him.

If you have the ability to store things elsewhere, I find a 24" X 48" work surface sufficient. I use Inline Fabrication flush quick-release plates to swap my three presses and vise in and out. Works great for single-stage and turret presses. I might want more space if I had a progressive.

Another question.

Standing or sitting???

My bench is low, for sitting down while working. Since I often spend 4-5 hours at the bench, it works out well for me.

If my bench was taller, for working standing up, it would have been 30 inches deep instead of 24.

No one has mentioned testing the bench!

When my bench was finished, but didn't have anything mounted on it, I stood up on it (I weigh 220) and did jumping jacks for a couple of minutes. It didn't move at all, so I started mounting equipment.

Don't forget to make sure you have plenty of outlets easily reachable and good overhead lighting (I prefer 4' LEDs)

I loaded for a few years on a 2ft by 2ft bench when I was in a temporary apartment on a relo job. Never had any issues, but I only had two presses installed and one powder dispenser.

Every progressive press you add to a bench seems to take up it’s own 18”-24” bench length, any turret or single stage about half that. The more presses you have, the more room you need.

I do prefer to have multiple benches, such I can be cranking away on one bench, and have my powder dispensers on their own island, isolated from the vibration of the presses. I have a steel table with my powder dispensers on it right now, about 24” square, an empty work bench 5 ft long, a press bench 4ft long, and a rolling toolbox/benchtop about 3ft long.

When I had a house with a 3 car garage, I took the third car bay and ran a bench along the long wall. It was 16' long made from Gorilla Racks set up half height. I bought stock formica kitchen counter tops and glued and screwed 2 layers of 3/4" plywood underneath and then mounted that to the racks and lag bolted the backsplash to wall studs. This gave me heavy duty shelving underneath but enough overhang, I could use a stool and have room for my knees. Shelves on the wall held books, scale, dies, etc. while the shelves under head shot, bullets, brass, hulls
I miss that bench a lot.

I've worked with several different setups and one thing remains constant.
No matter how big it is, it's never big enough. I like a lot of room. I don't like my presses to be cramped in close to each other.
I'm fortunate to have plenty of space.

I will say though, the first bench I built, was too deep.
I'm 5'7". There is only so far that I can reach.