Show me your small to medium sized reloading bench.

My bench wasn't near this full when I got started. Now it's got 2 presses on it. I have since added a shelf between my bench and cabinet for my books and scale. Cabinet has my primers, conversions, powder and casting stuff. Its almost like a oil spill. I try to contain it, but it keeps spreading out more and more.

When I finally got tired of my equipment rusting up in the garage, and sweating in a 125F garage in August, I commandeered a closet in what was the upstairs 'craft' room. At the time, my daughter was still younger, and I wanted to be able to secure the area... so a lockable closet was a good answer. The closet area itself is only about 4'X4'... it quite small... but I custom built a bench to maximize the small area, and to provide storage. The actual worktop area is 2'x3', so it's a little crowded, but I was able to also build it tall... I like to stand when I'm running the press, but with the height, I can pull up a barstool and still work comfortably if I'd doing something else. The ProJector stays mounted, but the RS3 mounts and dismounts with 2 bolts in about 2 minutes. It is screwed into the wall... I don't like wobbly or rolly.

Under construction... starting with 1x4's screwed into the studs to provide support for the bench and shelves above it.



Shelf area under the benchtop...



And a more recent action photo. The closet is so small it's hard to get a wide enough shot to include the whole bench, but you get the idea.

When it is to hot or to cold in the garage I use a Franklin Arsenal reloading bench in an extra bedroom. I was a little concerned if it would be stable but so far it has worked well for 9mm, 45acp and 223. It will fold up if you want to put it away after you are done reloading but I leave mine up all the time as I normally don't need the extra space. The height is adjustable up and down. You can reload setting down or standing up.
Platinum Series Reloading Stand | Frankford Arsenal

Iron men of wooden benches......

SteveT_MSO492 said:

Iron men of wooden benches......View attachment 985613

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First thing to catch my eye? Bin full of en bloc clips.

I’m running out of space

Mine. Bench is a little over 5ft long. Wood is 2in thick, and is anchored to the block wall. Very solid. Works for me!

GeoDudeFlorida said:

First thing to catch my eye? Bin full of en bloc clips.

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ya...that's only the empties.......have 125 full loaded clips

You want small?

Equipment is mounted to a 3/4' piece of white oak, bolted to the Workmate. Another piece of pine is behind it to make a bit larger working surface.

Mine is a 32x22 oak ply top with a base made of 2x4's and 2x6's.
Space is a premium in my small workshop so I built this to fit about 9 years ago. Powder, bullets, dies, and primers etc., live on a bookshelf on the other side of the door.
setup has served well for several thousand rounds.
I do need to do a little cleaning though, lol.

v8stang289 said:

Mine is a 32x22 oak ply top with a base made of 2x4's and 2x6's.
Space is a premium in my small workshop so I built this to fit about 9 years ago. Powder, bullets, dies, and primers etc., live on a bookshelf on the other side of the door.
setup has served well for several thousand rounds.
I do need to do a little cleaning

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We're both Ford early mustang guys... Camshaft cores are the 'primers' of the engine world right now. Lol. With Covid, all the cam core companies shut down for 6-8 months straight!

Efficient setup!

Nature Boy said:

I’m running out of space

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Nature... is that lower right guidon 124 Signal?

Charlie Troop, 1-124 Cav

This was my reloading bench until I bought a house with a HUGE work bench.
I prefer the new one

Here's a "medium".

Had WAY smaller,in a closet style. Then moved to a,significantly larger.... of the sprawling style.

Settled on this about 25 years ago. I like it because it's small enough that it forces good house keeping. But large enough that some light,and I mean light,gunsmith chores can be done(larger work HAS to go to shop). There's a 3rd orange crusher now.

Here's my medium sized area where the magic happens.

My reloading bench. 100 cm wide.

Man, I wish I'd taken pictures yesterday. Went to look at some reloading stuff a friend has that belonged to his Grandpa. He didn't know what he had or how it worked, and really just wanted an understanding for the connection to his Grandpa.

The "bench" was a 24" tall end table with a drawer and a cabinet underneath. Approximately 14"x14" with a single stage press bolted to the side. He'd bolted an L bracket on a bottom leg, which I assume was to hold it down when sizing brass.

Nature Boy said:

I’m running out of space

View attachment 985616

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Your also fixing to blow a fuse. Lol

Olympus said:

Moved to a new house last summer and I'm still trying to figure out how I want my next reloading bench to be. I don't have as much room as I did in the last house, so I'm needing more of a small to medium(ish) setup. I also wondered about putting a wooden top on a rolling tool cart. I like the idea of all the drawers to keep things organized and out of sight, but I don't know how sturdy they would be when using a press. I only have two presses, a Dillon 550 and a single stage. I have no plans of upgrading or adding additional presses. Thanks and look forward to seeing everyone's setup!

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This here’s pretty basic, but it works fine. It’s my first stab at “woodworking.”



It’s .38 Special day, because I’m from Jacksonville…



…and Molly Hatchet Day ain’t till tomorrow!

If anyone ever wondered what the “LEE” on the press stands for, well, you see, it’s a Jacksonville thing, and you kind of have to be from around here.

But here you go:

BWS said:

Here's a "medium".

Had WAY smaller,in a closet style. Then moved to a,significantly larger.... of the sprawling style.

Settled on this about 25 years ago. I like it because it's small enough that it forces good house keeping. But large enough that some light,and I mean light,gunsmith chores can be done(larger work HAS to go to shop). There's a 3rd orange crusher now.

View attachment 985833

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Now THATS a like right there

chris in va said:

My ‘bench’ is my Lay-Z-Boy. Lee hand press, thousands and thousands reloaded.

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You ARE Da Man!!!!!!!

My friend Stan Taylor at Douglas Barrels keeps it real small.