how much space is needed for handloading/reloading equipment

Anything from a shoe box to a reloading/gun room. Depends on how deep you wish to venture into this hab...hobby...

If the "standard" work bench or "desk" are heavy enough or bolted to the wall studs, yes they will do...When resizing/decapping a rifle case it may sometimes require a bit of force that can tip the bench over on you...So make sure it is well anchored...

Here is my setup. Simple, even with 3 presses and a tumbler.



Ignore the drums etc...

It depends on how much you shoot, how much you handload, and how long you've been doing it.

I have a great ammo factory in my Cave in the garage. However, it has always tended to creep into the house and about 2 weeks ago, I made a mini bench that is right next to my recliner in the living room. I know, my wife rules!!!!

So back to the question, as the bushmaster stated: as small as a shoe box or as big as your home. It's really up to you..


Herohog: are those "marackas" on your bench?

Yes, made with coconuts! There is an Cabassa behind the hopper next to them. I used to be a drummer/percussionist until my back got to bad to keep doing it. I kept a small "jungle kit" for when I just HAVE to play for just a few minutes!

The bench is a kitchen table that came with the house. It was heavy enough to be just right as a loading bench! I just picked up an old Lyman press that I need to set up on there along with the Lees now.

Required space is as little or as much as the space you have available. Folks her use as little as a chair (with them sitting in it) to an entire large room with dozens of presses.

I loaded for 4 years on a bench that fit into a smallish closet when I was in college. The entire thing was maybe 2 1/2 feet wide by 2 feet deep. It worked fine and I just had to be very organized. My current bench is 7 feet long and close to 3 feet deep . .thought it was overkill.. .now I wish it was 9 feet long.

Have a good one,
Dave

Herohog said:

Ignore the drums etc...

Click to expand...

No way.

This bro's got a drum set in his reloading shop.
(Or is that a reloading shop in his drum studio?)

How cool is that?

Nem (plays a Roland Handsonic
even if I don't reload yet)

For Nematocyst: Here is what it used to look like. and here is the current kit.

My apt. reloading kit takes up a small box minus my scales. The boxes I have for my powder and primers take up more room. But I am also using a hand press at the moment. All of my other presses are in storage. A small sturdy desk would have plent of room for a small reloading set up.

That is so cool

It works, I reload 38/357, 7mm-08, 45/70, and hopefully in the next month or so 7-30 Waters. I will admit the hand press sucks for sizing the larger cases but it gets the job done.

My first press was a lee turret for 45-70, worked great, I had some washers bolts and c clamps. I simply clamped it to a bence or desk and loaded every where including right there at the range.

I have a 5'x2.5' bench that I built for my garage. I built it initially just for cleaning and working on my firearms, etc. Thank goodness that I built it sturdy because it works great for my modest reloading talents. You will find that you are eventually going to need more space for all the supplies and gadgets that you are going to want.

Here is what my buddy did ALL his reloading on. He attached his press to this and used a TV tray to hold the rest!

10' x 20' appears perfect

I have a large house, but only one small room is dedicated to reloading. I plan to move into a smaller house soon, so even if my new 10' x 11' bedroom doubles as my reloading room, so be it. An 8' x 2' reloading bench is about the perfect size, so it should fit into any room with a DVD and TV. Reloading demands an entertainment system. One could swiftly go bonkers in a silent room. cliffy

You can go pretty small if you need to. I'm set up on a small bench on one side of my workshop.

I tend to spread out and work on different benches for different stuff (trim cases over there, run the tumbler over there, sort brass in front of the TV in the living room), but I could function with about 18" wide by 12" deep bench space to mount the press and the powder measure with enough room for the reloading block in between. Powder scale goes on the wall on a little shelf at eye level. My powder and primers sit in a styrofoam cooler on the floor in the corner (the shop isn't air conditioned), and die boxes and whatnot go on a small shelf or in a tackle box at the back of the bench.

When I move next month, I'm getting a smaller workshop which is my trade-off for a bigger house so I'll probably mount the press and powder measure on a 2x6 that can be clamped to a workbench and put away when not in use to free up the bench.

Basically, your reloading gear will swell to fill whatever space you let it take up. If you have no space, you can do the job with a hand press and some counter space for a powder measure and scale. If you have a barn, you can probably fill it with reloading crap if you put your mind to it.

-J.

I've put all my hardware except for the scale into a .50 ammo can and reload sitting at my desk or in my recliner. The rest of the space is as much component as you feel like stocking. It won't be the fastest setup but if you're not a high volume shooter its not bad either. When I'm done everything gets packed up in the ammo can and just stacks with ammo.

I've got my press bolted to a small rolling TV cart. I put it where I want it and then weigh it down with a couple of boxes of bullets. That keeps it from moving around. When I'm done, I put the whole contraption in a corner and it isn't readily visible in the room at all. It is a Dillon 650 with casefeed. I have my manuals and other supplies on shelves right beside it. I have A LOT of reloading gear and it cleans up very neatly and relatively quickly.

I have a PRo-1000 and Lee cast turret press mounted on a base like shown in Herohog's picture, from Midway.

I size .308 no problem. I can move it anywhere in the house I want, or in the yard if the weather is nice.

I keep the spare parts in a Rubbermaid tote tub that goes on a shelf in the utility room closet.
Cases get sorted into plastic jugs either in the utility room or out in the den if I am loading. Powder & primers are stored in small quantities on the shelf in the den in the game closet, large kegs go in the utility room pantry on the bottom shelf.

Bulk lots of bullets get stored in shallow plastic bins that slide under the sofa.

In a pinch (Like, a contractor or someone coming over) the presses come off of the base, the base breaks down under the sofa, and the presses go in another tub in the utility room.

"Stealth" reloading.