A little help? handloading and where you do it.

[Rock_Steady]

Newbie question.

I've recently gotten my setup here at the homestead - RCBS kit, tumbler, dies, etc. Gotten so far as to buy the stuff I need to start reloading my .38 spl stuff before I try tackling the rifle reloading. Now......

The only place I had to set up is in my garage. I live in WV, not high in the mountains, but we have lots of heat and humidity - and cold and rain. If I keep my components clean and dry, and keep my completed rounds the same, will there be problems leaving the rest of my stuff there in the garage? Nothing is on the ground, it's bolted to my workbench....do I have to keep my dies and press and everything else in a temperature and humidity controlled place? And another thing......how often do you change the media in the tumbler?

 

[dakotasin]

my stuff is in the garage, too. we have plenty of humidity in the summer, and cold in the wintertime. the dies have stood up just fine, and they are stored in the garage, too. the only problem i've had is the press handle. plenty of rust on it, but it really doesn't matter much.

you will have to make sure your powder is capped tightly at all times. other than that, shouldn't have any troubles.

change your tumbler media whenever you feel like it. eventually you'll notice that it takes longer and longer to clean the brass. once every year or two is usually often enough.

 

[Berek]

Here in New York, we got cold, humidity, heat, dry weather, every hour on the hour.

Seriously tho, I have my setup in the basement which is minimally heated (radiant heat from the duct work) and gets somewhat damp (humidity makes it look like my basement is below the water table). I have noticed small rust spots on my non-carbide dies and some of the bullets seem tarnished right out of the box. I've taken to weather proofing my ammo box, my powder box and keeping my dies in my powder box. I've also added a 3' tube with holes in it in my powder box filled with that desicant gel stuff (lots of shipments to my parents' shop, lots of liitle packets of dessicant). This seems to have slowed the rusting. I have taken to putting an EXTREMELY thin coating of gun oil on steel/iron parts of my presses each time I clean them.

That seems to have done the trick for my non-carbide dies. Haven't seen a problem with the carbide ones... yet....

Berek

 

[Peter M. Eick]

I reload inside my house. When I had this house built, I appropriated the bulk of the laundry room. I was able to put in my safe, bolt it to the floor, establish a whole shelve system under the stairs, brace the work bench and establish more lights.

That is pretty much how it looks unless I am in production (like right now, I am making 38 specials). I have another light now so even more light on the work area and I try and keep the floor and the bench spotless. That way primers and stuff that fall to the floor are easier to clean.

Learning's:
1) Tile is great, but next time, no grout. I would do a solid slab of painted concrete.

2) More plugs. Only 2 stinks. I should have put in 6 on a separate circuit.

3) More light. You can never ever have enough lights.

4) More shelves and better braces. I need about 3 more shelves (I have more now over the safe on the left).

4) Deeper and longer bench. I should have made one that is big enough for the Pr2000 and the Rock Chucker at once.


Those are the big fixes.

 

[BigJakeJ1s]

I reload in my easy chair, in my climate controlled living room, using a hand press. OK, I throw powder and seat bullets at the kitchen table, and I tumble empty brass in the garage. I store all my stuff (except the tumbler) in a big rubbermaid bin that goes in the closet when not in use.

I just picked up a Compac hand held press from Huntingtons, and I like it a lot better than my Lee hand press. It has more leverage, is smoother to operate, and is more accurately aligned than the Lee. My buddy is putting a wooden plate on the bottom of it so that it can stand up on a table, without clamping to the table. I could do it, but he is retired and has all the woodworking tools that make doing something like that really easy.

Andy

 

[The Bushmaster]

Peter...Might I recommend a power strip with antisurge, on/off switch and 4 added plugins. Just mount it to the wall and use one of the existing outlets to power it. Then you will have at least five outlets to play with. The same ones used in offices to power up computers, printers, scanners, moniters and my coffee pot.

 

[tc300mag1]

My house has a 1 car garage converted to a Den thats where i load and all the guns are right off the laundry room with full bathroom if i had a fridge there woulden ever have to leave the room

 

[Pete E]

Peter,

Just curious,but how big is that bench? From the picture it wouldseem theres plenty of room for a second press?

Regards,

Pete

 

[USSR]

Here in New York, we got cold, humidity, heat, dry weather, every hour on the hour.

Berek,

You got that right. Where about's in NY do you call home? I'm located in the Finger Lakes Region near Watkins Glen.

Don

 

[Thirties]

I reload in my basement -- cozy warm in the winter; nice and cool in the summer. It is also a very private spot for me down there.

 

[Berek]

Bad news...

I may be moving (not too far from where I am...) And my G/F still won't let me reload at in the house itself, however, she did say that I could build a heated area with the tax refund... I guess that's ok. I can at least keep the junk in a less humid/less damp condition...


Berek

 

[armoredman]

Computer room, carpet covered with a sheet I can shake out outside. Old TV stand is the bench, with plenty of places for my limited supplies....
Sure love this hobby!

 

[Dave R]

And now for the other end of the spectrum....

I keep my gear in a rubbermaid tub. The press is mounted to a piece of scrap wood and I "C" clamp it where I need it. I use the picnic table outdoors in the summer, and in the winter, I use the kitchen table.

My wife was initially worried about the "explosives" in the kitchen, but I explained the whole propellant thing to her, and she's OK. Maybe she likes having me around?

 

[LHB1]

FWIW, both my wife and our neighbor was concerned many years ago with the powder stored in garage. I poured out a two foot line of powder, lit it, and watched it "burn" to the other end. Then I asked them if they would like to see me do the same thing with some gasoline stored in the garage for lawn mower. Point Made! I exercise caution with storing both gasoline and powder in my garage and have had no problems with either in 40+ years of doing so.

Good shooting and be safe.
LB

ps: I keep my presses covered with paper grocery sacks or more recently cloth bags from local Academy store ($5 each) to help keep dust and moisture off.

 

[Gen. Remington]

what works for me....

I reload in a spare bedroom. I use an 8' cheap folding table with a reinforcing slab of 3/4" birch plywood bolted under the press on the whole end of the table, where its strongest (over the legs). Works fine. Use an office type chair, and an air conditioner (gets hot here). I store finished ammo, powder & primers in the coolest cabinet I can find in another room. I use a lot of plastic bags and boxes too.

Media: replace when it starts to get dark in color. Try running your tumbler for no more than 1.5 to 2 hours per batch, thats really enough, and might make your media last a bit longer. When its finally used up, pour it into empty "sand" bags for your rifles.

I am pretty lucky it doesnt get much over 60% humidity too often here, but I would do everything I could to avoid it.

 

[The Bushmaster]

Dave R...Now that's effiency at it's best...Just shove under the bed when finished.

 

[TooTaxed]

Here in Georgia, rust is a problem on steel dies and tools. I keep 'em oiled and stored in plastic ZipLock bags

 

[Doug b]

After 25 yrs. of various seat ups I have a dedicated reloading room with a controled environment.As I live in the black swamp area of N/W Ohio this became a necessary measure as the operation grew.Feel free to e-mail me [email protected] By the way rifle cartridges are best to start out on as they minimize the chance of double charge while you establish your bench practices.IMHO

 

[Arch]

I kind of have the same problem. I reload in my shed, and dampness is a concern being winter.

But I don't store any of my reloading gear in the shed. My power thrower I secure with a bar clamp, and my press is bolted down using wing nuts, so when I am done, I just pop all my gear into a box, and take it with me.

But if you do leave your gear out there, perhaps just give it a spray down with a cold galvinizer. It's expensive as hell, but it works on boat trailers, so I trust it.

 

[jmorris]

When we were kids, my brother and I mounted reloading presses to 4X4 blocks. We would clamp the 4X4 in a vice on Dad’s work bench, making one small space work for four different reloaders. When done we would take them inside and C-clamp the 4X4 onto a shelf in an extra closet. Now I use my home office. If you are stuck with carpet in the room you use, you need a covering. You don’t want to vacuum around a reloading area.

 

[Clark]

If I load at home, then when I get to the range, the loads are either too hot [primers fall out], or too wimpy, or too long, or too short.

So I either visit the range many times, or take the handloading equiptment with me to the range. Having primed and sized brass to spare cuts down on the effort at the range.

 

[The Bushmaster]

Arch...Try LPS-3...It is a spray that when set leaves a thin film of preservative that is easly wiped off...But will protect in a rain storm...We use it to spray down the engine of outboard motors that have to operate in salt water. It keeps the engine corrosion free and the electrical connections corrosion free also...

 

[Arch]

Bushmaster,
Thanks for that, I'll certainly look into it. It would definatly be handy for the lights on the trailor, as those seals get eaten pretty quickly in the sun and salt.

Cheers,
Arch

 

[The Bushmaster]

Arch...Just for the record...LPS-3 leaves a waxy/oily film...