Have you seen my wife?

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dalepres

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I don't know who took her or what they did with her but the look-alike that they replaced her with gave away the plot today when she said to me, "You know, you really should start looking into getting some reloading equipment."

I live in a mobile home. That means no storage space and I don't have a garage. I was thinking about a metal press stand - basically a small platform on a vertical pipe welded to a suitable base at the bottom. I want to reload 30-30, .357, and .45ACP. I shoot 9mm some but those are so cheap (relatively) that reloading them is the last on my list.

The question is, what's the best way to reload with limited space? A progressive press? Multiple single stage presses that I can swap on and off my portable stand, working on one caliber, one step at a time? I've even thought about Lee Handloaders for all steps except dropping powder and seating the bullet. That way I could afford a press per step per caliber and not have to change and calibrate die setups every time I change operations.

What do you all think? And if you see my wife, please feed her. Tell her I'm waiting on the UPS man and as soon as he comes by, I'll be out looking for her, LOL.
 
I use a Rock Chucker bolted to an oak board, which is then C clamped to a Black & Decker workmate bench. Compact, can be broken down easily.

I use an RCBS Lil' Dandy powder dispenser, hand held. Fine for pistol but might not work so well for rifle.
 
It depends on what you reload and how many rounds you plan on doing per week.
I have used "workmate" knockoff from Harbor Freight and clamped on a board with press and powder measure mounted to it. The bench folds away and stores flat when not in use. The most compact system is a Lee hand press, I have loaded rifle cartridges on mine and it can be stored in a shoe box with the dies. But if you are going to be loading a couple of hundred rounds a week or more that system might not work for you.
 
I use a Rock Chucker bolted to an oak board, which is then C clamped to a Black & Decker workmate bench. Compact, can be broken down easily.
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This seems to be a nice easy way to go. And if you have to break it down even further just use wing nuts to attach the press to the board. And I'd use a single stage press before the Lee hand loader. It's just easier to do.
 
You'll be doing yourself a favor to have the strongest, most rigid table possible for your press. Everything else can sit on a card table, but do all you can to mount the press solidly.
 
I'd think a turret press ideal for you. Setup a turret for each cartridge you reload, and just switch them out when you change from say .357 to .45. So then it's just one press taking up the space, with multiple turrets being easier to store than multiple spare presses.
 
I'll agree on a turret press being a good option.Much easier to die swap than a prgressive is,usually.
To make life easier,a couple of different powder measures might be ok,one for each caliber,saves all that danged re-adjusting.
oh,and 2 hand priming tools,one for each size primer..again,saves all that danged swapping out. :)
YOu can find good used equipment here on this board,and on the cast boolit board.forget Ebay,high as a kite.
 
If you have the room a heavy office desk works GREAT! Build yourself a QD for your press and everything disappears into the drawers when guests are over.

HPIM2044.jpg

I use the guest bedroom for my reloading. When people are coming over I can remove everything important from this desktop with a small crescent wench in about 2 minutes.

Hpim0450.jpg

Hpim0451.jpg
 
I agree with the Lee classic turret press. Very easy to setup and use. Doesn't cost a fortune. Fast, easy and inexpensive to change calibers and primer feeds. Will load any of the calibers you mentioned with no problem. After a week or two of getting used to the press most people load around 200 rounds per hour, that makes loading pistol a lot nicer than a single stage. I load 9mm, 38/357, 45 auto and 223 on mine. I have had it for two years and it has been trouble free. By the way you got a good woman there you better take care of her.:) This is what my classic setup looks like.
Rusty
ry%3D320.jpg

ry%3D320.jpg

ry%3D320.jpg
 
Years ago I too lived in a double wide. We had no room and I found myself in the same situation you are in. I bought several of these and had multiple presses mounted on a couple of them. I would load out under my carport on calm days or in my 10X15 storage shed during the winter. With a little space heater it is amazing what you can do. I've loaded 10's of thousands of rounds on these stands. Some laugh when they see them and say there is no way they would hold up. I've never broken one to this day and loaded up to .300 WinMags on them. I've mounted both progressive mult-stage and single stage presses on them with no problems. You can buy extra table heads for them and have a press already set up on it so you just have to change the table head. You can also buy very large AcroBins to put on the side of the table giving you much more working surface. I haven't used these much anymore space is no longer a problem. I still have them and have one that has a LEE LoadMaster set up on it ready to load .45 ACP's. My brother in law wants to start loading and I think it will be coming out within the next week or so.

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=155024&t=11082005
 
...she went that a way! -> I don't know about your wife but I might be able to suggest some reloading gear. If you plan on doing any volume loading then I would start with a Dillon 550 press. I know everyone says use the simpler presses but they are so slow it was too slow for me. I would never recommed a Lee Load Master press. i'd give you mine but I would not want to handicap your learning process. I started with both of those presses and equipped the Lee press because it was cheaper ( yeah right! ) I finally got frustrated and started using the Dillon and the difference is like night and day. The Dillon is very straight forward while the Lee tries to combine a few extra functions and it's performance is less than ideal. I think all presses other than the hand press will require about the same force to get the job done. You might use your pipe idea coupled with a board or perhaps and this sounds funny, but bolted to a tire mounted on a rim to make it "scuff free". it would not take a lot of trouble to break down and store when you are not using it.....just an idea...it will keep you off the furniture ( tables ect ) and outta the dog house.
I think a lot of the learning can be done on something that will give you a reasonable volume of ammo for the time involved. I do mix dies sets I use some of the Lee dies on my Dillon press because I had them first.
I hope this helps, it is just food for thought.

Atlasx
 
I used the workmate setup for quite a while and while not the most stable it was acceptable. The trick was to bolt the press to a piece of 2x12 long enough to stack two 25lb weights on which balance out operating the press handle.
 
I ran my reloading hobby out of a two plastic flip top boxes for about a year before I got my garage cleaned out enough to utilize my bench space. I just C-clamped it to my living room table with some carboard between the finished surfaces to keep things from getting scratched.

I found that cutting a 2x4 to the right length to act as a beam for extra strength helped a whole bunch when it came to rifle reloading where your press forces are quite a bit higher. Actually, rifle reloading was what ultimately gave me the motivation to get off the kitchen table and out into the garage.

Remember, patience, Craigslist.org, gunbroker.com and ebay are your friends. But really, it's mostly patience if your budget is tight.
 
I reloaded rifle, pistol, shotgun, and cast bullets out of an Army footlocker for two years.

I drilled the ends for press mounting hole patterns, and stood it up on end to make a reloading bench high enough to get-R-done.

When I wasn't reloading, the press (presses) & supplies all fit in the footlocker, a nice tablecloth went on, and it became a coffe table in front of the sofa.

rcmodel
 
I have a Dillon 550 mounted on a board and clamped in a workmate also, I have never had an issue with it.

I have an eye bolt screwed into the end of the board so when I am not reloading it can hang on the wall, All I need to do is unclamp it and hang it up.
 
Thanks for all the great ideas. And sorry about the wife, folks. She's taken and I'm keeping her.

When I get set up, I'll post the results here.
 
GearHead, that's exactly what I have my Pro-1000 and Lee Turret attached to. I drilled a 1-1/4" hole under the press and attached an old prescription pill bottle under there to catch the primers for disposal. Get-R-Done all the way up to .308 and .30-06 rifle, so far. Looks flimsy, feels not as nice as a bench, but it knocks down and my wife doesn't complain.
 
evan_price, I have a small hole in the table and a special tapered cup that fits between the cross brace triangle on the bottom of the table top, it too works well.
 
Your wife evidently had a long lost twin sister. I married her. My wife was a strong supporter of my getting a Dillon XL-650 with case feeder after watching me futz around with a Lee Progressive.

Before we were married I lived in a 2-bedroom apartment. One bedroom was my office (I was Self Employed) and the dining room became my reloading area for one or two days a month. A B&D Workmate was the bench and my Lee and Rock Chucker shared space on it. When my sessions were done, everything was put back in boxes to be stored in the closet. When I moved out I wondered how many unspent primers the landlord "found" with his vacuum cleaner. I found a few and was surprised how loud they can be in a small apartment.

After 23 years of marriage your wife's "twin" even helps me by sorting brass and packing the reloads. She doesn't even blink when I tell her I need to load another couple of thousand rounds in a weekend.
 
Many years ago, when my wife and I were courting, I bought here an imported German Shepherd puppy as an engagement present (instead of a useless ring).

She bought me a Craftsman five-drawer workbench to set up all my reloading stuff on. At the time, we were living in a very cozy, small, two-bedroom place and the second bedroom was my reloading area.

I've since put a larger top on it, but here's a decent shot that shows you how little room it can take up, but how much stuff it can hold.



I still have that workbench and it's still the primary reloading bench.

Jeff
 
Here's a portable stand I built many years ago that is rock solid and has no flex whatsoever. Built out of steel plate and pipe with a plywood top.

The Lee press is a recent addition; the RCBS Jr. has been bolted on for 40+ years.

Look at post #591.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=218720&page=24


For several years it lived in a closet of our mobile home.

For materials, just find a local welding shop with a good "scrap yard."
 
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