JSimpson65
Member
Hello All,
I thought I would share some pics of my new reloading bench setup.
My reloading is done in the garage for space reasons - no space in the house. Also, having small children it gives me a little privacy when I need it. My house had a built-in countertop in the garage, supported with some brackets coming off the wall, but the big open space underneath didn't lend itself to organized storage. When I first moved in, it seemed like an 8ft bench gave me more working area than I would ever need. Soon, however, the reloading dies, brass, tools, Dillon press, etc. started to add up. Since I also like to do a little woodworking, I finally got around to building a cabinet underneath the countertop:
The cabinets are 3/4" plywood throughout, which makes for a really solid workbench. Everything is bolted to the wall studs with lag bolts as well. As you can see, there is a Dillon 550 on the left and a Rockchucker in the middle, with room between the two for working space. I made the two center sections just wide enough apart for the drawers to clear the Rockchucker mounted in the center of the bench. The areas on each side are general storage. I left about a 3 inch overhang on the workbench to give me something to clamp onto for bullet sizing, brass trimming, etc. The lubrisizer on the far right is only temporarily clamped to the bench so I can move it to the center when I use it. Before the large cabinet, I had originally made the small, two-level shelf setup on top of the bench for die storage, then added the wall-mounted shelf unit on the far right wall for brass later. The brown cardboard boxes at the center rear of the bench hold various cast bullets, all labeled.
Just visible in the first photo and below is the rubber mat I put on the floor the length of the workbench. I like it because it makes it more comfortable for standing and also keeps things from bouncing as far if they get dropped. As I shoot a lot of single-action revolvers, it also keeps me from damaging a cylinder if one were to walk it's way off the bench to the concrete below. It wasn't long before I was in need of more storage for brass, dies, cleaning stuff, etc. The two bottom drawers are for brass (pistol on left, rifle on right), and with 9 coffee cans each give me plenty of storage, at least for now. Just visible on the far right shelves are some rubbermaid containers that store some of the pistol brass I have large quantities of. I have room for 8 of these, and each will hold 1,000 or more pistol brass:
I also made sure the drawers were tall enough to store the rapidly expanding numbers of handgun dies, as well as storage for boolit molds I've started accumulating to feed my casting habit:
The rest of the drawers hold cleaning things, various tools, etc. and still give me room to expand as I have about one and a half drawers empty. I have thought about taking down the pegboard and adding a bunch of shelves, but I'm going to wait to see how my storage works out over the next year or two. I've only been reloading about 2 years now, and so far the collection of stuff hasn't slowed down too much!
Anyway, thought it would be fun to share some pics and hope it gives someone some organization ideas as well.
Thanks for looking,
Joe
I thought I would share some pics of my new reloading bench setup.
My reloading is done in the garage for space reasons - no space in the house. Also, having small children it gives me a little privacy when I need it. My house had a built-in countertop in the garage, supported with some brackets coming off the wall, but the big open space underneath didn't lend itself to organized storage. When I first moved in, it seemed like an 8ft bench gave me more working area than I would ever need. Soon, however, the reloading dies, brass, tools, Dillon press, etc. started to add up. Since I also like to do a little woodworking, I finally got around to building a cabinet underneath the countertop:
The cabinets are 3/4" plywood throughout, which makes for a really solid workbench. Everything is bolted to the wall studs with lag bolts as well. As you can see, there is a Dillon 550 on the left and a Rockchucker in the middle, with room between the two for working space. I made the two center sections just wide enough apart for the drawers to clear the Rockchucker mounted in the center of the bench. The areas on each side are general storage. I left about a 3 inch overhang on the workbench to give me something to clamp onto for bullet sizing, brass trimming, etc. The lubrisizer on the far right is only temporarily clamped to the bench so I can move it to the center when I use it. Before the large cabinet, I had originally made the small, two-level shelf setup on top of the bench for die storage, then added the wall-mounted shelf unit on the far right wall for brass later. The brown cardboard boxes at the center rear of the bench hold various cast bullets, all labeled.
Just visible in the first photo and below is the rubber mat I put on the floor the length of the workbench. I like it because it makes it more comfortable for standing and also keeps things from bouncing as far if they get dropped. As I shoot a lot of single-action revolvers, it also keeps me from damaging a cylinder if one were to walk it's way off the bench to the concrete below. It wasn't long before I was in need of more storage for brass, dies, cleaning stuff, etc. The two bottom drawers are for brass (pistol on left, rifle on right), and with 9 coffee cans each give me plenty of storage, at least for now. Just visible on the far right shelves are some rubbermaid containers that store some of the pistol brass I have large quantities of. I have room for 8 of these, and each will hold 1,000 or more pistol brass:
I also made sure the drawers were tall enough to store the rapidly expanding numbers of handgun dies, as well as storage for boolit molds I've started accumulating to feed my casting habit:
The rest of the drawers hold cleaning things, various tools, etc. and still give me room to expand as I have about one and a half drawers empty. I have thought about taking down the pegboard and adding a bunch of shelves, but I'm going to wait to see how my storage works out over the next year or two. I've only been reloading about 2 years now, and so far the collection of stuff hasn't slowed down too much!
Anyway, thought it would be fun to share some pics and hope it gives someone some organization ideas as well.
Thanks for looking,
Joe
Last edited:
Excellent setup & very efficient use of space. What is your counter/bench's height? I built my work bench 30" but my actual loading bench is much lower so I can sit in a rolling chair and avoid aggravating my back & SI joints (thanks to Army PT/rucking about & AF running 
). I also have to use my garage, but it's a double and since my crew cab truck is too long I have half. Drawbacks for sure (no heat/air) but in a couple of years I am going to build a barn & live in it. My wife will probably help me... 
