Reloading in the garage
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kmw1954
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A member on another forum took one of these 72" high storage metal cabinets and turned it into his reloading station. Fabricated a bench top from two layers of 3/4" 7 ply plywood along with a couple of shelves above and below the benchtop. The press is set back enough so that the doors will close and lock. If I was in limited space I would consider doing the same thing.
https://www.homedepot.com/b/Storage-Organization-Garage-Storage-Garage-Cabinets/N-5yc1vZccv5
https://www.homedepot.com/b/Storage-Organization-Garage-Storage-Garage-Cabinets/N-5yc1vZccv5
George P
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You could do what a lot of us did in central FL and that was add a diverter duct from the AC unit so one went into the garage..........I have also used a dehumidifier in a garage when necessary. If loading in a non-climate controlled area like a garage, keeping presses covered, using a wax or silicone coating on the equipment also helps to keep rust at bay.
.38 Special
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A long time ago I was running an angle grinder and managed to get a spark into a sleeve of primers. Several hundred of them went off, shattering the particle board shelf underneath them and also scaring the daylights out of me. The obvious solution was to move primers and powder to a different part of the garage. No significant troubles since then.
johnjohn
Member
I loaded in my garage for several no mishaps no rust. Not bad in south La.
There is no way I would try to keep my reloading equipment in a non climate controlled garage let alone do any actually reloading of ammo here in Missouri. I tried moving an old MEC 600JR to the garage and it rusted up quickly and yes I did oil/lube it up before hand.
bdb242
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As you can see from my avatar picture I have other hobbies. In my basement besides a full reloading bench and ammo storage shelving you can usually find a 55 gallon drum of race fuel, 2 nitrous oxide mother bottles, 10 to 15 nitrous bottles used in the racecars I crew on, a mig welder, a tig welder, various metal cutting tools, bench grinders, 3 freezers, 1 refrigerator, 3 battery chargers, cad welding supplies, various paints and strippers, drill press, parts washer, 2 generators, and a wood furnace for cold weather and I almost forgot; a 1986 Mustang stock suspension radial tire drag car that runs in the hold your breath range.
Dudedog
Contributing Member
I reload in my reloading, er garden shed
Pat Riot
Contributing Member
My wife decided that her car needed to be in my reloading room which left me no choice but to relocate to the kitchen
And Your Honor, that’s when the fight started.
Toprudder
Member
My wife has supported my reloading efforts. I began reloading in a spare bedroom, but she suggested getting a separate shed, which I did. A 12x20 pre-fab shed, which I fully wired, insulated (better than our house) and finished the interior. I keep it climate controlled.
Now that I think about it, I'm not sure my wife wanted the reloading equipment out of the house, or if she wanted ME out of the house.
Now that I think about it, I'm not sure my wife wanted the reloading equipment out of the house, or if she wanted ME out of the house.
Pat Riot
Contributing Member
My wife has supported my reloading efforts. I began reloading in a spare bedroom, but she suggested getting a separate shed, which I did. A 12x20 pre-fab shed, which I fully wired, insulated (better than our house) and finished the interior. I keep it climate controlled.
View attachment 942421
Now that I think about it, I'm not sure my wife wanted the reloading equipment out of the house, or if she wanted ME out of the house.
Nice set up! I like it.
ballman6711
Member
I like that reloading shed too!
chris
chris
If you are neat and organized about things -- a place for everything and everything in its place kind of guy -- then it's not unreasonably hazardous to store some powder and some primers in the garage in appropriate containers. If they are properly contained -- primers in their individual compartment trays and powder in the factory polyethylene bottles/jugs -- then the reloading flammables themselves don't present a high risk of ignition. They will always present some risk as an accelerant to fires started some other way.
If I had a fire in the garage, I would much rather have it hit a 1 pound bottle of powder than to have it hit a 1 gallon gasoline jug. The powder tends to stay put and doesn't produce flammable vapor. It just burns in place and produces hot gas and fumes. Gasoline leaks all over the place and when it's heated can quickly fill the whole room with an explosive vapor.
Storing a couple pounds of powder and 10,000 primers in their factory packaging, inside a vented steel cabinet in your garage is not irresponsible. Of course, if you pack your garage with 100 pounds of powder and 500,000 primers, you've got a serious problem waiting to happen.
Take other precautions to avoid non-reloading related fires in the garage. Don't store gasoline containers in there (other than the car's fuel tanks). Don't store propane tanks in there. If you do store aerosols or other flammable automotive products, keep them in a flammables cabinet. Be sure to have a smoke detector -- the photoelectric ones give few false alarms in a garage or kitchen environment compared to the ionization type. It's smart to have a CO detector and a flammable gas detector, especially if you have gas-fired equipment in there like a furnace or water heater. Keep other fuel to a minimum -- don't store lots of paper cartons and corrugated boxes or paper.
If I had a fire in the garage, I would much rather have it hit a 1 pound bottle of powder than to have it hit a 1 gallon gasoline jug. The powder tends to stay put and doesn't produce flammable vapor. It just burns in place and produces hot gas and fumes. Gasoline leaks all over the place and when it's heated can quickly fill the whole room with an explosive vapor.
Storing a couple pounds of powder and 10,000 primers in their factory packaging, inside a vented steel cabinet in your garage is not irresponsible. Of course, if you pack your garage with 100 pounds of powder and 500,000 primers, you've got a serious problem waiting to happen.
Take other precautions to avoid non-reloading related fires in the garage. Don't store gasoline containers in there (other than the car's fuel tanks). Don't store propane tanks in there. If you do store aerosols or other flammable automotive products, keep them in a flammables cabinet. Be sure to have a smoke detector -- the photoelectric ones give few false alarms in a garage or kitchen environment compared to the ionization type. It's smart to have a CO detector and a flammable gas detector, especially if you have gas-fired equipment in there like a furnace or water heater. Keep other fuel to a minimum -- don't store lots of paper cartons and corrugated boxes or paper.
Pat Riot
Contributing Member
I don’t store powder and primers in my garage because of the heat. My garage gets dang hot at times.
George P
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- Jan 10, 2018
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- 7,772
Lead dust hazard? You mean the graphite used to lubricate the shot? Unless your shot was oxidized, there is no lead "dust"
Charlie98
Member
Sooo... all those lead warnings on the shot bags are for nothing? So, that cloud of dust that poofs out of the shell when I drop the shot is perfectly benign?
I've used different shot in the years I loaded shotshell... some shot was beautiful, and others not so much. I find it unlikely there wouldn't be some residue of lead dust somewhere in the chain.
Demi-human
maybe likes firearms a little bit…
That LNL AP is going to be mighty cold in bed...
My reloading benches have always been in a garage (North Texas or North Arkansas) and I have never had a problem.
That does, of course, suggests you will establish - AND ACTUALLY FOLLOW - a set of risk reduction procedures. For example, never bring primers or powder to the bench except when it will be used (and after the primers have been taken away), and decant it back to its/their original container immediately after filing the powder measure.
Rigorous adherence to safety protocols (feel free to make your own; but make them stringent rather than permissive, as it is the people who ignored safety that now walk around with a white cane) should be required of everyone in the area - particularly you - as you are going to bear ultimate responsibility for what happens.
That does, of course, suggests you will establish - AND ACTUALLY FOLLOW - a set of risk reduction procedures. For example, never bring primers or powder to the bench except when it will be used (and after the primers have been taken away), and decant it back to its/their original container immediately after filing the powder measure.
Rigorous adherence to safety protocols (feel free to make your own; but make them stringent rather than permissive, as it is the people who ignored safety that now walk around with a white cane) should be required of everyone in the area - particularly you - as you are going to bear ultimate responsibility for what happens.
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