Reloading on the road?

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twohightech

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Ok I’m thinking about driving a semi-truck OTR as a new job. Does anyone here reload/process brass, cast bullets, ect… while on the road? I know with powder & primers may not be good in the truck but processing 223 brass should able to be done? Same with casting then mail stuff home as I get them done. Casting will be harder finding power for the pot and vents. If I do this driving thing I need something to pass the time. By the time I do get home my prep work is done! This may not work but you never know until you ask?
 
My shooting partner is an OTR trucker. He takes his press and sizes brass at stops. He doesn't finish rounds, he doesn't want primers or powder in his cab.
 
I drive OTR,and am working on a setup to reload on the road.I would say forget about casting in your truck,not enough ventilation,not enough A/C power unless you have a huge inverter,and just not enough room to do it safely.Lee makes a hand press for about 30 dollars that uses standard dies.Several companies make hand priming tools.You can use a small tumbler with a smaller inverter,and hand trimmers are available.As for charging ,using scoops would be the easy way,but you could mount a thrower to a piece of 1 by 4 and clamp it to your cabinet in the sleeper.Most of the tools will fit in a large Tupperware-type container,and will fit under the bunk when not being used.As for primers and powder,keep them in the original containers and keep the quantities low,a pound or less powder and 300 primers or less and you won't have legal problems.As for safety,your time behind the wheel is much more hazardous than your time behind a reloading press.
 
I would say processing your brass on the road would be easy and like you said, when you get home you can finish the ammo. Processing the brass takes up most of the time anyway, loading is quick when the brass is ready to go...

I would start saving those 3lb coffee "cans" with the plastic covers. They work great for storing brass. I try to process all my rifle brass in the Winter and have it ready for loading, you can do the same when you're on the road.
 
Is it possible you might need to have hazmat endorsement, and placards, to have powder and primers on the truck?
 
Placards are necessary for commercial transporting of hazardous materials, not a pound of powder in the cab for personal use.

BUT, if you bring that truck anywhere near a port or truck stop where they use dogs for security the dogs will smell the powder and that would cause the OP all kinds of problems.
 
I would try to figure a way to get at least a single stage press in the cab. The hand presses get old and tiring very quickly. Except for the Dillon SDB, progressives are pretty large though.

Many, many years ago, i was relocating to a new job abd took reloading along for a pastime until my family caught up to me. i built a floor stand for the press and the process works so well, I still use the floor stand process.

The press, for most reloading operations, does not need to be anchored to the wall if the stand is properly designed. Heavy case forming and maybe some of the larger cartridges are the only operations where my stands might benefit from wall mounting.

My stand would not work in the cab of a truck, they are too big, but with some innovative design I am sure one could be designed and built.

The bomb sniffing dog thing might be a good reason to limit activities only to brass preparation.
 
Make a small pedestal and bolt it to the floor. There's probably something bolted down somewhere in there. Piggyback the pedestal on those bolts. If you use round steel tubing, you can go the next size up, and make a sleeve(drill a hole through the tube and weld a nut over it, use that for a setscrew) with a plate that slides over the pedestal. Bolt a small press(if you're not going to size the brass the little Lee c-frame would work for decapping) to the plate and slide it on and lock it down. IDK if this helps. I used something like that at the range. The tops of our shooting benches would come off and we made a portable top that way.
 
I would like to warn you that in most commie states(mine included) it is a felony to possess reloading components without a LTC.......brass is considered a component.


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Cmeboston said:
I would like to warn you that in most commie states(mine included) it is a felony to possess reloading components without a LTC.......brass is considered a component.


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Huh? I suspect you have been terribly mis-informed by someone along the way.

What state is that? LTC = License to Carry?
 
If you are going to be a independent contractor I see no problems. If you are going to be a company driver there is no way they will allow you to have gunpowder in your truck.
 
WNC Seabee said:
Huh? I suspect you have been terribly mis-informed by someone along the way.

What state is that? LTC = License to Carry?
Click to expand...

Sadly I'm an not mis-informed, we send swat teams to school when a .22 shell is found and lockdown malls cause someone had a samurai handle on their umbrella, I can't make this stuff up


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Cmeboston said:
Sadly I'm an not mis-informed, we send swat teams to school when a .22 shell is found and lockdown malls cause someone had a samurai handle on their umbrella, I can't make this stuff up


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What State is this?

I have time on my hands this morning and cannot find a single mention of any state that has outlawed reloading or reloading components. Please fill us all in so the OP doesn't drive through your state with a cab full of contraband...
 
WNC Seabee said:
What State is this?

I have time on my hands this morning and cannot find a single mention of any state that has outlawed reloading or reloading components. Please fill us all in so the OP doesn't drive through your state with a cab full of contraband...
Click to expand...

Massachusetts, they aren't outlawed, but without a firearms permit possession of reloading components, brass, primers, bullets powder etc is a FELONY charge here inthe commie wealth .


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It's for the children's saftey....our permits are FID, LTCA LTCB and are deemed by the chief of police in the town you live. Some towns gine LTC and some give restrictions, like sport and hunting. No mail order ammo or components. We still have the assault weapons ban in effect and severely limit the pistols dealer can sell with a BS consumer saftey law and approved firearms roster. All guns must be locked when not on your person, no new pistol mags above 10 rd capacity....... Want me to keep goin?


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It's for the children's saftey....our permits are FID, LTCA LTCB and are deemed by the chief of police in the town you live. Some towns gine LTC and some give restrictions, like sport and hunting. No mail order ammo or components. We still have the assault weapons ban in effect and severely limit the pistols dealer can sell with a BS consumer saftey law and approved firearms roster. All guns must be locked when not on your person, no new pistol mags above 10 rd capacity....... Want me to keep goin?
Click to expand...

So you cannot even have fired brass/empty shell casings without a permit? I would have to see this in writing someplace (not doubting it, but it seems a little reaching)...
 
My Son's and I used to drive down the road reloading shotshells to hunt with for the day. We had a portable set up with the 600 Jr. that fit nicely in the van.
 
Ummmmm, I would do it in the ditch, "on the road", you could get run over!:neener::evil: Aw come on, somebody else though of saying that!?:cool:

I have the lee hand press set-up for loading at the range. Usually just powder, scoops and bullets for already prepped cases to investigate different seating depths/powder charges.

I've also sized a lot of different cases, including 45/70 brass, it has plenty of oomph to do it.
 
Jmorris, that is almost identical to the rig I had that fit the benches at my old range. That was a good set-up. The biggest difference was that the tubes were round. This allowed the top to swivel. It bothered me in the beginning. Then I noticed that it took less movement of my arm to use the press. For someone with joint pain it might be just the ticket.
That's a nice rig.
 
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