RELOADING ROOM TEMPERATURE??

[74man]

I live in Northern California and the Temperature this time of year gets into the 60"s and rainy. I am wondering what the Temperature in my garage should be when I want to reload? Also what should the Humidity be? I usually load when the temps are around the high 60's and low 70's but now the air is moist and the ground wet from dew in the mornings so should I wait till the temp get higher in the afternoon or will the temp and humidity make any difference because of where I live. I live about 50 miles northeast of San Francisco and about 50 miles southwest of Sacramento. Thanks, 74 man

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

I run a dehumidifier. 24/7. In the winter the temps go down to 50 when im not working. Summer time it gets in the 90's. Until i turn on the AC. When im working in the room. I like 65-75 degrees.

 

[rperyam]

I live an hour north of Sacramento. I reload year round in my garage. When over 100 degrees or below 60 degrees I may not be out very long. I have a heater from Costco and a fan. Both get a workout when needed. I don't worry about the damp weather. I store my powder in my house, everything else has a place in the garage.

 

[Bazoo]

Ambient temp makes no difference in loading. But it does affect rounds being fired. The hair dryer I use to warm my lubesizer is just about right on a cool day here.

 

[Zendude]

It shouldn’t make any difference. Just don’t leave the bottle of powder open all day. When I reload, it’s either hot and humid or cold and humid.

 

[bullseye308]

I load in the living room, 72-74 all year round and very low humidity. Any chance you could do all the brass prep outside and just the add powder/seat bullet part inside?

Shouldn’t really affect anything like you are doing it, I have loaded at the range hot, cold, and moist with no discernible differences.

 

[Atavar]

I load in my garage. In the winter here in the great white north outside can get to -40°F. The garage heater doesn’t really keep up. If it’s cold out I’ll run the heater for a couple hours and start loading after the garage gets to 45°F. If I’m not loading the heater is off and the garage cools to ambient.
So far I haven’t run in to any problems. Primer and powder don’t seem to mind being frozen and thawed.

 

[JimKirk]

I live in South Georgia and reload in enclosed shelter ....it can be from cold to 90 degrees .... I use a propane heater on the cold days and run a fan on the hot days ....

Never had any problems related to temperature .... except on my body ...

 

[bdb242]

I load in my basement; lucky me. De-humidifier always pluged in and ready, heated and cooled to 66 in winter and 76 in summer. No issues with any ammo, rust, corrosion, powder life or anything. Yes, I am a lucky guy.

 

[lordpaxman]

My reloading area is currently at 52 F with 76 % H. It’s a back mud room with just convection heating, but it does have electricity. It’s going to be a sunny day so I’ll get some solar heating later.
As long as your powder is flowing freely, reload away. Good luck.

 

[LiveLife]

I live in Northern California and the Temperature this time of year gets into the 60"s and rainy. I am wondering what the Temperature in my garage should be when I want to reload? Also what should the Humidity be?

Temperature of the reloading area should be whatever is comfortable or tolerable for the reloader ... same for humidity.

I live in Northwest coast and it gets down to 40s-50s during winter rainy season with 100% humidity; but I reload indoors and do not hesitate to reload regardless of humidity levels but make sure powder in the hopper is returned to factory container when I am done with reloading session.

Since primers are sealed with moisture barrier/sealant, I don't do anything special other than keeping them sealed inside plastic bags with as much air removed. (To be honest, open boxes of primers kept on bench all have gone bang) If you have any concerns for humidity/condensation, you can store your powder/primers indoors and reload in the garage.

 

[crestoncowboy]

When I was between houses and building my current one, my progressive presses were in a building . Primers in the press. Powder in the press...for months set up. (I know I know) it was crazy hot and rained daily, which didn't speed up the building process one bit.

The ammo worked perfectly fine.

 

[mdi]

I'm in Southern Coastal Oregon, roughly 7 miles north from the CA/OR border. Current temp is 45 degrees. Yep, pretty wet, rainy, and just about 1,000 yards from the beach. I have been reloading here in my shed for 11 years and have had no ill affects on my handloads. I keep a small room heater in the "shop" for my comfort but nothing for the humidity. My components are in original boxes and jugs and seem to still work (some left over fom So. CA and 20+ years old). Retired from my job and since our move to OR I have reloaded a lot, as I have plenty of time (I also got involved with 9mm and now have 5 guns in that caliber to shoot). No problems associated with weather. Except getting wet running from the back door to the shed...

 

[AJC1]

I do all the mechanical work in the garage and in Memphis its plenty humid and hot. Single digits aren't exactly taking any records here for sure. I prime powder and install bullets inside the ac. The few minutes it takes outside at the press I'm sure isnt changing much. My batch bullets stay inside and get seated on the arbor press.

 

[scotty]

I now reload indoors, but for 20 years or so I did it in the garage. The weather at my house is very similar to yours. I never paid attention to humidity, just temperature to make myself as comfortable as possible. I stored my primers and powder inside and took what was necessary into the garage when it was time to reload. I never had a problem with any of my loads.

I remember once I was loading a bunch of .40 for USPSA matches on a cold and stormy night. I was freezing my butt even with my box heater running full blast. I took a look and discovered a garage vent right under my loading bench. Leaning a piece of plywood over the vent solved the problem, or at least made it so the wind wasn't blowing right onto my feet.

 

[Bcwitt]

If you store your components (primers & powder) in something like an old refidgerator, I dont think I'd worry about it. A bag of rice would be a sufficient desiccant for most climates.

 

[JO JO]

I live in the north west gets cold and wet
I reload in my garage
But store powder and primers in the house
I do keep.my range ammo in the reloading reloading area in the garage
Never had an issue

 

[Rule3]

High humidity will deteriorate you matches and enhance corrosion if they have been used in a firearm

 

[armydog]

I do all my reloading inside. The only problem I've had is with a oscillating fan across the room and when the central a/c comes on. The slightest bit of movement in the air affects my scales. I figured that out early on though. Just point your space heaters away.

I store my powder and primers in ziplocs and inside coolers in the garage that is somewhat temp controlled. I'll bring the powder and primers inside the day before so there is no drastic temp swing inviting condensation when I open things up... bullets and cases are already inside.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

I reload outside on nice days - no or low wind, sunny, low humidity (for Florida), low pollen (ditto) - with good result for many years. Nitro powders are stored in water to keep them from degrading and primers are sealed with a lacquer sheathing so humidity shouldn't be an issue for powder or primer. What humidity does effect is how "fluffy" the powder throws which effects charges but more importantly, it hurts brass and copper. Any kind of dampness can cause the copper in brass and bullet jackets to form verdigris: copper carbonate, copper oxide, copper acetate, if there are any acidic or salt-based impurities on them. All forms of verdigris from copper exposure to salts and acids will eventually destabilize nitro. That's the problem, really: if you sweat into your work or handle brass casings and copper jackets with sweaty hands, your are sealing acids and salts into the cartridge. That's a big no-no. It's not the environment that can damage reloading components, it's what the environment does to the reloader handling the reloading components that does damage.

 

[375supermag]

Hi...
I built a reloading/hobby room in my attached two car garage about 20years ago.
Heat and air conditioning are ducted in from the house central heat/ac unit.
70°F and constant humidity all the time.

 

[Jim Watson]

Nitro powders are stored in water to keep them from degrading

You do? I have read of Hercules/Alliant keeping some hundred year old powder under water and occasionally drying some out and loading a round to show it still works, but I never heard of anybody doing that at home.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

You do? I have read of Hercules/Alliant keeping some hundred year old powder under water and occasionally drying some out and loading a round to show it still works, but I never heard of anybody doing that at home.

No, I follow the manufacturers recommendation to leave it in the factory container. I also weigh EVERY charge thrown and do not use automated powder dispensers. I also only dispense from the bottle exactly enough powder to charge the cases I intend to load in that session. That's just me, though. Like I always say, don't do what I do, it might not work for you.

Cited as an example of how low the hygroscopic properties of nitrocellulose is compared to black powder or other typically "dry" materials. Water won't degrade the powder but the powder being damp will accelerate the degradation of surrounding objects it come into contract with. If that doesn't make sense you can search for documentation on the storage and hygroscopic properties of nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine. There's lots of books on the subject and the armed forces have all conducted extensive research and published white papers on the proper storage and application of smokeless powders starting around 1890.

 

[koni]

I live up in the PNW and I reload and store all my powders in the shop. During the winter times when I’m reloading I use a propane heater to heat the shop, summer months I just open the doors. Primers are kept in a safe I have bolted down.

 

[doubleh]

My garage has a well insulated room and that is where my reloading is done. It has a window mounted AC unit for those 100+ days and I use a little catalytic heater in the winter when it is chilly. Humidity is not a problem here. I also do my tinkering in the same room. I have found in the last few years that I can put off tinkering and reloading chores when the weather is really extreme on either end of the thermometer.

The garage part is unheated and that is where my power tools are set up. I have a swamp cooler that lets me work on really hot days and also provides ventilation for bullet casting. If it is really cold things just get put off till the weather warms up. Bullet casting moves outside in winter on warmer days.

A nice thing about retirement is it gives you time to put some things off until the weather is more to your liking.