Reloading Room/Bench Setups

Rammer

New member
Hey fellas, I had to completely gut out my basement this spring (concrete and all) and re-do everything else down there. I made 2 reloading/gun rooms in my new "man cave" I am to the point of having to make 2 new reloading tables/benches. I am looking for opinions, pictures, ideas on how to set them up.

Let's get the ideas flowing!
 
Give yourself plenty of room you never know how it will grow.

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I could use another 4' for shotgun stuff now
 
My "room" is 10' x 12' and I have three benches and some storage shelving in it...

As you walk in the door, to the left is my cleaning/gun maintenance bench...It's one that I got at Sams Club with the matching roll around cabinet..Really solid and very sturdy..I keep all my primers and powder in the cabinet..

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Straight ahead is my general use bench that holds my brass cleaners and miscellaneous tools (it's been re-organized since this pic)..The shelving is now over next to the one on the first bench...

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To the right is my actual reloading bench and die/brass storage...

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As stated in posts above, allow more room than you think you might need...It will fill up quickly..
 
The wheels are a turning in my head now! Before I used and old kitchen top that had cabinets under/above it. Just wasn't enough room.

My room is 8x16 that I made just for reloading/guns. I also left myself 3ft by 8ft of wall space in my "utility" room for reloading benches.

I am doing all my trim in my basement with natural pine trim, and just clear coating it. I was trying to decide if I wanted to do the same with my benches or just go to Menards and pick up a bunch of counter top and cabinets.
 
I have posted this before but here is 1/2 of mine. It is clutterd but In the process of changing a few things. The counter top was given to me by my parents when they redid their kitchen and it has worked well for what I need it for. I need a couple cabinets to put some of the stuff out of sight.

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Originally Posted By: dan brothersWOW... what a wonderful setup.... are those Olympic Medals..

Thanks for the compliment.

There are about 70 in those pictures and I've got eight more I need to get out of the box and hang. The medals are from the Arizona Police and Fire Games, some Regional P&F Games and one from the last Senior Olympics. They cover everything from individual Bullseye/L-Matches to 3 Gun and Sniper competitions. I've done OK for an old man.
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Greg
 
Greg, not sure which caught my eye more, the medals, the number of presses, or that honey on September's calendar! I don't blame you for not changing the month since 2009!!
 
Originally Posted By: BubbaChickenGreg, not sure which caught my eye more, the medals, the number of presses, or that honey on September's calendar! I don't blame you for not changing the month since 2009!!

It's been awhile since it's been that clean. Like I said not big enough as I've added a press and a few medals since then and about ten more die sets for the wildcats I'm playing with.
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Greg
 
The slow and steady bench
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The production bench
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Storage
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Drawers are very (forgive me for the red .444 Marlin set contaminating my otherwise clean green dies...they were on sale and included free bullets...they sure aren't as nice as my RCBS dies and I won't repeat that mistake)
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The cabinet side is good for bulk storage....you can never have too many bins for keeping brass...works great
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A label printer is also a valuable asset for reloading...makes keeping your loads in order easy
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All my electrical doo dads get put in boxes and stored in a closet when not in use (Giraud trimmer, RCBS Chargemaster,...stuff that is more easily damaged)
 
Originally Posted By: BubbaChickendang, man, how many presses do you need? LOL

I've done a bit of competitive shooting and when you do that changing things is a pain. Rather than change plates/dies I preferred to just buy another press. One of those Dillon 300's is set for 45 ACP, another for 38 Special and another for 223/random stuff. The 45 and 38 have not had a change done to them in going on 20 years. I will change out the seater die on the 38 from WC's to RN's and the powder disk but that is it. I'll pull the 45 dies off to clean the lube etc. out of the seater about once a year. The 650 does great for large quantities of ammo and for rapid processing like sizing/trimming 223 or decapping prior to cleaning. The AA turrets act as my Onsey Twosey presses and my low quantity load work ups. The Star is a pure dedicated 9X21 set up for IPSC. The shotgun preses are a tad different. The 9000G is for skeet/sporting clays and doves. The little MECs are one for 2" 12's for IPSC and the other is to feed my 28 gauge CZ. Of course the 550 gets used for large runs of pistol stuff frequently.


I finally, after 25 years or so, bought a single stage Rock Chucker and it does some things when I am doing testing or need to pull bullets down. Not a lot of use but handy to have. I;ve got a Big Max over in the corner for swaging cases for a wildcat 9 MM I shoot at times.

How many do you need? Usually it's about one more than you have.
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Greg
 
Here is a pic of my current reloading setup/bench.
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I am very limited to space & feel that I have enough room with the way my bench is setup. The only two pieces of equipment that are bolted down and are permanent are my powder dispenser and press. Everything else can be shuffled around to fit my ever changing desires. I have overhead cabinets for storage, a shelf below for storage, and lots of lighting. The top measures roughly 46" wide X 23" deep. I have metal L brackets fastened to the legs that are bolted to the concrete floor. It is a ROCK SOLID setup!

I usually keep the case tumbler stored on the shelf below, but threw it on top for the pic just to give a better idea of my available work space. Also, when trimming brass with my case trimmer I clamp it down to the top during trimming operations. When done, it gets removed & stored in the cabinets above.

Would I have a larger bench if I could? He11 yes, I would! I wouldn't be down in the old limestone cellar, either, if it was up to me.
 
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