Ideas for a reloading room?

devildogg

New member
My wife and I just purchased a new to us home and there is a room that I'd like to convert to my man room. Its roughly 14'x11' it has a patio door on the long wall and a walk through door on the other long door. I'm kinda looking for ideas on how to turn it into my reloading room man cave kinda space. I want some counter tops and cabinets and such in there. And I would like to hang my deer mounts and some other critters I've taken along the way too in there. If any of you guys would have a little advice on some things you've done or ideas on what you'd wish you would have done I'm all ears. I'm pretty handy at a lot of this kinda of stuff but I'm just not really creative enough to come up with ideas for something like this!!!
 
I like the look of the benches that allow you to slide in and out different reloading presses as needed. The bench top is made of maybe 4 layers of thicker plywood. As you lay each layer down they are cut to a specific pattern to allow room for a (male) piece to be slid in later that is connected to your reloading equipment. Poorly described but I'm not very good posting on my cell phone. Congrats on the new pad Damon.
 
Lots of light. LED is preferred as it doesn't interfere with electronic scales if you have one. Make an peninsula type part of your bench for cleaning am firearm maintenance...easier reach. As much storage as you can feasibly make.
 
I can only show you a couple of mine...With a few comments on WHY...
My first was an 8'x10' space in the basement of our old home that was cabbaged out of the end of a storage space...
Reloading bench and case prep area..Brass management

Cleaning Station..


When we moved to FL a couple of years ago (no basement), I brought in a 12'x30' storage shed and converted 18' into my 'work shop' and reloading room that is insulated and wired.....We were remodeling the kitchen and I kept the majority of the wall and base cabinets for my shop...The building is climate controlled with automatic Heat/AC. Dehumidifier, and Ion Air cleaner...I keep the humidity between 40 and 50 percent and the temperature is maintained at 77 degrees unless I'm using it and need a temporary change..

Power Tool bench (left) and Reloading station (right)


Reloading Station (left) Cleaning Station (Right), Wall cabinets at the far end are storage for bullets, primers, brass, and powder...



Sorry about the clutter, but I was in the middle of a couple of projects when I took the photos...Note the rifle stock hanging in the first photo...
 
Devil Dog, if you could swap your rooms around, I would not want a patio door opening to my man cave. Prying eyes would go wild if they looked in. Be sure to secure that door.
 
The only two suggestions I can give you is to have plenty of storage for your dies, brass, powder, primers etc., preferably in cabinets you can lock and two, make sure your bench is solid and rock steady. I would suggest anchoring your bench into your wall studs. There is nothing more frustrating than a bench that moves while you are resizing/priming etc.

I built the top of my bench out of an old bowling lane and then used 4x4's for the legs and 2x6's for the frame. I used leg levelers on the bottom of the 4x4 legs. Mine is 11 feet long and one end is for reloading and the other end is my work bench. That bowling lane is so heavy it took four of us to even lift it and once I got it set up in place and leveled in my heated garage, I can tell you it does not move a bit when I am reloading.

I have four hanging cabinets I got from the car guy garage website and I lock them through the handles with the cable firearm locks. I love my setup but as with anything, it is a personal preference.
 
I've found that gun/reloading/man cave rooms are just like gun safes, you always need them to be bigger than you originally think. I keep telling my wife I'm certain my gun room is shrinking and she keeps telling me, no you just keep adding my sheet to it, then rolls her eyes and walks off. Pfff, women, what does she know....
crazy.gif
 
Keep these three words in mind as you plan out your room........STORAGE, STORAGE, STORAGE. You'll be a lot happier in the long run.



Here Kitty Kitty
 
The peninsula is a great idea Masterblaster has that. A loading dock light mounted to the ceiling or an aim able track light. I like LED but they have a shadow. But you can buy LED bulbs for a Track light or dock style light. Gives you the opportunity to really light your work area.
 
Consider making a storage area in your garage right now....surplus...stuff gets real bulky in a hurry. That patio door is going to take up a lot of wall space, no cabinet or shelves in that area.
 
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