Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles NEW RELOADING ROOM

I am in the process of building a new reloading room. I need some ideas and designing the room . The room will be 12x12 I just don't know where to start pics or drawing will be appreciated.

Thanks MTHunter

MTH,very nice,,and it sounds like you will have plenty of room.
I have a question, will this new space also hold your gun safe and a work bench along with the reloading area?
In my basement backroom, I have those items.
A 5 foot long work bench,,,,then on the other side I have a 3 foot square reloading "table" with shelves on the wall behind it,,and then on a third wall I have the gun safe,....
Fourth wall was a few mounted trophies.
Anyway, I think you have a nice amount of space.

Sorta junky, but it works for me.

I used thick flooring plywood for the bench, 30" deep and counter height. I built 12" deep shelves of 3/4" plywood as you see. Lots of storage and it works well, I think the room width is 12".

You gotta leave room for safes and the door.

DF

while I've done it from one portable bench, in a basement, used a spare bedroom etc. I kind of like the latest version better. Not especially good pics but a couple randoms.

Mt, Ain't big enough, you'll see!-Muddy

Nice tool chest--Gerstner?

Thanks, H. Gerstner & Sons on the tag...

Entirely too neat!

Yep.

And fancy...

Not crude...

DF

pics of my hangout:


















dave

Nice.

But, maybe a bit on the neat side...

I refer to my photo for Kosher neatness index...

DF

DF, you would feel right at home in another room in the house where the bulk storage resides. I decided to try it one project at a time in a separate room and decided I kind of like it.

If you can give us a bit more info, it will point folks in the right direction re advice..There are alos lots of pics already on the Net if you search with google or bing image function.

So, how much hand loading do you actually do? Roughly how many calibres? Rifle? Pistol, Shot gun? Do you see yourself expanding on this in the future?

I don’t have any pics handy here, but my set-up is very modest as I only reload for a handful of rifles and I am primarily a hunter rather than a ranger shooter, so don’t go through lots of ammo..

When I started, I used a small (3’ 6” long) computer desk that I converted with one press mounted. It worked, but was too low to be comfortable, even when sitting in a normal office type chair.

My current bench is again made from repurposed salvaged office furniture. Its about 6’ long and 24” deep and again has just one press permanently mounted on it. Underneath are two sets of office draws that I use for storage.

For me, this set-up works ok, although when I move house I will add extra storage..That to me is one of the key things..you see a lot of pics of really big reloading rooms with lots of benches, but they are buried under “stuff” and are therefore not really usable. I would prefer less bench space, but keep it clear and clutter free by having lots of decent storage.

Before starting on the bench, I would decide on the working height. If you want to reload sitting down, I would actually start by finding a suitable chair or stool and then design/ build the bench to suit that. I built mine bench about counter top height, but then realised the office chair I was using would not adjust high enough! It took me ages to find one that work and in hind sight it would have been easier to do things the other way around.

In my next house I also intend to build a dedicated rifle cleaning/smithing station.

It will be in the form of a moveable trolly/bench on locking castors, with a top about 4’ x 2’ and the same height as my main bench..The idea is that when in use I can move it into the room to form an island work space, but otherwise leave it parked against a wall out of the way..

What, no big screen?

Y'all too plush and fancy...

A man could get plum sorry with all that finery and neatness...

DF

I have been reloading for years and reload for every thing from 223 to 358 STA . I JUST MOVED TO A NEW HOME AND IT HAS A 24X24 SHOP .. I will be running electrical next week. The old reloading bench was 6' long and I had brass, powder, bullets stashed every were. I will have a gun safe

Well, this sounds lika real opportunity to spread your wings and create an even larger area of choas than previous.

DF

My only suggestion would be to have your powder storage in a separate, dedicated cabinet, preferable in another, but nearby, room. I had a cabinet made of 1 1/8 " plywood (couldn't find 1" in town) to hold my powder, and though my reloading room is in a small workroom in the basement, I keep the cabinet in another basement room. When I'm reloading, only the powder I'm using is even in the room with me....the rest is away from the reloading area. No mistakes dumping the powder measure for me!

I just repurposed a retail chocolate bar display turnstile for my loading room to hold dies and projectiles.
My bench is an old kitchen counter with 4x4 legs and huge marble slab for my scale.
I store tools in cigar box's, brass is kept in large coffee cans.
My honest suggestion is to go slow and only buy what you absolutely have to.