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Reloading

Loader, that is.

A friend of mine was looking to offload his Hornady Lock-N-Load press and I jumped at the opportunity. So now I don’t have an excuse for not loading up a bajillion rounds a week and hitting the range a lot more often.

I love my Lee Turret press. It got me into reloading and did a good enough job. I will keep the press as a single stage for doing rifle loads, but the Hornylady is going to be my financial savior for competition. Then again, it could possibly be my financial ruin as I seriously consider running my Glock 20 at IDPA.

Part of my task now is to figure out an inexpensive (read – culled together from free shit) way to mount the press on something that can be wheeled around. It gets stinking hot in the garage so I’d like to be able to sit inside and load but as I don’t have dedicated space, it would need to be able to be wheeled back out when I’m done.

Any ideas?

posted @ 1/23/2012 9:03:24 AM

Comments

AughtSix says:

on 1/23/2012 9:37:41 AM

I mounted mine to a big piece of thick plywood. (The nice kind, so it lies flatter on the table) The wood is then clamped (with some of those soft-jawed quick-clamps) to my workbench. The idea was to be able to move it off the bench to make room, but I've just left it there. Back when I lived in an apartment, I did the same with my press and clamped it to the dining room table. That actually worked quite well.

Laughingdog says:

on 1/23/2012 9:40:36 AM

Take two pieces of plywood, or other wood of similar thickness and laminate them together. This lets you have the bolted on and enough thickness to have the bolt heads on the bottom counter-sunk.

Size the base such that you can just clamp it onto something sturdy inside, and then store it on a shelf when you aren't using it. I would suggest you do not store it in the garage. The humidity can be murder on the steel. Trying to sand rust out of the inside of a die is not fun. Steel, gunpowder, and primers survive much better inside.

BTW, if you get a Lone Wolf barrel, you can run lead. I get 1000 147gr lead bullets from GA Arms for $56. Add in the cost of primers and powder, and my 9mm runs me $0.10/round.

PT says:

on 1/23/2012 10:55:10 AM

After you get set up check out these threads:

$28 bullet feeder: http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_6_42/349969__28_00_Bullet_feeder_for_Any_Progressive.html

Homemade Case feeder: http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_6_42/325110_My_homemade_case_feeder_.html

I have the homemade bullet feeder for my LNL AP. It is the best $28 spent on the machine for any accessory.
I'm still working on the case feeder.

Also this site is a handy resource as well: http://ultimatereloader.com/

Congrats. Enjoy the red kool-aid!

Homer says:

on 1/23/2012 10:57:09 AM

Having recently escaped from Florida after 20 years, I think I'm qualified to comment.

First, 5 gallon buckets, in which one stores cleaned brass ("cleaned" means washed, dried, tumbled, and stored in 2 gallon ziplock freezer bags). Cleaning can be accomplished year-round in FL.

Second, purchasing reloading supplies (power, primers, bullets) in quantity to minimize the hateful HAZMAT charges when you're ready to start reloading. Storing primers and powder in the heat and humidity of a Florida garage is a no-no.

Third, do your reloading between November and April. In Virginia where I had a constant-temperature, low humidity basement I could turn out a couple hundred rounds whenever I needed them. In Florida I quickly learned to reload a season's worth of ammo during Nov-April in large batches (occasionally I was forced to assemble a couple hundred of these or those in the summer, but I minimized those events).

If I had not had a fast progressive press before I moved to Florida I would certainly have bought one soon after.

1911Man says:

on 1/23/2012 12:36:52 PM

I prefer to NOT use a bullet feeder. I use the manual bullet placement as a final checkpoint to visually confirm that the right amount of powder has been dispensed. Sure, it slows things down a tad, but I reckon it costs me less total time (and it's only garage time) than the time I'd lose at the range if I had a squib. Not to mention the time and money and flesh lost if there were a double-charge...

DirtCrasher says:

on 1/23/2012 1:07:13 PM

I put my single-stage on a kitchen-cabinet from Target (and thanks Brownells!). It could have casters on the bottom but it doesn't. The weight of brass and lead in the bottom section helps keep it steady.

Skip says:

on 1/23/2012 3:18:09 PM

I bolted mine to a portable work bench I bought at Home Depot. The wheels lock and the top is 1 1/2" thick. Sturdy as hell.

DC says:

on 1/23/2012 5:54:50 PM

Go to your local Lowes and get some 2x4 studs, 1/2" plywood, and dryboard, Simpson bracket ties, and deck screws. Use the 2x4s and brackets to screw together your reloading table. Plan ahead and you can make a full-size "shelf" to keep your stuff on about 18" up on the legs (my table is 40" high so I can work standing). Cut the plywood to fit the top and screw it in place. Cover the top with the smooth dryboard and use nail brads to hold it on. Total cost: about $50 and a couple hours to screw it together. If you laminate a couple 2x4s in where you need to bolt on the press it's quite solid. I'll take pix if you need.

Duane says:

on 1/23/2012 10:09:27 PM

I am working on adding a 3: pipe ferrule with a threaded plate to mount mine in the garage. For mobility consider a pipe welded through the center of an old truck rim with a flat plate on top to mount the press.

Darren says:

on 1/24/2012 11:07:28 AM

Robb,

I've collected pictures of others' reloading benches for years now and have several photos and documents of portable bench ideas. You should be able to glean some useful ideas from them.

All photos and documents are the property of their original owners. I make no claims to ownership or copyright on anything you see on the linked page.

Regards,
Darren

http://www.sargenthome.com/images/mypics/hobbies/reloading/default.asp

Just cancel the password prompt. I don't have the enerty to troubleshoot that at the moment.

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