Having A Place To Reload Or Not

[Hvymax]

Ouch!

That way if I blow anything up we/they still have a place to live.

 

[the_leper_colony]

As I think @Hvymax mentioned above, a hand press is a great option if you're short of space. I was living in an apartment when I learned to reload, and for years got by with a Lee hand press, along with their "Speed Dies" (for handgun ammo) and a set of powder dippers. The Lee hand press is now available with their quick change bushing setup, so you can swap standard dies quickly, and a small digital scale works well with the powder dippers (which I still use frequently for trial loads). Bottom line, there's no practical reason not to do some reloading if you live in an apartment, and it doesn't require a lot of pounding or hammering, either.

As always IMHO, FWIW, YMMV, etc.

 

[Jeepnik]

Fortunately in SoCal the weather generally cooperates so my garage works just fine. But I use my garage for things other than reloading. I found I was having dust issues from those other pursuits. I put up a good wall betweenthe reloading area and the rest of the garage. I had been meaning to run the HVAC to the garage for years. Being attached to the house It was easy to tie into the HVAC and run it to the garage. I put one of the vents in the reloading room and another to the rest of the garage. By adjusting the registers I keep the reloading room at just a slightly higher pressure. This has worked well to keep the dust out.

So, I have a very nice, comfortable and well lit reloading area. But it wasn't always that way. Our first apartment after my discharge was small, as in not much more than a tiny studio (at least the bath ws separate). But I wanted to get back into reloading. It truly was kitchen table reloading. Our second at least had a separate bed and bath, but still table top reloading. We ate at the bar separating the kitchen from the "living room. The one big thing I learned with this small and temporary system was one keep it clean. I've seen loading benches that look like a four year old just got done with it. Oh, and I know what a four old can do to even the neatest loading bench.

 

[gunzo]

I guess I'll post this, just to show my progression from a closet. Iffin it were fer braggin, a few other members here can blow me out of the room.

 

[Bullthrower338]

I couldn't tell from the photo, but, I didn't recognize a 7.5x55 Swiss there.

I started with a Herter single stage about 65 years ago. I don't remember where I got it but it was one heavy iron press. Also a couple of Lee tools then on to RCBS Rockchucker and Lee single stage and ultimately Dillon 550. All worked and did their jobs.

There is a 7.5 die somewhere on the bench, came with the gun along with a pile of GP11 ammo that will probably never get shot up. Fun rifles

 

[GypsmJim]

I load in a basement and keep my boats and cars in a garage. At age 53 I was offered a HUGE promotion but would have had to move to a state where there were no basements and garages were sparse.

Had I moved my pension would be more than double what I have now. I didn't move. Gotta have your priorities straight.

I may have cash flow problems now in retirement, but my boats are still pristine and I got lots of boolits.

I started loading 38 spls with a whack-a-mole on Mom's quite stout kitchen table. The components and finished ammo were in a steel locker in my bedroom. If I HAD to I could do that today. However, my 26 calibers now take up a lot more room.

 

[Goldstar225]

Like many I started with the Lee whack a mole set up in .38 45 years ago. Advanced to a used Bonanza single stage (which I still have and use) that I set up on a GI foot locker. Turned out many rounds that way. A couple of years ago I got a Dillon 550C.

If you want to reload badly enough, you'll find a way. Unfortunately some will go without if they have to use modest means.

 

[Mobuck]

You are so neat and orderly. I can't bear to look for more than a few seconds

 

[krw]

Compared to most, I have lots of equip and components. But I went to an auction several years ago and HSCBM (Holy Smokin Cow Batman). It was surreal. Wood hav taken up 40x60 if organized. 4 Dillons, multiple single stage, 410-10ga and millions (s) components. Pr 50 cal presses. I bought 1/2 pickup ld of components. It was unreal

 

[Muley Gil]

I also started with a Lee Loader; mine was .45 Colt. I received a RCBS Jr press for Christmas that year. A friend & I built a very, very small bench that sat on the floor, as did the operator. I stored it and a large cardboard box full of reloading gear in my college dorm room closet. Obviously, this was many years ago (early '70s). We loaded many rounds of .45 Colt & ACP, as well as .243 Winchester and .45-70.

 

[Boxhead]

My youngest son tweaked one of these for his bench.

60 in., Three Drawer Hardwood Workbench

Amazing deals on this 60In 3 Drawer Hardwood Workbench at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

 

[eveled]

I'm not allowed to have a Garage or shop within 100' of the house.

When I built my workshop, I put it 200 feet from my house. I just finished the slab, had some friends helping with the walls.

My wife came out on the back porch and started yelling to get my attention. She was trying to tell me something.

I turned to my 2 friends and asked "Can you hear her?"

"No", "Nope".

"Well I guess its far enough away from the house!"

Back on topic, in the old westerns, they would sometimes show the main character reloading at the campfire. Even as a kid I thought that was a stretch.

I mean everthing he owns is in a saddle bag, but he had reloading gear?

 

[GasGuzzler]

I bolted a press to a 2X4 and clamped it to my kitchen table during recovery from a procedure that didn't allow me standing in the garage.

 

[Slyk Willy]

nice set-up. I'm still looking for UNIQUE powder for my recipes. no one around here (or on-line) seems to have it anymore.

 

[Hvymax]

nice set-up. I'm still looking for UNIQUE powder for my recipes. no one around here (or on-line) seems to have it anymore.

If you could find it just anywhere it wouldn't be Unique!!!

 

[tazbigdog]

Back in the day, in the basement, I had a donated dresser that I drilled holes in it for the Rock Chucker. Even had a cabinet to store all the 'other stuff.'

Then I found a friend who would reload for free, after I gave him bullets, primers and powder. I'd float him a Cabelas gift card now and then as appreciation for it.

 

[contender]

I see many of us started the same way,, limited space & equipment. I started while I was in the Army, sharing a small trailer with another soldier. I did a few loading sessions with my Lyman Spartan press clamped to a table,, but since space was an issue,, I built a foldable table for loading. (It was before the idea of a Black & Decker Workbench came about.)
Small, foldable, and stored easily.
As life changed,, so did my space-available living quarters. But I've had a dedicated space & hand built table since about 1984. Over the decades,, I've upgraded,, and enlarged a bit.

 

[the_leper_colony]

...in the old westerns, they would sometimes show the main character reloading at the campfire. Even as a kid I thought that was a stretch.

I mean everthing he owns is in a saddle bag, but he had reloading gear?

@Bob Wright mentioned using a tong tool, which I think is based on tools made back in the 1800s. Seems like I've read that the buffalo hunters in particular used to reload their spent cases, and there were definitely cartridge cases produced with reloading in mind (the extra-thick "Everlasting" variety). But reloading with black powder while sitting at a campfire? Not sure that would be wise - as Mom used to tell us, "You'll put your eye out!"

As always IMHO, FWIW, IIRC, YMMV, etc., etc.

 

[Mobuck]

OK, so where do you store the 5 gallon buckets of prepped brass and the 200# of powder, not to mention the several hundreds of pounds of bullets?

 

[the_leper_colony]

OK, so where do you store the 5 gallon buckets of prepped brass and the 200# of powder, not to mention the several hundreds of pounds of bullets?

Some folks who live in apartments might rent a storage unit: