How important is it to have your reloading area in an environmentally controlled room? I have a great storage room in my basement (4 concrete walls) but no heat/AC. Thinking of putting my reloading set-up in there, but would have to put a space heater of some kind for the winter. Any comments?
Reloading bench in unheated store room.
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contender
Ruger Guru
I'd look at the humidity level in that area as my FIRST priority.
Rainman
Blackhawk
I have my shop in a full basement with poured walls. Fortunately I have absolutely no humidity or moisture issues so other than being cold in the winter (never gets below about 50) , it's the best shop I have ever had. This time of year, it is such a pleasent place to work with a cool, constant temperature (I'm over 2,000' above sea level.)
Contender is right- control the moisture (dehumidifier) and you will be fine.
Dan
Contender is right- control the moisture (dehumidifier) and you will be fine.
Dan
I have this same issue, since my reloading bench is in an unheated/unACed detached garage.
A few things to watch out for. Keep a GOOD coat of BreakFree or some other rust preventative in the steel parts of your press when not actually reloading. I bought a brand new Hornady LNL AP press a few years ago, set it up and went to work. Took a break (which unintentionally turned out to be a few days), came back and all the steel parts were coated with rust. Came off easy with BreakFree and a little steel wool, but it was definately panic time when I first saw it. The humidity and fingerprints sure did a job on it! Now, I keep a coat of BreakFree on the steel parts and haven't had a single rust problem. Just wipe the BreakFree off, load, then use something like a plumbing acid brush to coat the parts again.
During the winter, even if the air is pretty dry, watch out for flash rust if you start a heater up in your reloading area. When I was younger and living with my parents, I had a press set up in their barn, which was also unheated/unACed. Turned on a propane heater in the dead of winter and worked on sorting brass for a while till the area warmed up. I found flash rust forming in just 30 or so minutes because the cold steel "sweated" when exposed to the hot air coming off of the propane heater because of the temp differential. I moved the heater to a different spot, so that the hot air wasn't blowing directly on the press and it could heat up slowly as the air heated up and never had any trouble again.
I have heard stories about dead primers when reloading in extremely humid conditions from the moisture penetrating the priming compound before the primers can be seated, the powder dropped and the bullet seated. I've never had any trouble with this, so I don't know if it is true or not, but it's something to watch out for in extremely humid conditions.
Make sure that you keep your powder and primers stored in the house itself, not in the basement. Powder can get damp and clump and, I suppose, the primers can become damp and dead in extremely humid conditions if left there long enough. I accidentally left a cardboard can of powder in the barn at my parent's house all summer one time and found that the powder had become damp and clumped. When I took the powder and primers in the climate controlled house with me when I was done, I never had any trouble at all.
Easiest thing to do would be to see if you can put a heat/AC duct (or more, depending on the size of the basement) into the basement. This would take care of the heat and AC problem and would also likely take care of a lot of the moisture problems with the AC running. I don't know how feasible this is for you, but it's something to consider. Even running a fan would help out a lot, since it would keep the air moving. If the basement is really damp, here's something that can help. Get some pure calcium chloride (used as an ice melter and as an additive in concrete during the winter, should be available at home improvement/hardware stores) and put a cup full or so in an old sock, the amount isn't important at all, just leave enough room to tie off the sock and hang it. Tie the sock off and hang the sock over a bucket. The calcium chloride will absorb the moisture in the air and drip into the sock. When the bucket starts getting full, dump it and start again. When the sock starts getting empty, refill it and hang again. This method works REAL WELL for damp/musty basements. My dad did this for years, before they got central air in their house, and it works every time. Just remember to get PURE calcium chloride for this purpose, not one of the mixed/blended ice melters.
Good luck with your setup. Just take steps to control the moisture and you should be OK in the basement.
Bub
A few things to watch out for. Keep a GOOD coat of BreakFree or some other rust preventative in the steel parts of your press when not actually reloading. I bought a brand new Hornady LNL AP press a few years ago, set it up and went to work. Took a break (which unintentionally turned out to be a few days), came back and all the steel parts were coated with rust. Came off easy with BreakFree and a little steel wool, but it was definately panic time when I first saw it. The humidity and fingerprints sure did a job on it! Now, I keep a coat of BreakFree on the steel parts and haven't had a single rust problem. Just wipe the BreakFree off, load, then use something like a plumbing acid brush to coat the parts again.
During the winter, even if the air is pretty dry, watch out for flash rust if you start a heater up in your reloading area. When I was younger and living with my parents, I had a press set up in their barn, which was also unheated/unACed. Turned on a propane heater in the dead of winter and worked on sorting brass for a while till the area warmed up. I found flash rust forming in just 30 or so minutes because the cold steel "sweated" when exposed to the hot air coming off of the propane heater because of the temp differential. I moved the heater to a different spot, so that the hot air wasn't blowing directly on the press and it could heat up slowly as the air heated up and never had any trouble again.
I have heard stories about dead primers when reloading in extremely humid conditions from the moisture penetrating the priming compound before the primers can be seated, the powder dropped and the bullet seated. I've never had any trouble with this, so I don't know if it is true or not, but it's something to watch out for in extremely humid conditions.
Make sure that you keep your powder and primers stored in the house itself, not in the basement. Powder can get damp and clump and, I suppose, the primers can become damp and dead in extremely humid conditions if left there long enough. I accidentally left a cardboard can of powder in the barn at my parent's house all summer one time and found that the powder had become damp and clumped. When I took the powder and primers in the climate controlled house with me when I was done, I never had any trouble at all.
Easiest thing to do would be to see if you can put a heat/AC duct (or more, depending on the size of the basement) into the basement. This would take care of the heat and AC problem and would also likely take care of a lot of the moisture problems with the AC running. I don't know how feasible this is for you, but it's something to consider. Even running a fan would help out a lot, since it would keep the air moving. If the basement is really damp, here's something that can help. Get some pure calcium chloride (used as an ice melter and as an additive in concrete during the winter, should be available at home improvement/hardware stores) and put a cup full or so in an old sock, the amount isn't important at all, just leave enough room to tie off the sock and hang it. Tie the sock off and hang the sock over a bucket. The calcium chloride will absorb the moisture in the air and drip into the sock. When the bucket starts getting full, dump it and start again. When the sock starts getting empty, refill it and hang again. This method works REAL WELL for damp/musty basements. My dad did this for years, before they got central air in their house, and it works every time. Just remember to get PURE calcium chloride for this purpose, not one of the mixed/blended ice melters.
Good luck with your setup. Just take steps to control the moisture and you should be OK in the basement.
Bub
Jimbo357mag
Hawkeye
I have just the opposite problem, loading in a garage in hot humid south Florida. Cool and dry is not a problem. I think if it is comfortable enough for you, it should be fine for reloading. I keep all my powder, primers and finished ammo in the house. 
...Jimbo
...Jimbo
redhawker
Buckeye
One of the only advantages to living in California. Temperature isn't an issue. The garage I reload in is probably between 55 to 80 - in most cases between 65 and 75 - 95% of the time.
I've been reloading in my garage for a few years and have not had any problems using a space heater in the winter, I'm in central Illinois so we go from below zero to over 100 degrees and have never had a problem, as long as I can deal with the weather.
Sharp Shooter
Single-Sixer
My reloading "room" has been a corner in the unheated/non-airconditioned basement of our house since we moved in 30 years ago. And here in SE Idaho, we see temperature swings from 40 below in January to 100 above in July. However, we don't have very high humidity here - it's pretty dry most of the time. Besides, even though our basement is unheated, it never gets much below 38 degrees F. If it did, I'd have to figure out a way get some heat down there because that's where our water pipes are, and so is our pressure tank for our well.
At any rate, the only problem I have with having my reloading "room" in a non-temperatured controlled basement is that I have to wear long pants and a sweatshirt when I'm at the loading bench in the wintertime. Well, that and the fact that sometimes I have to position a heatlamp to shine on my bullet sizer/lubricator so the lube will flow into the grooves of my cast bullets when I'm sizing and lubing them.
I've seen some kind of heating plate advertized that you can actually clamp a bullet sizer/lubricator to. I've always meant to look into one of those things, just never have. I suppose I'll just keep getting by clamping my trusty heatlamp to the side of my loading bench.
At any rate, the only problem I have with having my reloading "room" in a non-temperatured controlled basement is that I have to wear long pants and a sweatshirt when I'm at the loading bench in the wintertime. Well, that and the fact that sometimes I have to position a heatlamp to shine on my bullet sizer/lubricator so the lube will flow into the grooves of my cast bullets when I'm sizing and lubing them.
I've seen some kind of heating plate advertized that you can actually clamp a bullet sizer/lubricator to. I've always meant to look into one of those things, just never have. I suppose I'll just keep getting by clamping my trusty heatlamp to the side of my loading bench.
contender
Ruger Guru
As I mentioned,, it's humidity,, not temps that cause most problems!
