nOdak

Lost sheep I would really like to see a picture or 5 of your portable reloading bench. I used to reload witha lee turret press but alas I lost that in a divorce! So now as an apt dweller with no space I can dedicate to a permanent reloading bench I read this thread with great interest. Its been 15 years now since I had the turret but I remember how much fun it was and sure miss it ESP when i have to go to the range.

RdHwk45Colt

I ALWAYS recommend lots of time on a single-stage press before graduating to the progressives/multi-stagers. The slower loading rate, though inconvenient, makes the consequence of errors,omissions, and lapses in attention VERY apparent to the newer reloaders before they move up to higher volume presses.

Lost Sheep

That is the great thing about the turret press. It IS A SINGLE STAGE if you don't move the turret. Then become a turret press, amenable to batch processing OR continuous processing without having to go to the store and trade to another piece of hardware.

Also, some people do better in batch mode, repeating each step many times until it is completely understood before moving on the the next. Others do better taking each cartridge continuously through all the steps from beginning to end. It is due to a difference in learning style.

Lost Sheep

Lost Sheep

Here's my setup in pictures. Not as portable as a hand press but still pretty good.


My setup over the past 36 years has consisted of a press bolted to a short 2x6 clamped (or belted, as seen in this photograph) onto a folding workbench (or wedged in the drawer of an end table), dies, a scale, a couple of powder measures and a number of other miscellaneous tools.

Everything fits in 3 toolboxes:

Large gray toolbox: (23" x 10" x 10")
Press. Mounting board and tackle box with various small parts & tools and the priming arms There's room for a couple of manuals in there, too, but I store them on my bookshelf, with one next to the computer.

The red toolbox (15"x8"x8") Accessories.
2 Auto-Disk powder measures (one standard and one Pro)
Lee Safety Prime for large and small primers (Lee Primer Dispensers for use on the press)
Lee Safety Scale (not in the box at the moment)
bullet puller (not shown, it is in my range bag)
calipers (not shown, they are on my desk)
Primer Pocket cleaner
Case mouth Chamfer Tool
Safety glasses (shooting glasses would do, but I keep a dedicated pair for reloading)
Powder trickler
Powder Funnel
A set of Lee Powder Dippers
Some tweezers and other small hand tools

The two-tone gray toolbox (15"x7"x7")
Seven sets of reloading dies, mounted in their turrets inside their plastic storage cylinders, ready to plug into the press and use plus one set in a flat box. I'll need a bigger box to add another caliber.

The green one in the pictures is empty, but could hold the vibratory cleaner.

Not in the toolboxes:
Some loading manuals
Dropcloth
Vibratory Tumbler
Spare parts and components, extra press and such are on a bookcase.

I think that's about it.

The three toolboxes, dropcloth and folding worktable are ready to pick up and go and I can set up anywhere (including over to a friend's house) with just three trips to the car (two carrying the gear and one carrying the components).

I can set up my reloading room anywhere in just a few minutes; spread the dropcloth, unfold a collapsible workbench mount everything, calibrate the powder measure (scale set on my stacked toolboxes if nothing else is available) and load to my heart's content.

The closeup of the press mount shows that one bolt has a wing nut topside. The bolt head is countersunk on the underside. The other two bolts have their wingnuts below, but no countersink was necessary because the tip of the board extends past the edge of the table top.

The board is held on the tabletop with a belt (it was quicker for the pictures), but that is not the best solution. Bolts and wing nuts are much more secure even than a "C" clamp. But, my first setup saw me opening an end table drawer and just sticking the board into the drawer and closing it to where it was secure. It was a single stage press (RockChucker) and the rearward incline actually made it more convenient, since the end table was kind of low.

Lost Sheep

Attached Images

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	press box.jpeg (7.0 KB, 18 views)
	dies box.jpeg (5.6 KB, 19 views)
	Accessories box.jpeg (8.8 KB, 20 views)
	press mounted-two views.jpeg (13.4 KB, 29 views)

tglazie

I have praised the virtues of the Lee Press Stand in other threads but lets do it again. What I like about this stand is that it is completely stand alone, totally stable and incredibly space-efficient. The best thing about the Lee triangle stand, to me, is the way you can sort of sit "around" the press and really get on top of the action. You can set it next to, in front of or diagonal to your loading bench, or just use it without a bench as shown in this pic. If you have a spare corner this stand is ideal. I place a nice oak frame standing mirror in front of mine when not in use to conceal everything from "prying eyes" and to make the whole room neater.

Excellent piece of equipment for about $100. In the future I may have a more elaborate reloading setup, but I am 100% sure this stand will be a part of it. I am extremely pleased with this purchase.

Attached Images

New Image.jpg (194.7 KB, 22 views)

Ulfric

Thanks for the awesome break down of equipment and the pictures!

Lost Sheep

I checked out the press stand when they first introduced it, but was disappointed that it did not collapse (I like portable). Hinging the legs, with locking braces would be just as stable, no heavier and a lot more compact. So, I am sticking with my Black & Decker and/or Stanley folding workbench which can also do double duty as a shooting station or (go figure) a carpentry workbench!.

The Lee stand is good, but not my cup of tea.

Your footlocker setup looks a lot like my first setup (except for the press stand). All my gear fit in the locker. I would have done that with my current setup instead of the three toolboxes, but when I filled my footlocker, it was too unwieldy to carry it out my stairwell to the car.

Lost Sheep

tglazie

I do not use a progressive press, I use a turret press, but since a turret press occupies the space in between a single and a progressive, I will answer this way:

For handgun loads:

1. I dont
2. I dont

Every handgun round is fully loaded from raw components to finished cartridge in one cycle.


For rifle loads:

1. & 2. are performed after tumbling, decapping/sizing, and before priming (all performed as a single-stage operations)

charging and seating are performed as autoindexed operations using the turret (every charged case is immediately covered with a bullet and seated)

tglazie

Agreed. When I am loading, I take great comfort and confidence from knowing that at any given point, only one charge is "in play" in the process. Except for the few times I am loading for my levergun, all of my loading is single piece, beginning to end. I cant imagine a safer, more reliable way to reload- for me.

stargeezer

I use a progressive system. Dillon XL650 with most accessories. Following a session on the range or two, I place all the brass I pick up in a stainless steel basket and wash them in a dish washer. This does an amazing job as a a first cleaner. After the cycle is finished I separate the brass by size, then run them through the Dillon with a decapping die in place of the size die - no other dies in place. Then I cycle all the brass through. Next I place the recapped brass in a ultrasonic cleaner. A cycle through it cleans the pockets and anything left by the dish washer. A very good rinseing is very important here.

Now that everything is very, very clean ready to be reloading.

Clovishound

I read this with interest, as I am just starting with reloading. I am fortunate that my good friend has been loading rifle ammo for a while. I am handicapped by being on a tight budget.

My buddy gave me one of the Lee hand loading presses on semi-permanent loan, and I recently purchased a set of Lee 9mm dies. I thought this would be a good way to get some experience with reloading on my own, without spending a lot of coin. My buddy has a Lee classic single stage and I do some reloading with him, but I find I learn a lot doing it on my own.

I decided to capture the small Lee press between two pieces of wood to allow me to mount the press in my woodworking vise. This has effectively turned the hand loader into a mounted press. Not as comfortable as a true mounted single stage, but does make life easier than using two hands to work the press.

I actually sort of like the ram prime that came with the hand press. It is slower and less convenient than the Auto prime my buddy has, but I feel more confident about seating the primers. I had a lot of primers that would not lite the first time in the first couple batches done with the Auto prime. Not sure if it was the primers, or the primers not being seated. I switched brand of primers and also did them with the ram prime. No failures with them at this point.

If I stick with reloading, as I am pretty sure I will, I will have to make a decision on a press. I have been leaning toward a turret. This thread has me leaning even more in that direction.

tglazie

agreed- if this stand were portable it would be great for setting up at the range. As for the footlocker, I am finding out quickly that this hobby tends to "spread" almost exponentially. The footlocker is already being supplemented by 3 MTM dryboxes in a wardrobe on the other side of the room and a cooler in a locked shed just outside. Perhaps if I didnt pickup every stray piece of range brass I would have more space....

ColoradoChris

Great info.... Thanks

jwh321

Just re-read this entire thread.

It should be required reading for everyone before even looking at reloading equipment. I printed it and stuck it in the front of my Hornaday's manual.. I hope my grandson will read it first many many years from now (he's due the week after Christmas).

If you're still around Lost Sheep, please accept my thanks two years after you put this thing together. Great stuff.