advice needed on reloading bench.

Mr. Friendly

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hey all, I plan on getting into reloading when I buy my first centerfire rifle. space is a constraint and in very limited quantity, so a small bench that can be moved/tucked away with ease would be best. perhaps even one that can be broken down and stored/used outside (granted the weather is good).

thank you! :D
 
I have my Rock Chucker bolted to a piece of 2x6. I just clamp it to a desk when I want to use it. Its handy that way too because I also do a lot of load development at the range and that makes it easy to take along along.
 
I have my Rock Chucker bolted to a piece of 2x6. I just clamp it to a desk when I want to use it. Its handy that way too because I also do a lot of load development at the range and that makes it easy to take along along.



that's a brilliant idea...i have been thinking about how to do that.
 
My neighbours already think I'm nuts when I clean the guns on the deck. I bet for sale signs would start popping up if I moved the reloading desk outside :runaway: Watch the powder with the wind :eek:
Seriously though, the above idea about a 2x6 to clamp to the table is a decent one, just be sure it's very secure when you use it. There's a great deal of force exerted by the press, you wouldn't want it to come loose. I just use an old desk with a pressboard top, it's coming apart, so I'm going to replace it with something more substantial. I'm thinking of taking a thin steel (or other metal) plate over top of the wood with a couple holes for the bolts, maybe underneath as well.
 
There shouldn't really be a lot of force on the press for all but the really big stuff if you're using the proper amount of lube. I've FL sized military brass for my M1A's over sized chamber on it without any problems. Bushing dies also help a lot for that.
 
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There shouldn't really be a lot of force on the press for all but the really big stuff if you're using the proper amount of lube. I've resized military brass for my M1A's over sized chamber on it without any problems. Bushing dies also help a lot for that.

It's not so much a matter of pressure on any one stroke of the press, I reload pistol on a single stage RCBS, so every round takes one stroke for sizing, one stroke for expanding the mouth, one to seat the bullet, and one for the crimp. Four strokes per round times how many thousand? My desk is just press board, so it's in need of some bulking up.
 
It's not so much a matter of pressure on any one stroke of the press, I reload pistol on a single stage RCBS, so every round takes one stroke for sizing, one stroke for expanding the mouth, one to seat the bullet, and one for the crimp. Four strokes per round times how many thousand? My desk is just press board, so it's in need of some bulking up.

Pistol on a single stage? Man... if I was that much into sadism, I'd just spend the extra bucks and hire a dominatrix...
 
lee dies with my 300wm were a nightmare the expanding ball (I think thats what its called, the thing that decaps and resizes the inside of the neck) was friggin tight, like wild tight, I had to tighten that nut at the top as tight as I could with a 12" wrench just to get it to stay in the die.

rcbs dies were no problem, you could defn feel tension on them but it was managable.

redding comp bushing dies are a dream, you feel resistance, but nothing like the others. its great.

this is neck sizing, FL does defn have more resistance as you are resizing the entire brass not just the neck. FL resizing my own brass doesnt seem to be too bad. I bought some used brass off EE and this guy must have had a sloppy chamber cause man oh man, I damn near had to stand on the press to resize these (exagerating).
 
Mount your press to a piece of lumber or 1" plywood, and then clamp that to a Workmate folding work stand.
 
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