Reloading in an Apartment

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Duke878

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Lower Mainland, BC
Does anyone on CGN that reloads live in an apartment or a small space? Whats your set up? (IE bench, space size, tricks) Pics and descriptions are the best.

Also, has anyone used the hand press made by LEE? are they a royal pain to use? Can you reload anything with it? I plan on reloading 9mm, .223 and .308.

Thanks for the tips and info
 
Duke878 said:
Does anyone on CGN that reloads live in an apartment or a small space? Whats your set up? (IE bench, space size, tricks) Pics and descriptions are the best.

Also, has anyone used the hand press made by LEE? are they a royal pain to use? Can you reload anything with it? I plan on reloading 9mm, .223 and .308.

Thanks for the tips and info
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Get one of these and bolt on any press you want, I have my Dillon setup on it and it's been rock solid so far... Very small profile it sits in a corner of my spare bedroom.

http://leeprecision.com/xcart/Lee-Reloading-Stand.html

bf860a6f.jpg
 
sorry to hijack, that's what i'm thinking of getting as well. Currently using a work-mate. Did you have to put a brick on the bottom of it?
 
I own a Lee hand press and while it does work well the inconvenient part is that you have to hang on to it and not tip the powder out of the case etc. Where a bench mounted press you can work with both your hands in between tasks.

I would look at a benhc mounted press either on a small board you can clamp to a table, or a smaller portable workbench or stand. Also some people have made nice little benchs 2x3 feet etc nail to the wall in a closet or corner or under stairs.
 
i was using a jobmate folding workbench for awhile in my condo. worked perfectly fine and i could fold it up and up it away. ive since bought one of the mastercraft metal workbench ($200 ones at CT, got used for $60) and it helped me organize and clean up things much better. takes up much more room though.
 
I use a folding workbench with a Lee single stage press for priming, charging and seating bullets. I decap, expand and crimp with a Lee hand press while sitting in the lazy boy ignoring whatever movie the wife has on.
 
I mounted my LnL to the piece of plywood and clamp it to the granite counter top in the kitchen. Works like a charm and super sturdy.
 
Rooky said:
sorry to hijack, that's what i'm thinking of getting as well. Currently using a work-mate. Did you have to put a brick on the bottom of it?
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Yup I put a cinderblock on the bottom then stuffed a bunch of 7.62x39 in the block holes just to go that little extra... I have the CT work bench as well but it's too crowded with the super swage and a few thousand brass on it to fit the press.
 
One bedroom apartment with a decent sized storeroom, 560 square feet. I live alone. I have a small (about 2'x2') workstand for a power tool, (probably a table saw,) that I can tilt onto its two wheels to wheel away to the store room, but most of the time it sits in the kitchen (wall-mounted table folds away.) I have a Lee Load-All II, a Lee turret press, a drill press, a Park workbench-mounted bicycle work stand, a wheel-truing stand, and a manual meatgrinder each bolted to their own piece of spruce that clamps into the top of that workstand. The dies, etc. for reloading and the tools for cleaning guns and limited home-gunsmithing all mount underneath that stand, too. The tumbler is kept on a shelf and just sits on the floor when in use. Media, powder, primers, bullets, bags and boxes of empty cases and loaded are kept on shelves or in appropriate secure containers.
 
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I have.

I used a jobmate folding workbench which flexed with the press. I simply got longer bolts at the hardware store and a nice thick piece of hard wood which solved the problem.

Personally, I would not use a hand press. The one I'm using is just from the 50th anniversay Lee kit and it suits my needs well.

The rest of the equipment (digital scale, small tools, dies, etc) all go in a little tool box.

The powder thrower is screwed onto the collapsing bench.

I'm sure you can find room for a little bench that folds flat and a toolbox ;)
 
I started out in a small apartment with a home-made plywood-top table about 2 feet by 18 inches, on which was mounted a single-stage press, a powder thrower and on the other side (the table got spun around as required) a Lee Load-All for shotgun ammo. It was not a handsome piece of furniture; it was ugly as sin. But it worked fine for many years. Had WorkMates been around at the time, I probably would've gone that way. Supplies and components went in my closet.

I think the trick is to consider the flow of material, like you were designing a factory (which in fact is the case). A case is picked up here, moved to there where it is inserted into the press. Primers are added over there... Especially with cramped quarters, having a logical flow is a life-saver; having to reach back and forth is a real pain.
 
When I was challenged in the square footage department I still reloaded.
I took a small children's table with a hard surface, I "c" clamped the small single stage press to it's edge. Two of them worked okay enough. To add mass to this table when I used it, I took an old British Army 81mm ammo can filled with various heavy items and laid on top, so it could hold the table in a stable manner while working the press.
I used this rather primitive setup for about 3-4 years while handloading .222 Remington.
 
A 3'wide x 2'deep benchtop is enough space to permanently bolt down a single stage and a powder dispenser. This still leaves room for a couple loading trays, the scale on a movable shelf, bullet bin, bag of brass, caliper, small tools, table lamp...

Think 'time and motion': There's a lot of repetitious assembly in reloading, so a small footprint shortens the time taken to reach for this that and the other.
 
I went to Home Depot and bought a 36" piece of finished countertop. I cut a scrap of 3/4" plywood to fit underneath and glued and screwed it to the bottom.
Ended up with a nice 1 1/2" thick, solid bench. Mounted it to a 36" 2x4 that was screwed into the wall studs. Used threaded pipe, of the required length, and collars for front legs. Built this into a closet where I could close the doors and keep it out of sight. Worked and looked good and was fairly cheap.
 
Too low. Bought it for the miter saw and it was way too low for that. I'm 5'8''. Read the comments on it. Right height for the table saw(which has more height), but not for the miter saw.
Clint
 
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