Reloading bench/room setups

[Pilsner]

As soon as I finish building this cabin I'm going to redo the loading bench/gun room in my shop.
Currently have a basic 3' x 6' reloading bench with some shelves.
It's an absolute disaster of sh!t sitting on every flat surface and sh!t being in my way!
Every task like mounting a scope or loading a quick 20 rounds takes 3x as long as it should because I've gotta move stuff out of the way and then find the supplies that I need.

I'm over it!

Let's see pics of your folks' reloading and gunsmithing benches/rooms/spaces please.

I "sourced" a full trailer load of old upper and lower cabinets and I've got the full spectrum of power tools required to build your own house.
I'm about a 7/10 on the handyman scale.

Available space is about 10 foot long by 8 foot wide. The 10 ft length being along one wall.

Thanks and have a great weekend of shooting, reloading, and killing critters!

 

[Barrelnut]

How about building two benches. One dedicated to reloading and another dedicated to cleaning and working on rifles, mounting scopes etc.? You could have the one for cleaning etc. on casters so you can moved it around easily. A dedicated reloading bench doesn't have to be real deep either. Maybe 2 ft at most. Maybe have the reloading bench along the back 8 ft wall with cabinets under and above it.

 

[74honker]

Use the search bar, there's several outstanding threads on this subject with lots of pics. I don't know how to attach links or I would've. Good luck on your build.

 

[birddog 68]

Use the search bar, there's several outstanding threads on this subject with lots of pics. I don't know how to attach links or I would've. Good luck on your build.

Agree that there's some amazing set ups on these threads.

It's an absolute disaster of sh!t sitting on every flat surface and sh!t being in my way!

No matter how big you make it **** will still pile up on any flat surface but there will be more of it.

 

[sierracharlie338]

No matter how big you make it **** will still pile up on any flat surface but there will be more of it.

Agreed. I TRIPLED my storage and it's all full and my bench looks like crap. Lol.

 

[Ol' Red]

Agree that there's some amazing set ups on these threads.

No matter how big you make it **** will still pile up on any flat surface but there will be more of it.

That is a fact. I'm thinking of building a new bench just to clear off my current bench.

 

[cdherman]

Mine is 40" deep and 8' long. Deeper and its hard to grab stuff from the back while seated. But 40" allows you to pack stuff along the back and still have stuff in your working area.

Next: Go vertical. Over my bench, starting at around 18" up, I have book shelves. Not open ended, but a proper shelving unit with ends and reinforced front edge to the shelves to handle all the weight. So you can store more stuff higher. That's where most of my dies, bullets, books live, as well as a bunch of small tupperware (not really, but you know what I mean) organizers, labeled as to content. One for cleaning, one for scope mounts, one for case prep etc.

At the very top usually sits my gun vice, which I can bring down to the bench for cleaning or mounting etc. It lives up top since it takes up a lot of space and I like it out of the way. And with the spare part of the 8', there are boxes of other stuff. TIP: Tape a sheet of paper to random boxes of stuff and write what's in the box on the paper. Makes the search for "where did I put that !@#!$#% part easier)

In my case, I have a big old police locker next to the bench. 7' tall, 36 wide and about 24 deep. I store powder in there, and guns that are actively being worked on or with. It has desiccant to keep humidity even lower (I keep the overall space around 50% max). More importantly, it keeps guns out of sight. I can lock it, but often don't. Prolly should. I tend to move all long guns to regular safe if I am leaving for more than a day. Hand guns are always under lock.

There are other threads with lots of pics. I thought perhaps a description would help. Go vertical.

Oh -- one more tip. If you use more than one press, perhaps one for light work, make it modular. I have my heavy Forster mounted on the left end of my bench, but a light old aluminum RCBS is mounted on an old Lyman press "riser" that I can move around. There are lots of youtube vids how to make your own mobile press mount. Anyhow, this allows me to pull out the press, secure with a single clamp, and have two active presses at once. Easy to move to the "back of the bench" when not using.

 

[Pilsner]

I swear that I tried doing a search in this thread before I posted but clearly I jacked that up
Thanks folks!
Will do a search now.
*Tips hat*

 

[Pilsner]

By the way, sitting at the reloading bench now for the first time in months and I'm shaking the RCBS primer tray.
How.
In.
The.
F@ck.
Is.
This.
Tray.
Not.
Magic?!