Building the Perfect Reloading Room

#51
Oh. wow; I just found this thread, and I'm in a similar position; starting out with a new (to me) space and building from scratch. Just grazing off the first few posts, I can tell this is going to be an extremely helpful topic for me. I'll be brain picking like crazy, and might be able to build on some of it for the benefit of latecomers like me.

My space was a work shop from the preceding owner. It is the entire rear half of a two-car garage, easily as deep front-to-back as the actual garage itself, all in a contiguous cinder block add-on to the main house structure.There is a dividing wall between the two spaces, with an open walkway connecting.

The existing bench is my current reloading bench. It's adequate, but it's really better suited to the previous owner's needs than my own. I'll be needing a second bench to accommodate AR builds, Savage rebarreling, etc. I'll eventually end up with an additional two benches of my own design and building, separate from the existing one. There will probably also be some closed interior accommodation for ammo and reloading components storage, as well as a home for the gun cabinets.

Aside from the garage door, a garage side access door, and the rear door of the shop, there are no other openings in the walls. From a security standpoint, this may turn out to be a plus.

The ceiling consists of corrugated sheet metal roofing, there are no provisions for climate control, and the electrical system consists entirely of extension cords and power strips.roofing. That electrical system has to go, and be replaced by something more code-worthy. Being that we are in Southern Arizona, I may be forced to incorporate some form of climate modifications.

I am pressed for time at this particular moment, so I'll post more after digesting the rest of the preceding posts.

Greg
 
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#52
Sir,
Did you start your bench yet? I have my plans drawn up similar to whats here if your interested I could try to email them, only difference would be the bench top the bottom "shelf" are 2x6's with 2x10's on top of them.4x4 legs top is 2x10s with hard board on top.

Also my preference is a standing height with option of stool, after building the shorter first bench my second i built higher (this is a building/cleaning/work) style and is much easier to use.
 
#53
Greg:

Glad to help with any questions or ideas.... I'm honored that you are finding some good stuff here. Climate control is a big part of my buildout.

BTW, for anyone interested, my total spending so far is about $1800. That's about to change with the purchase of $700 of pine. So for 16 x 24 foot of finished, insulated space... not doing bad. But I have another $1000 worth of windows and a door to buy. And flooring. But still not bad for finished space that looks as good as it is comfortable. Doing my own work is, of course, a big savings. And I enjoy it. It's fun just to envision, build and finish a fun space.

Ghog.... good to see you again. It's been a while since I saw your name. Maybe I'm just in the wrong threads! Anyway, have not started any bench building yet. So would be glad of any plans. You can PM me for an address, or post here for all to see. There are at least 3 people doing major work on reloading rooms from this thread!

Thanks again all you guys for the great input.

Cheers,

Sirhr
 
#54
I went with butcher block counter top on top of hickory cabinets when I replaced a bench in my gun room. The presses are mounted on top of the area a sink would normally go. That way they don't block he real drawers. The extra storage was a great improvement and having things out of sight makes me feel less cluttered than I really am.

The door to my gun room is actually hidden in plain sight and is 4x9'. I won't post pictures on an open forum but if you're interested I'll send you some. People that come to my house stare at it and done even know it's there.
 

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#56
Getting the interior walls up today.... 8" Shiplap. Going up beautifully!

17218312_1100159956797317_1109996835252983204_o.jpg
In the old tradition of the 80/20 principle, by tomorrow night, I'll have 80 percent of it up. Then it will take me another whole weekend, I think, to do the other 20 percent. Which will be the boards around ceilings, getting door frames in, etc. But it's been a fun and theraputic way to spend my winter!

And I've saved a ton of money. Because, while I've spent some bucks on construction materials, I haven't been sitting around on Gunbroker every weekend bidding on way too many guns I don't need ;-)

More pix tomorrow... It's really coming together.

Cheers and keep the great pictures coming, guys!!

Sirhr
 
#58
Just because AJ keeps accusing me of spending all my time slacking off... Here's today's progress.

Got both rooms 'mostly' walled with the Shiplap. One more weekend and I'll get all the details and walls done and then the flooring will be the last thing.

Then benches.

Well, next weekend is local gun show. That will kill a day. But progress continues.

17202996_1101037803376199_2857217772807779517_n.jpg

Reloading side mostly walled-in.

17309041_1101037496709563_3409169920725003568_n.jpg

Reloading side again, showing where window will be.

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Sliding pocket door closed. Behind that door is the 'reloading' room side of the project.

A good weekend! Still debating flooring. Southern Yellow Pine is at the top of the list. But there are some creative possibilities as well. Still debating.

Cheers,

Sirhr
 
#61
GB... I am debating that. I can leave it as 'natural' pine. It smells great! Or I can put up some urethane or stain. Right now, I am thinking just letting it oxidize and mellow on its own. I can also 'wax' it with a material called Briewax, which works great on furniture. I'll see.

I didn't get any work done today. Gun show and went to buy supplies at Home Despot. I have never seen a company so retarded... I am trying to spend a thousand bucks with them for door tops, doors, windows and an AC unit. And all anyone can do is come up with excuses why they CAN'T sell them to me. Their online site won't ship to Schloss Nitrocellulose. Nor will it ship to store. But store won't order... And I have to fill out paperwork saying I can't return things. But they still won't take my credit card. These people are fuc***g morons!!!! Their online e-commerce site is utterly Byzantine. Can't get this... can't order that. Can't ship that. Can't get this to house, but can to store, but not store in that zip code. Pick store in zip code 100 miles away, ok. WTF is wrong with these people? I have a list of SKU's and a credit card. I want sh** delivered to a store 40 miles from me. How goddamned hard is that? Take my money you mouth-breathing Sterno drinkers????

Cheers,

Sirhr
 
#62
sirhrmechanic said:
Just because AJ keeps accusing me of spending all my time slacking off... Here's today's progress.

Got both rooms 'mostly' walled with the Shiplap. One more weekend and I'll get all the details and walls done and then the flooring will be the last thing.

Then benches.

Well, next weekend is local gun show. That will kill a day. But progress continues.

[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"https:\/\/scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net\/v\/t1.0-9\/17202996_1101037803376199_2857217772807779517_n.jpg?oh=bcafe66706a217663b9e86954ff4915a&oe=5927AAA6"}[/IMG2]
Reloading side mostly walled-in.

[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"https:\/\/scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net\/v\/t1.0-9\/17309041_1101037496709563_3409169920725003568_n.jpg?oh=2efd4aa9cc849fbc5682e9f1cff52dd4&oe=5927BFF0"}[/IMG2]
Reloading side again, showing where window will be.

[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"https:\/\/scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net\/v\/t1.0-9\/17191520_1101037600042886_2237895080502960433_n.jpg?oh=e179388bf8338aca95101db9162dd856&oe=596C3306"}[/IMG2]

Sliding pocket door closed. Behind that door is the 'reloading' room side of the project.

A good weekend! Still debating flooring. Southern Yellow Pine is at the top of the list. But there are some creative possibilities as well. Still debating.

Cheers,

Sirhr
Click to expand...

Sirhr,
Did you put a vapor barrier up before putting tin up? If not you might have some issues down the road. Other then that it looks dang nice.
Deano
 
#63
And just tried to get an AC from Best Buy.... I was THERE at 1PM... according to the bake-o hipster working in the place, there are no AC's available. So went to appliances. The slack-jawed-cousin-porking retards there... could not tell me if they had any AC units. But they have industrial strength Expresso-makers and personal feminine massagers in stock. So went on Bestbuy Web site to order one for pickup at the local store. Hey, guess what, according to Web site, there's 10 of them available to pick up today. And I ordered one... paid for it. And they are so fu**ing generous that they will HOLD the one I bought until March 27 (a week) when they will cancel the order if I don't show up.

Are all these stupid big box stores simply run by the mentally-infirmed? Who the hell are the executives who 'own' the e-commerce business? Bet they have never bought a goddamned thing through their own sites.

Damn I have a short fuse for incompetence. And these stores are just dripping with incompetence. At every single level.

Cheers,

Sirhr
 
#65
sirhrmechanic said:
And just tried to get an AC from Best Buy.... I was THERE at 1PM... according to the bake-o hipster working in the place, there are no AC's available. So went to appliances. The slack-jawed-cousin-porking retards there... could not tell me if they had any AC units. But they have industrial strength Expresso-makers and personal feminine massagers in stock. So went on Bestbuy Web site to order one for pickup at the local store. Hey, guess what, according to Web site, there's 10 of them available to pick up today. And I ordered one... paid for it. And they are so fu**ing generous that they will HOLD the one I bought until March 27 (a week) when they will cancel the order if I don't show up.

Are all these stupid big box stores simply run by the mentally-infirmed? Who the hell are the executives who 'own' the e-commerce business? Bet they have never bought a goddamned thing through their own sites.

Damn I have a short fuse for incompetence. And these stores are just dripping with incompetence. At every single level.

Cheers,

Sirhr
Click to expand...


I bought something a couple years ago to pick up at the local best buy the following morning. I went in and they said your order won't be ready until that afternoon, I asked if I could go pull the stuff off the shelf and bring it to the register. They looked at me like I was stupid so I walked out and cancelled my order on my phone in the parking lot.
 
#66
sirhrmechanic said:
GB... I am debating that. I can leave it as 'natural' pine. It smells great! Or I can put up some urethane or stain. Right now, I am thinking just letting it oxidize and mellow on its own. I can also 'wax' it with a material called Briewax, which works great on furniture. I'll see.

I didn't get any work done today. Gun show and went to buy supplies at Home Despot. I have never seen a company so retarded... I am trying to spend a thousand bucks with them for door tops, doors, windows and an AC unit. And all anyone can do is come up with excuses why they CAN'T sell them to me. Their online site won't ship to Schloss Nitrocellulose. Nor will it ship to store. But store won't order... And I have to fill out paperwork saying I can't return things. But they still won't take my credit card. These people are fuc***g morons!!!! Their online e-commerce site is utterly Byzantine. Can't get this... can't order that. Can't ship that. Can't get this to house, but can to store, but not store in that zip code. Pick store in zip code 100 miles away, ok. WTF is wrong with these people? I have a list of SKU's and a credit card. I want sh** delivered to a store 40 miles from me. How goddamned hard is that? Take my money you mouth-breathing Sterno drinkers????

Cheers,

Sirhr
Click to expand...


That's why I started shopping at Lowe's. Not much better though. Locally owned family stores cost a bit more but will generally order anything.
 
#69
Looking good slacker. Sorry for all the Big Box whoa's. How do they stay in business? Shaking head side to side.......
Texas_vet00 I'm like what you got going on there too buddy. Looks awesome. Tell me you're able to set up and shoot out one of those windows on your range.
 
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#70
Yeah, Deano. The insulation is all Kraft faced and well over-lapped. Might not be in ideal vapor barrier in a very humid state, but up here and with only one true exterior wall (the other walls either have crawlspaces behind them or above on the ceiling) it will be fine!

Texas.. that's a very, very fine reloading area. Love the benches!

Cheers,

Sirhr
 
#71
Electricity is working... lights are on and all the outlets are working. No sparks when I threw the breaker. Good thing!

Framed in for the AC (which I forgot to do... but it was easy.)

Finished all the interior walls and have one room completely trimmed around the ceiling line, but have to wait to do the corners until I get the floors in and the baseboards done.

Windows are en-route to local Home Despot. Door is waiting. And 5 solid core 80 x 32" doors (Benchtops) are en-route as well. I may trim a couple of them down and make some 'narrow' benches. Since I don't need great depth for lots of reloading operations. I am evaluating that now. But I think some 20 or 22 inch wide benches would work really well. And then I could use the off-cuts for shelves or to put on some specific tools like single stage presses or primer swager, etc. And save myself some floor space. Like I said... evaluating/debating that now. But I tend to use 'width' on benches, not any depth. If the bench is deep, it will accumulate crap. So something I am considering.

Here's some pictures....

17545423_1111714022308577_1708391438715665539_o.jpg
The reloading side. Sorry for the blurryness. It was a long day.

17546819_1111714535641859_7485466300128486096_o.jpg
The mini machine shop/model side/gunsmithing/office side.

Oh I ordered bamboo flooring. Cheap, from Lumber Liquidators. I'll need to get a nailer for that stuff, But I think it's a good investment. Decided that Southern Yellow pine, while nice, was 3x as expensive and needed sanding and urethane when done. And I just want a good looking, fast-to-install floor. Debated ceramic tile, which I am good at putting in. But it's a PITA to anchor bench feet, etc. to. The Bamboo will be perfect!

17504612_1111714715641841_3556860584397351441_o.jpg


Last, I really like the way the tin sheeting came out for the ceilings. Cheap, fast to install and looks great. Sort of rustic and industrial all at once. Got that idea from Southern Ohio Outfitters, the deer hunting mecca in Oh. Their new office/clubhouse is done like that. Brilliant!

So... next is flooring, doors and windows and benches! But have at least a two-weekend hiatus coming up for travel and visitors. I may need that AC by the time I go to put in flooring!

For those of you who are on similar projects... keep posting pictures. I need the ideas and inspiration! Might have to see about making this thread sticky. You guys have posted some good stuff!

Cheers,

Sirhr
 
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#72
Finally got around to installing my peg board and the Inline Fabrication wall mounting system thats been sitting in boxes for a while waiting to be installed. Got a rainy day yesterday so I got it done. Being able to get the Quick Change Plates up off my gun smithing bench free up a ton of room. I have 3 other reloading benches, this is strictly my gun building/cleaning bench.

I honestly can't think of a better wall organizer setup then this Inline Fabrication system! Its very well made, heavy duty and you can configure it anyway you want. Buy trays, shallow boxes, deep boxes, die organizers, Tool head racks, etc...

Now if we can get a week of dry, 70+ degree days I can get this bench stained and urethaned and it will be all done. Next up, I plan to replace the Oak dinning room spare table in my reloading room with a custom built, square, heavy duty butcher block top or Black Walnut table....

[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"http:\/\/i.imgur.com\/eOvC3QL.jpg"}[/IMG2]

 
#74
So it ain't pretty (nor tidy) but it works. Solid pine construction: 1 1/4" top, with 3/16 rubber matting; 3 1/2 square legs; 3 1/2 x 1 3/4 framing. Built so that I can stand and reload.primers and powder are kept in a safe, however I took photo just after reloading session.
 

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#75
here is a video of the bench I am building in sketch up. I'm going to use some southern yellow pine 2x4 and rip some 2x6 in half, then joint and plane them to size for a 96x36x2" laminate table top. I am going to route out channels on the left and right side of the bench for T Tracks. going to put my Hornady L-N-L on a In Line fabrication mount on one side and my single stage on another In Line mount on the other. I also have a wood working vice that will have wood/leather on it in the middle to be able to do some rifle work in the AC rather than in the garage. I will keep this thread updated as I go.

 
#76
So got a little time to get on the reloading room this weekend... making major changes to the barn to open things up. So been working 'downstairs.' But today, got the door in and two of three windows.

18077181_1133823723430940_7459040109251808940_o.jpg

Still need to do some trim, but the floor has to go in first.

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Two of the three windows in. Vinyl from Home Despot. Went in lightning quick! Very nice units for very short $$.

18055865_1133824396764206_4996853529699135521_o.jpg


Windows in the 'office' side. Coming together great!

I have the floor. I was going to use Southern Yellow Pine, but they wanted something like $6 a square foot for it. So found some Bamboo flooring at Lumber Liquidators for about $1.50 a square foot. Looks good in the catalog. I think it will be great on the floor. Next weekend, I'll have the heat register in and so can get the flooring done. Then it's benches, shelves and MOVE IN!

I have a whole bunch of gunsmithing and reloading 'tasks' set up already. And in the summer, this is air conditioned. Gonna be great!

Cheers,

Sirhr

 
#79
So decided to take a day off 'real' farm work today and do some fun work on the reloading room half of the project. Will probably be two weeks before I can get on it again as I have a couple of more pressing projects. But I got the floor in the reloading side. Not bad for $1.50 a square foot cheap-0 bamboo from Lumber Liquidators. Got to say, I was impressed with how fast it went in. Not exactly the sturdiest floor in the world. But looks good and has no cracks in it to fill up with powder and spent primers. Used an air nailer to toe nail it all in and laid the whole floor in under 6 hours.

18057088_1134557193357593_2232281792330408069_n.jpg


Still have to put in trim boards around floor and window. Then Benches and shelves. But it's really coming together as a space!

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Pegboard up... and another shot of the floor.

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Looking in through the sliding door.

Cheers and thanks for all the support. The fun begins when I start laying out benches, shelves, etc. But compared to the cramped and nasty places I've always used, this is going to be a palace!

Sirhr
 
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#81
To put in perspective... this is the 'mess' I've been using for the past 10 years or so. And my last homes had even worse facilities for reloading. This is the first time I'm going to really put some effort into a reloading area.

I've loaded some fantastic rounds here.... some dead-nuts accurate precision rifle rounds. And thousands of belt-fed and even BMG ammo. But every time I use it, I have to 'shovel out' around it in the mud room. And it's literally one table with crap all over it and two presses, jammed in. This new room is going to be my idea of a perfect setup for, not just efficiency, but enjoyment!

My gun rooms and artillery collection are in amazing spaces. It's just the reloading that I've not paid attention to. Now it will rank with the other spaces!

18119370_1134656316681014_3362431480309803075_n.jpg


Cheers,

Sirhr
 
#83
mikehotel said:
I built my work bench with inserts using this idea. Works great.

http://www.zjstech.net/gunstuff/reloadbench.html
Click to expand...

Fortunately, I'm going to have enough space that I won't need to use this idea. But it is absolutely brilliant!

Great bench design with some really simple routing to put together a fantastic interchangeable press design.

Thanks for posting Mike. Really neat idea for reloading space.

Cheers,

Sirhr


P.S. I should see if we can make this sticky. My pictures aside, the ideas in this thread will help a lot of people.
 
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#86
When reloading goes metrosexual. ;) I'm jealous as hell. Nice work gentlemen. Sirhr, you're rocking this big time. You, my friend, are going to be in 7th heaven when this awesome project is complete and you're all moved in. And for what it's worth, yes, sticky this bad boy cuz it's gotta lotta great points and info. Tuuuuuuuckerrrrrrr?

Skoalman, I've worked in clean rooms in the electronics (PCB stuffing) industry that were dirtier. No OCD issues going on here. :p Beautiful space.
 
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#90
1J04 said:
When reloading goes metrosexual. ;)
Click to expand...

It's not meterosexual if you build it yourself! Only when you hire an architect and a designer to make sure that the Feng Shui of the knots lines the grain up with the Dali Lama....

If you build it yourself, it gets manly points!

Cheers,

Sirhr
 
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#92
sirhrmechanic said:
If you build it yourself, it gets manly points!
Click to expand...
Agreed! Two good friends helped build on this project, and it was mainly just two of us. However, I don't think there's anything I didn't have a hand on myself. Knotty pine is my new favorite building material. :)

We used pine boards to build nearly everything in here. All of the trim and various widgets were cut from full size pine boards. Thousands of cuts. Would have been cool to keep track of just how many cuts where made to create all of this. Just the cabinet doors and drawer fronts took 2 days. ... though someone qualified could probably have knocked it out in a few hours. We learned as we went. I had never built cabinets or drawers before... so that was a bit of an adventure. ... and because I'm so ignorant of how to do it, everything was overbuilt like crazy. A cabinetry guy saw it and made the comment that everything was literally a hundred times stronger than it needed to be. Each drawer could be filled with lead shot, and still work. It was a fun project. Total build time from start to finish was 10 days. Five individual weekends, basically. If I can do this, literally anyone can do it. A little investment in tools and some research and you can knock it out. Before I decided to build it, I had someone work up a quote for cabinetry. Suffice it to say I couldn't even buy custom cabinets nearly as strong as what I built, and I saved literally over $15,000 on the cabinetry alone. The flooring and various other things saved me even more. I figure to have a company come in and replicate this would probably cost as much as a fully decked out 4 car garage. I spent a few thousand is all.

There's just no one out there that you can pay to care about things as much as you care about them. It's very rare anyway. Doing it yourself takes longer, but I always end up getting exactly what I want. ... no place to lay the blame when I don't, either. ;)

 
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#93
Totally next level Orkan !!!!! What an amazing room AND toys. You are blessed my friend. Only thing I'd do different is have a Cot or hella comfy Recliner in there to just sit in awe of it all. Outstanding job.
 
#94
I'll echo Orkan's points about what a "professional" would charge. And the results would not be nearly as good (or as much fun) as we're having doing it ourselves.

All my stuff is far over-built. But so what? Building it is relaxing and theraputic. So extra time spent... building... is a bonus!

And I can change my mind/design/direction in an instant. And can't do that when someone is trying to cipher out what's in my head.

Orkan... the doors under the benches are great. I may have to incorporate that. I was going to just do 'shelves.' But I love the doors!

And I'll also agree that No. 2 pine is the best building material ever. So much you can do with it. And it looks and smells great!

Again, your room sets the standard. Fantastic job and nice to see another sawdust hound on the job with a reloading room project.

I'm definitely going to get Tucker to sticky this thread if he doesn't mind.

Cheers,

Sirhr
 
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#97
sirhrmechanic said:
And it looks and smells great!
Click to expand...
Oh the smell!!! The smell is just... yes. When it was all finished I was sitting in here working on an article and the smell just goes right through you. There's just something about fresh cut pine. All of these boards were living trees in the Black Hills of SD about 5hrs west of here no more than 6 weeks before they got nailed to the wall. (or so I'm told) It isn't as if I cut them myself from the tree, so I can't be sure, but boy they sure smelled fresh!!! I don't know what it is about that smell that makes a man feel... as a man should feel. ... and maybe I wouldn't have felt that way if this wasn't built by hand by my friend and I. The smell of the finished project... it was like you were breathing in a sense of accomplishment.

I've since made the joke that when that smell goes away, I'm going to have to go and belt sand some hidden areas just to bring it back. hehe. I've been in here since February, and the smell is still here.

Well I'm going to walk over and clean this rifle now. :)

[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"http:\/\/i.imgur.com\/ZlYITxch.jpg"}[/IMG2]

sirhrmechanic said:
Orkan... the doors under the benches are great. I may have to incorporate that. I was going to just do 'shelves.' But I love the doors!
Click to expand...
That door with the tumbler inside is the only door I have under the benches. The rest are drawers. That tumbler sits on a drawer that has 100lb full extension soft-close drawer sliders on it. I used those same sliders on the rest of the drawers.

Soft-close drawers and door hinges are legendary. I'll never have any cabinets of any kind without them again. I used blum hinges and I forget who makes the sliders.
 
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