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Building the Perfect Reloading Room
- Thread starter sirhrmechanic
- Start date
It wont be unfinished anymore. Im finishing a corner about 12x12 its the dead end of the HVAC so ill jerry it up and drop a return on the floor and a vent in the ceiling. Im not against LED strip lights, easy to install and plenty bright, just wondered about more finished options. Thought about 2 runs of leds in the joists with diffisers.
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I would recommend LED lighting. Many are adjustable regarding the color and you might find a sunlight type natural color to be to your liking. At any rate, adjustable gives you options, and uses very little electricity. Home Depot has lots of options at reasonable prices. Amazon would be more cost effective. Just know what you are looking for.
LED seems to be the best and least issues with a scale. I wouldn't put any light too close to the scale though. I've not had any issues I know of using led lights. With open joists, you could do can lights or do led garage type lights, like the 2'x4' florescent lights we used to use but they are LED.
Will you ever put a ceiling in it? If so, might want to consider that but otherwise any led light set up should work well.
If you will be putting a sheet rock ceiling then you could go ahead snd put the can lights in and then just sheet rock whenever you decide to do it. Of it's a drop ceiling then the can housing hangs on the ceiling tile so you'd need the grid in first.
In a basement I would worry more about air "dumping" out of the HVAC system vents when it cycles off. Or rolling down the stairs same thing.
The last place my bench was had Central ac. All it took was a small air diverter on the vent and the trickle ran fine when the ac was running.
Closing the vent was a bad option in the Texas summers.
Each time the ac would cycle off there would be a flood of cold air dropping down onto the bench instead of it blowing gently around the room.
Lights and electronics did little to change the scales we tested trying to troubleshoot this. Strong vibration would scramble it momentarily even ceiling fans on low or medium had little effect.
But dear sweet little white baby Jesus two degree drop or heaven forbid three degrees and your dead in the water.
Not just once but twice as it warms back up and stabilizes.
Keep an eye on your " empty" scales negative reading when you lift the pan off. It should remain constant.
The last place my bench was had Central ac. All it took was a small air diverter on the vent and the trickle ran fine when the ac was running.
Closing the vent was a bad option in the Texas summers.
Each time the ac would cycle off there would be a flood of cold air dropping down onto the bench instead of it blowing gently around the room.
Lights and electronics did little to change the scales we tested trying to troubleshoot this. Strong vibration would scramble it momentarily even ceiling fans on low or medium had little effect.
But dear sweet little white baby Jesus two degree drop or heaven forbid three degrees and your dead in the water.
Not just once but twice as it warms back up and stabilizes.
Keep an eye on your " empty" scales negative reading when you lift the pan off. It should remain constant.
Everything you said was spot on. Particularly the final paragraph. Saved the best for last. This is critical to knowing drift or charge to charge accuracy and repeatability. An LED light won’t do anything to a scale unless it is resting on it lol. My wife loves ceiling fans, particularly on high speed. I have to charge my cases when she isn’t around to make sure she isn’t blowing air on my scales and I turn off the a/c because otherwise, there will be problems lol
Never quite reasoned it out the way you did, I was a bit more simplistic but it was all the same outcome.
Perfect!
I'm lucky that my reloading room is separated from the rest of the house. We also don't have central air. It's all radiant water. I close that door to the room and it's draft free. Warms and cools through the rest of the house passively. Warm in the winter and nice and cool in the summer.
Man, can you adopt me? I am only 70, andnI don’t eat much….
Where the heck do you live? That sounds wonderful and very efficient. Texas heat here.
The emf for LED lights is virtually non-existent at 24” at most. Many become background noise level at 12”.Everything you said was spot on. Particularly the final paragraph. Saved the best for last. This is critical to knowing drift or charge to charge accuracy and repeatability. An LED light won’t do anything to a scale unless it is resting on it lol. My wife loves ceiling fans, particularly on high speed. I have to charge my cases when she isn’t around to make sure she isn’t blowing air on my scales and I turn off the a/c because otherwise, there will be problems lol
Never quite reasoned it out the way you did, I was a bit more simplistic but it was all the same outcome.
Perfect!
There will be a ceiling either tonight or tomorrow, depending on the lights i decide on. Definately will be going LED trying to decide between strips or cans now.
Thanks for the observation, the HVAC vent will be away from the scale so draft wont be an issue, have been dealing with temp swings in the current room too as its just 15' away. My best solution so far is to turn the recirculation fan on when im loading, it helps keep the temp more consistant.
I think the air movement is way bigger issue than temp fluctuations but ideally you'd like to eliminate both of course.
Cans are a lot nicer imo. Also, you can get dimmable led cans wither with a housing or you can use "can-less" which don't have a housing. This gives you the ability to just run the wire and know where it is, then cut the can holes where you want them to be vs having to put the housing in the right location before sheet rock.
That may not matter to you and if not, I'd use a "new constitution can" which is a housing and a led trim. Whe ever they do go out you just replaced the trim. However, if it's beneficial to choose the exact can location after sheet rock, go can-less. We really only use canless when there's a joist in the way of where we need it, or if it's a special ceiling (like T&G) or some other reason we would want to space the can trim perfectly so it looks perfect.
Just plan your can placement so you have lights over the bench and spaced out from the wall enough to accommodate cabinets on the wall, so a light doesn't end up half over a cabinet , and you will be good. Of course if you aren't being inspected, just run a "uh oh wire" between two joist where you want it and back to your switch box, and if you don't need it don't tie it in. If you do need it, you've got it and can put can less in after sheet rock without issue.
The only thing to watch out for is that often the canless cans baffle or trim won't match the led trim for a new construction can, but you certainly can get them that do match, just have to pay attention to it.
Also just fyi- often the can less hole size that you need to cut out is not the same exact hole size as you may think so make sure you have the right hole saw before you cut it out or you will be putting "goof rings" on all your cans
Got the room mostly done today. Just a little clean up and mirroring the shelves on the other side of the upper cabinet. Might do something a bit different there for a building cleaning station.
I am sort of embarrassed to show mine after how neat everyone else's is, but I know where things are, and it is organized for how my brain works. I just put in the second bench with 650. Finally have one setup for large and small primers, lot easier to reload and not be changing between them. I wish I didn't have to have all my electrical running off of one outlet through two surge protectors, but I don't know what else to do. Need better lighting, and to change the placement of them.
This bench is the third I built, and is really stable, just wish it was longer.
Fourth and last bench I built. Canabalized wood from my second bench for some of it. And it has the new (to me) second of my 650s. Just got done trimming a couple thousand pieces of 556 on it. Love the Dillon rt1500!
This bench is the third I built, and is really stable, just wish it was longer.
Fourth and last bench I built. Canabalized wood from my second bench for some of it. And it has the new (to me) second of my 650s. Just got done trimming a couple thousand pieces of 556 on it. Love the Dillon rt1500!
I get to claim the small excuse of a basement at the new house, so things will be rearranged. Inline fab has been a life saver for pretty much everything I could ask for up to this point. However, I started 3d printing my own toolhead holders because 20 bucks each stacks up quickly.
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My work top is double 3/4" plywood with 4 x 4 posts and 2 x 6 framing.
First layer of plywood was screwed down. Then a coating of wood glue.
Second layer (work top) was installed and stapled on the underside with 1 1/4" staples. No fasteners exposed on the top surface. Works very well.
First layer of plywood was screwed down. Then a coating of wood glue.
Second layer (work top) was installed and stapled on the underside with 1 1/4" staples. No fasteners exposed on the top surface. Works very well.
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It was a used laptop charging station from the local school. They were upgrading and I picked it up cheap.
Reloading :: Primal Rights, Inc
Reloading equipment developed by Primal Rights to elegantly solve some of the most loathsome aspects of ammunition creation.
primalrights.com
I would guess a primer seater. I forget the make. (Edit: Primalrights as noted above) Ridiculously priced as I recall lol ($675)
It is a primer. It is expensive. It is worth it in my book compared to handheld options out there.
And then often we get so invested in what we do we can’t see the forest for the trees.
Do you shoot 3 round groups, 5 round or 30 round or what? Just curious.
Yea i kept hearing about them from buddies and on the Everyday sniper podcast. Haven't seen one yet though so i didn't know what it looked like. Definitely picking one up. Thanks everyone.
I use to shoot a good bit of f class but life happens and I work too much now and shoot steel at 800-1k.
I enjoy the science and sport of shooting. I don’t think I lost the forest from the trees and this is a wonderful tool to either bulk reload or make very precise ammo. You can decide for yourself - pics attached.
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It's decided. 19 shot groups are the new standard.
I like mine and recommend one but I understand why others would not buy one or don’t think it is a necessary addition for their reloading system. Unfortunately, you need to buy to try or know someone else who has one.
I’m gonna jump in on this one. I shoot three shot groups. LOTS of three shot groups. Minimum of 5 three shot groups but at least 7 three shot groups per individual test in a test session. Seen far too many large groups ruined by a flyer that could or could not be a shooter error. However large number is smaller groups shows a pattern. As said, I would rather have 7 groups with one bad and the rest very good, than one 20 shot group with a flyer or two of an inch or more out, making the test results seem false.
However, I have seen tests where on group went into one hole but the others were as wide as an inch or more. It works both ways. It’s not the number of shots, it’s the number of Groups. Need to look for a pattern, not a hole.
So to make this clear, a ladder tests of five loads takes a minimum of 75 shots but a better average can be found with 105 shots. Find a decent load and then throw the paper away and start banging steel. Its a lot more fun.
I like mine, but the use case I would recommend one is pretty limited. The price has gone up since I got mine, and I picked it up on SH deal. It’s a really tough sell at the price point. Especially with the ugly reloader option out now.
Yes, I ordered one of these ugly annealer primer tools yesterday too. It’s more in my price range.
I still don’t get it why there’s constantly someone complaining or bitching in almost every other thread where people show their nice equipment…
Can’t they just be happy for them and keep their ridiculous negativity for themselves?
Get one of the DA handheld primer flipper fillers. Saves a ton of time filling Dillon or similar primer tubes, and the handheld one does large and small.
Nothing worse than poking each one with the spreader tip.
Thanks for the advice. I’ll plan on using this for lrp and keep priming my 6BR srp with my Lee app or whatever that thing is called. It’s working good for small primers right now.
Or …. small numbers yield statistically insignificant data. If you shot 100 rounds, for example, you would have a round group of dispersed shots and you could select any 3, any 3 whatsoever and that could be one of your groups. By “deselecting” groups you do not like you are skewing your data. Chances are most of your groups are not circular but in some pattern other than circular (the “any 3”) and drawing conclusions based on small numbers for SD is statistically wrong. If you shoot 7 groups of 3 and do not exclude any, 21 cumulatively is a better sampling but is still potentially inaccurate. If you look at it as 7 distinct groups and analyze that way, then your conclusions are likely not even close to reality.
I see people all the time making decisions based on goofy data analysis because they do not have any experience or training in statistical analysis. There is more involved than a formula.
Anyways, I was curious. Thanks for answering. Often people are confused because they sometimes do not duplicate previous results and come up with all kinds of rationalizations as to why that is. It is very common to follow a process, or acquire a new piece of gear then rationalize how much it helps without realistic supporting data. Too small sample sizes explains much. There are no powder “nodes” or any such voodoo that makes no sense.
There is an old saying: we see and accept that which supports our preconceived notions. You can witness that in politics extremely often. B people believe what they want to believe.
I just got the DAA primer pro collator. Man that thing makes it so easy. I was trying to trade it to a guy plus cash for his dillon primer filler before I even opened it but I have now started used it and it fills up the tubes so dang easy. Once you get down to like 10 or 15 primers it doesn't work as well but as long as you have anywhere from 20- 400 primers in it at a time, it will fill the tubes easily and quickly without touch it. Really cool and will be great for this primer as well
Interesting thoughts, while I may throw out a group I know was bad, because of my error, I use all the data, averaging so that I can see what is happening through the test. Cherry picking is the best way I know to really screw the works up. My point was one group, no matter how many shots are in it, cannot tell a pattern.
I may be different from most folks, but posting pretty pictures of one hole groups, is not for me. I want to hear steel go clang, after I cause the bang, or see the game animal go down after a short run with a properly placed shot creating as humane a kill as possible.
I wanted one of those until I figured out it won’t do large primers (or didn’t, when I was looking).
The primafill will do both sizes, and loads a tube in 15s or so, you just have to find the right angle (it’s with the tube way more horizontal than I would have guessed- maybe 15 degrees down).
Yeah that's true, it only does SRP. That's why I was going to get the dillon but I shoot mostly SRP and for anything I load a bunch of rounds for its all SRP. You'd think that DAA could easily make one for LRP though. Kind of weird they don't have thay ability, especially with how the hopper/bowl thing slides off of the unit. You could just swap em out...
What did I do in the reloading room. processed 6GT brass and made it ready to prime, charge and seat the bullets. Also loaded 9mm rounds for Brenda to practice with and mucked around a bit looking for a bipod that I removed from the RPR last fall.
As far as primer machines go, the old RCBS Automatic Primer Machine still works pretty good, but I have to remember to keep the shell holder very clean. I do need a new primer tube for the small primers. Been using it on and off since around 2000, so its getting a bit long in the tooth.
As far as primer machines go, the old RCBS Automatic Primer Machine still works pretty good, but I have to remember to keep the shell holder very clean. I do need a new primer tube for the small primers. Been using it on and off since around 2000, so its getting a bit long in the tooth.
I agree. Results matter. When you shoot you are part of the shooting system, like it or not.
Not sure I understand the part about not being able to see patterns, but if it is what I think, I agree also. The larger the sample size the better the aggregate data and the following analysis (ES, SD).
Sorry from the potato pics. Built this 10 years ago. 580lb steel work table with 8” square tube steel legs. Had to move it on metal tracks in the house to get it through. Used a winch to lower it down the stairs. Had to use an engine lift to get it in the air. Best work bench I’ve ever had. When you install pins or need to pound on something, the pins just.....go in.
I always wanted a U-shaped work space.
I always wanted a U-shaped work space.
Added an organizer wall awhile back . Just pegboard I painted with exterior paint, it’s holding up well.
Lookin’ good!! I am jealous of all these fine reloading rooms. I had to give mine up recently. We downsized from our house to an apt.
need some advice on reloading location. I have full access to my garage and half a bedroom that i can use. If i had to put some of my reloading equipment in the garage what would that be and about how much room do i need. I'd assume all the brass cleaning stuff stay in the garage and then when it comes to the actual prep take it inside.
I'm mostly just concerned with storing the stuff in the garage because of the fluctuation in temps in there. Its decent insulated but not great. if its cold outside its bareable and vice versa when its hot.
I wish i could make a complete dedicated reloading room. Maybe one day.
I'm mostly just concerned with storing the stuff in the garage because of the fluctuation in temps in there. Its decent insulated but not great. if its cold outside its bareable and vice versa when its hot.
I wish i could make a complete dedicated reloading room. Maybe one day.
Cleaning and tumble-polishing could be done in the garage.
I liked having my tumble-polisher near the reloading stations so I can vibrate powder to settle in cases for loads that are over 100% case fill a bit into the neck, but that might not be a concern for you.
I like having a logical flow-through set of process so that my picked-up brass goes into the tumble-polisher upon return from the range, so the garage might be an ideal location for that for you.
I liked having my tumble-polisher near the reloading stations so I can vibrate powder to settle in cases for loads that are over 100% case fill a bit into the neck, but that might not be a concern for you.
I like having a logical flow-through set of process so that my picked-up brass goes into the tumble-polisher upon return from the range, so the garage might be an ideal location for that for you.
Consider also what space would be the lowest air movement, which can have a negative effect on your scales.
Next would be personal comfort. You can always keep your powder and primers in a closet or in your bedroom in a drawer. That would keep your stuff in a more humidity controlled area. If you are reloading in a hot or very cold environment you may be tempted to rush the process. For me, reloading is like knitting for men. If I load 50 rounds in an evening that is being amazingly productive! LoL
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