So i wanted to take my load development to the range with me. Basically, find some promising loads and load up a few more on the spot to test. Figured it would save time and gas money going back and forth just to shoot a few test loads. I wanted a way to throw everything I'm going to need in one container and use that. Be able to throw it in the back seat or the bed of the truck and just go. So this is what i came up with. I call it Load Dev in a box.
I picked up a cheap Lee Single Stage press some cheap lumber and some drawer latches. So for less than $50 with most of that being the press i made the following. This isn't my finest wood work, as my miter saw isn't big enough to cut the boards i was using in one pass and i was having trouble with some of the boards cracking/splitting.
The base is 1X12X26 (1inch on each end so a clamp can be used to fasten it to the bench)
The top is 1x12x24
The sides are 1x10x whatever was required.
The press is screwed directly into a board running vertical to give it the most support. Zero flex in it. I don't think i would try to FL resize with this setup but for just seating bullets it's fine.
As a side note, I use micrometer head seating dies for all my rifle calibers, so adjusting the die from my rock chucker to this is no big deal.
With the cut for the press and the door on, the handle of the press can only move about 1/8" the way I've got it setup.
Everything in the next picture fits in the box with plenty of room to spare. You just can't see it all in the previous picture. That's a lyman Gen 6 powder dispenser that is about 9" long and 4-5" wide. I think you can get it in there with the powder hopper installed, but it'd be a tight fit.
There's room behind the support for the press to fit a pound of powder. A 1lb can of RL17 will fit upright in the box, it's got about 1/4" of clearance.
I'm going to add a handle on top of some sort and I'm still working on a way to mount the powder thrower. I've got a couple idea's I'm playing with, but will update when i figure it out.
It's not pretty, but it is functional. Figured it's going to get beat up anyway.
I picked up a cheap Lee Single Stage press some cheap lumber and some drawer latches. So for less than $50 with most of that being the press i made the following. This isn't my finest wood work, as my miter saw isn't big enough to cut the boards i was using in one pass and i was having trouble with some of the boards cracking/splitting.
The base is 1X12X26 (1inch on each end so a clamp can be used to fasten it to the bench)
The top is 1x12x24
The sides are 1x10x whatever was required.
The press is screwed directly into a board running vertical to give it the most support. Zero flex in it. I don't think i would try to FL resize with this setup but for just seating bullets it's fine.
As a side note, I use micrometer head seating dies for all my rifle calibers, so adjusting the die from my rock chucker to this is no big deal.
With the cut for the press and the door on, the handle of the press can only move about 1/8" the way I've got it setup.
Everything in the next picture fits in the box with plenty of room to spare. You just can't see it all in the previous picture. That's a lyman Gen 6 powder dispenser that is about 9" long and 4-5" wide. I think you can get it in there with the powder hopper installed, but it'd be a tight fit.
There's room behind the support for the press to fit a pound of powder. A 1lb can of RL17 will fit upright in the box, it's got about 1/4" of clearance.
I'm going to add a handle on top of some sort and I'm still working on a way to mount the powder thrower. I've got a couple idea's I'm playing with, but will update when i figure it out.
It's not pretty, but it is functional. Figured it's going to get beat up anyway.
