reloading space

[AIRret]

We are back home so once we get our feet back under us it will be time to set up our reloading equipment. We have pick a room under the stairs in the basement as our work space. The room is 4' by 13' of usable space and we plan on upgrading to a steel door with a heavily reinforced frame. The interior wall will also be reinforced. The other wall is cinder block so the will stay the same.
The reason we are beefing up the room is that besides reloading equipment we will also store additional gun related items (our firearms are already stored in a large safe) that are of value to us; i.e.. things we wouldn't want to be without
when trouble comes our way.
Plus, we have grandkids that might go down the basement when we aren't right there.
Anyway, are any of you doing something similar?
Does anyone have any suggestions?

[Bawanna]

Sounds like a relatively ideal area. Some length allows multiple reloading operations, multiple press's even. Good idea to store other can't do without stuff there too.

My criteria for a bench are ROCK SOLID, you don't want so flimsy tv tray for a bench. Anchor it to the wall and the floor. Nice to put a lot of down pressure on the press and up pressure and not have everything on the bench fall off when it moves.

A bench is kind of like a garage or a motorcycle, they are never big enough but limiting space to some extent also enforces organization which is a good concept when reloading.

Shelf or cabinets. Cabinets are the best to store components, powder, primers, scales etc that are convenient but not on the bench are a nice thing.

Good lighting is a must, as well as a relatively constant temperature.

[RRP]

Kudos for wanting to be prepared for "when trouble comes our way". However, your plan may have unintended consequences, and may even contribute to "trouble".

Unless you have a walk-out basement, that stairway, under which you propose to store flammables and explosives, is your escape to safety. Do you want to jeopardize your escape route by storing explosive materials in this area?

Some jurisdictions prohibit the storage of fireworks, explosives, compressed combustible gases, etc from being stored in areas of egress. See Life Safety Codes. I bet some insurance companies may have issues with this as well.

This is probably not the response you wanted. But you did ask for opinions, so I assume you're willing to listen to differing views.

Good luck with your project.

[Tilos]

I've built a few, with the last as a wall cabinet with bifold lockable doors.
The benches I've had before tended to accumulate "stuff" and other projects in between loading sessions:o, requiring a cleaning before loading.

The cabinet does not have a lot of horizontal surfaces to put scat on and remains closed unless loading.
I load standing for good leverage, with my butt parked on a tall stool, and my scale at eye level.
Loading with a 5 station progressive press, mostly 38, 9mm, some 45ACP and no rifle/bottle neck stuff.
The inside of the cabinet is painted bright white for good visability.
since this pic, I have combined the case flaring with the powder drop, and added a bullet feeder in the freed up station.
So it's load the case, pull and push the lever, repeat.
so you might want to think vertical:D

[AIRret]

Hey RRP, would one of those "window wells" that allow escape from a basement bedrooms
qualify?
Thanks everyone for the feedback

[RRP]

Hey RRP, would one of those "window wells" that allow escape from a basement bedrooms
qualify?


Good question, AIRret. Yes, windows can qualify as a means of egress, if they meet size and height requirements.

In my area, an egress window must have a minimum clear opening of 5.7 sq.ft. with the bottom of the opening no more than 44" off the floor. YMMV, so you should verify this with someone familiar with the requirements for your area.

Good luck with your project.

[Tilos]

here's a link to over 100 pages of different bench designs/setups:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=218720

Tilos

[Charlie98]

My only concern would be storing the powder... the cinder blocks and the steel door sound pretty confining.

I had my reloading stuff out in the garage... but got tired of seeing it rusting away, so I evicted the old lady's scrapbooking stuff (well, some of it) out of the spare room closet. It's pretty tight, but I had room to build a solid bench with room to operate. I did put a lockset on the door, though, to keep anyone from messing with anything.

A dedicated reloading bench sure is nice, and it's even nicer in an air conditioned house!

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x39/Charlie_98/100_0709.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x39/Charlie_98/100_0710.jpg

[OldLincoln]

If possible, I recommend making an area at the far wall from the stairs the flammable storage area. Also a "real" fire extinguisher in place near the stairs. Other than that think of it like a kitchen, placing equipment convenient to how you work.

[AIRret]

My Husband says to thank (and I agree) everyone for all the suggestions. He says we'll send everyone a free sample of our first batch of bullets (just joking!). And I'm not telling
you fine people about his other ideas.
Sincerely, we have wanted to get into reloading for awhile. With both of us shooting it's a necessity, and we appreciate all the help.
A few more facts; the usable space is 5' by 13' and half of that space has a 7'10" ceiling and the rest slopes to down to 5'. The rest we aren't going to consider usable. Also, I was wrong, the wall on two sides is poured concrete.
The issue of a fire exit is taken care of with the large window and exit well.
However, because of the fire/explosive risk we will be storing the powder in another area
and we will upgrade our fire extinguishers. I'm very grateful that you folks brought all those issues up.

[RRP]

Sounds like you folks are really going about this the right way. It's best to think of all contingencies, beforehand.

Have fun in the creation of your new reloading center.

Safe shooting & reloading!