Help me get organized!

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Axis II

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I cant take it anymore. I need help organizing my reloading stuff and staying on track. I find myself missing parts, missing brass, missing bricks of primers, missing bullets, ammo boxes, shell holders, etc. I hide all my reloading stuff when little ones come to visit and it ends up in 10 different places. I sometimes go months without reloading so I forget stuff.

I wet tumbled, trimmed, etc. a ton of different 5.56 brass and then it all got mixed together and now I don't know what's what.

I'm missing an entire brick of SPP.

I'm missing shell holders for my lee hand prime tool.

I'm missing note card with load data on them and then when I find them I have no idea what it is cause its been months and actually start over.

I think one problem is I start loading and either get bored with it or no time and don't finish and then weeks later when I have time I finish.

I moved out for a few months and basically threw everything in boxes and hid what I could so it couldn't be taken or vandalized and now stuff is everywhere. I try and keep my plastic ammo boxes, bullet boxes and primer boxes on a shelf but it always seems to get moved around and messed up.
 
I don't reload, but I suggest a log book...either paper or electronic.

I'd also suggest containers that you can secure, even if you just use a zip tie to secure it. Once inventoried, a zip tie seal will probably suffice to maintain a decent inventory.

I really like lockable plastic containers for storing commercial ammo. I use dissicant packs to keep moisture out:
 
Can't help with your delf discipline, but a wall locker with a hasp and padalock would take care of what it sounds like most of your stuff. Leave the press out, mounted to a bench, (single stage, or small turret) unless you have one of those momster size (doesn't sound like it) progressives. Smaller, more fragile/mobile tools can be locked up with components in the locker.
 
It seems shell holders get lost in boxes, brass mixed up or forgotten what’s done to it. This is what drives me most crazy! I just pulled 25 44mag rounds cause I loaded them in the tray and couldn’t remember months later what’s in them. Can’t find the card either. ☹️
 
ohihunter2014 said:
It seems shell holders get lost in boxes, brass mixed up or forgotten what’s done to it. This is what drives me most crazy! I just pulled 25 44mag rounds cause I loaded them in the tray and couldn’t remember months later what’s in them. Can’t find the card either. ☹️
Click to expand...


Some of the things I’ve done to help are as follows
1.) 3 ring binders per caliber/per gun depending on your preference write it down as soon as the last round is loaded!

2.) those Plano flat clear tackle boxes I store stuff in them you could store all of your lee shell hand primers holders in one easy spot

3. I CAN’T stress this enough LABEL EVERYTHING I bought a label maker just for that purpose !
 
A Sharpie can write on anything and comes off with an alcohol pad.
Label stuff.
You need a dedicated, locked area that won’t need picking up for kids. Your hobby is dangerous. It deserves its own closet, box, tool chest.

Separate the firearms things from the reloading things, but do not separate reloading things from themselves. They really don’t need a lot of space to store. Get stacking Tupperware type containers and put everything in one of those inside a plastic tote. Write on all the lids. Brass goes in, too.
It doesn’t have to be fancy. But it must be secured from other humans.

“The dimmest ink is brighter than the brightest memory.” -Confucius
 
I wish to use more tact than Tim did. But he is right.
As rewarding as it can be, it is equally as dangerous.

ohihunter2014 said:
and either get bored with it or no time and don't finish
Click to expand...

This is disturbing. Handloading should not bore you. Everyone needs a break to maintain focus, but let’s face it, we’re doing the most mundane of tasks, repetitively, where a mistake can remove the sight from your head.
With little payoff, that can easily be bought from a store.

Time management is crucial, too. Knowing when to stop for the night is different than not having time to finish. Being rushed while loading is a formula for sorrow.
I’ve read a few of your posts loading up for hunting, needing to get done before you have to leave. Not having enough time to develop the load fully.
Imagine washing all that away, ordering cases of ammunition online and being done.
It’s not the cost in cash, but in effort, in stress, and yes, in risk too.

It is hard to read inflection in print, but please take no offense.

Handloading is not for everyone. Many, really great, shooters don’t load their own. Most hunters I know don’t, when I hunt it is with factory shot shells. (I’m not loading those. I needed to draw the line somewhere.)

Don’t get rid of your equipment or anything rash, but think about whether you actually enjoy it right now, or not.

You’ll still need the storage stuff anyway. But you don’t need the stress.
Gardening is not fun for everyone either.

I don’t do things that are not fun anymore. I’m to young for that now.
 
horsemen61 said:
Some of the things I’ve done to help are as follows
1.) 3 ring binders per caliber/per gun depending on your preference write it down as soon as the last round is loaded!

2.) those Plano flat clear tackle boxes I store stuff in them you could store all of your lee shell hand primers holders in one easy spot

3. I CAN’T stress this enough LABEL EVERYTHING I bought a label maker just for that purpose !
Click to expand...
That's a great idea on the binder and the boxes. I use note cards stuffed inside the ammo box and always lose them. Right now all my shell holders and stuff are loose in a box. Oh, and the label maker. I lost that too.
 
Demi-human said:
I wish to use more tact than Tim did. But he is right.
As rewarding as it can be, it is equally as dangerous.



This is disturbing. Handloading should not bore you. Everyone needs a break to maintain focus, but let’s face it, we’re doing the most mundane of tasks, repetitively, where a mistake can remove the sight from your head.
With little payoff, that can easily be bought from a store.

Time management is crucial, too. Knowing when to stop for the night is different than not having time to finish. Being rushed while loading is a formula for sorrow.
I’ve read a few of your posts loading up for hunting, needing to get done before you have to leave. Not having enough time to develop the load fully.
Imagine washing all that away, ordering cases of ammunition online and being done.
It’s not the cost in cash, but in effort, in stress, and yes, in risk too.

It is hard to read inflection in print, but please take no offense.

Handloading is not for everyone. Many, really great, shooters don’t load their own. Most hunters I know don’t, when I hunt it is with factory shot shells. (I’m not loading those. I needed to draw the line somewhere.)

Don’t get rid of your equipment or anything rash, but think about whether you actually enjoy it right now, or not.

You’ll still need the storage stuff anyway. But you don’t need the stress.
Gardening is not fun for everyone either.

I don’t do things that are not fun anymore. I’m to young for that now.
Click to expand...
I agree with you on the whole take your time, don't load late into the night, etc. I will give a little insight on points you touched on.

1) Boring--I love the whole working up loads, trying different powders, bullets, etc. and when I was working on loads for 3 different 223rem powders and 4-5 different bullets it was exciting to get home from work and head to the range. I would wake up on weekends and load till say noon-2pm and then hit the range. Loads are found and shoot pretty well so the fact of sitting down and loading the same ole 25gr of Benchmark and a Nosler BT gets boring. It doesn't make me think or problem solve. Sitting there cranking out 1k 9mm bullets on the turret gets boring cause its repetitive.

2) Mistakes--I weight each and every rifle charge and then trickle up and load each round individually. I then put each round into my gauge for good measure. Only mistake I have made was no primer when cranking out 9mm and its only happen twice.

3) Time management--I have absolutely no time. I went from being single for about 8yrs to having a girlfriend who is like Speedy Gonzalez. She doesn't slow down. Gardening, remodeling, cooking, yard work, fishing, shooting, work, etc. The last few hunting seasons I have been working 40-48hrs a week and going to school during the week and weekends, so time really was screwed. Only time to hit the range was Sunday from like 3pm-dark. I do get what your saying and yes, it was slightly irresponsible to rush load ammo. However, I am very meticulous. If I am not sure what's in it the round gets pulled and powder in the flower bed. I found a 50 pack of 223rem rounds I am not sure the powder charge cause the note card got lost from the box of 100 so everything got pulled.

4) Loading hunting rounds. I load my hunting rounds for cost savings and I do enjoy reloading and also refuse to pay the cost for sub par factory rounds for my deer guns. Lately with no time its more a chore than relief and fun. I have 1k RMR MW that need loaded and after working 7 days a week, 64-74hr weeks I tried loading for a few hours the other night once I got back to normal shifts and said the heck with it and went and watched TV.

This isn't meant as an argument just touching base on some things. I am bored with it and don't enjoy it anymore and I believe its cause I am always rushed and things are a mess from moving out temporarily. I think once I get everything organized and cleaned up it will get better.
 
Gentlemen I know I am a train wreck, but over the last year I went from a fat, stay at home, go no where, nothing to do person and now its rush to work, rush to the gym, rush to the GF house, rush, rush, rush. Things I used to love to do like fish, hunt, reloading, shooting all seem to be chores right now cause of lack of time. I am looking to get my gear organized and take a few hours a week and load comfortably and not out of cardboard boxes.
 
I understand, completely.
Single dad of two.
Papa has had bronchitis and Pnuemonia for weeks. (So this virus freaks me out.)
Schools are closed and I have come to the realization that I am a terrible teacher, which is why I’m a contractor.
The house is almost done. I’ve been saying that for two years now... 33A33C0B-98E2-4610-83B3-DFEB1E5F78EA.jpeg
Really getting sick of drywall and paint.
It was two months or so between firing shots of anything before the rabbit hunt and month between then and lasts weeks thread.
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/range-trips-for-health.865688/
(I feel just a little guilty, it’s like a vacation for me. I’d rather it be when I planned it, but I am prepared for such things. Gazelle Intensity!)
I feel a bit lost at first, too, when I head to the dungeon. That’s were the ink comes in...;)

So, I understand. No more “giving it up” advice.
Storage and Organizing tips only.:)

From one wreck to another, you’re doing fine. My dungeon may be spotless and orderly, but I’ll not show you my clothes closet...

If you store under the bed there are also large flat rolling bins. Everything needs a lid, too. Under bed dust is a problem. But it’s a great place for long flat storage, and heavy things that shouldn’t be on a shelf, like bullets.
Sterilite is the brand I was thinking of. Is Tupperware still a thing?

And a rainbow pack of Sharpies with an extra black one.:thumbup:
 
Hope this doesn’t turn in to an AA meeting, but... Can’t help you with that four letter word....TIME. It gets all of us.
I ended up buying heavy duty wire racks from Home Depot, the 5 shelf version that’ll hold 600#s per shelf.
I have one rack that has the components. One rack has the equipment. One rack holds the output. Kinda.
I bought clear plastic bins and have one per caliber that holds all the caliber specific equipment like dies, plates, etc. so that helps organize the per caliber tooling.
I have other clear plastic bins for primers so I can see and get an idea of how many I have on hand. Bullets and cases are too heavy for the clear plastic bins so they stay in cardboard boxes. I have sharpies all over the place since they are great for labeling cardboard. Range brass is labeled “unprocessed”. Once it gets tumbled and sorted it’ll get it’s own cardboard box with “..caliber.. processed”.
I use my smartphone and the online notepad extensively, but I still have a log book for reloading, as well as spreadsheets for each caliber that track load development.
Hope this helps a bit, good luck, and girlfriends can be a good thing!
 
Yeah, I know, it’s a mess. Been working on organizing my stuff lately while doing lots of other honey doos. I keep all my brass in ammo cans and make labels for each so I can keep up with what step the brass is on. I label every load and keep records in a binder with all load data and just the basic info on the can. Then I built a shelf to hold most of the cans and keep them off the floor. As each step gets done to the brass it gets another check mark to keep up with where I’m at in the process.
FB4D5388-25D2-4598-816E-8BFCA15883BE.jpeg DEDE2B91-F0DC-40CD-9F7C-CE48B97F7E8F.jpeg 413957CE-B044-458F-A331-7C79929EE300.jpeg

Over the bench I added akro bins to hold dies, shell holders, and other misc tools, and small lots of brass. That’s where most of the mess is right now. Powder is stored in cabinets in the reloading bench along with buckets of raw range brass, coffee cans of cast bullets, and cases of primers. All of which is locked for no real reason, my kids never bother any of it unless they are helping me load and we rarely have company with little ones. Maybe this will help some or give you some ideas.
209DF50B-F3FC-4EEB-9591-07463D81CB9B.jpeg
 
Demi-human said:
I understand, completely.
Single dad of two.
Papa has had bronchitis and Pnuemonia for weeks. (So this virus freaks me out.)
Schools are closed and I have come to the realization that I am a terrible teacher, which is why I’m a contractor.
The house is almost done. I’ve been saying that for two years now...View attachment 904279
Really getting sick of drywall and paint.
It was two months or so between firing shots of anything before the rabbit hunt and month between then and lasts weeks thread.
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/range-trips-for-health.865688/
(I feel just a little guilty, it’s like a vacation for me. I’d rather it be when I planned it, but I am prepared for such things. Gazelle Intensity!)
I feel a bit lost at first, too, when I head to the dungeon. That’s were the ink comes in...;)

So, I understand. No more “giving it up” advice.
Storage and Organizing tips only.:)

From one wreck to another, you’re doing fine. My dungeon may be spotless and orderly, but I’ll not show you my clothes closet...

If you store under the bed there are also large flat rolling bins. Everything needs a lid, too. Under bed dust is a problem. But it’s a great place for long flat storage, and heavy things that shouldn’t be on a shelf, like bullets.
Sterilite is the brand I was thinking of. Is Tupperware still a thing?

And a rainbow pack of Sharpies with an extra black one.:thumbup:
Click to expand...
Demi, please don't take my previous posts as firing back or me being upset at your post. It wasn't my intent. I read your post and honestly took it to heart. I know I sometimes have crazy ideas and ask "dumb questions" on here but this forum is my release. I couldn't honestly say if a large handful of members on here lived close I could hang out with them any day. Sometimes I need a little kick in the rear to realize I am wrong. I just didn't want you or others to think I just head downstairs and slap together whatever and go shoot. Money is tight so burning through 50 .458 bullets and a pound of powder isn't feasible. I realize I shouldn't skip steps but sometimes gotta do what ya gotta do.
 
The organization starts with you, not with just your stuff. A few sheets of Avery labels and a sharpie. Several plastic bins, either bought or salvaged. Wally World has great small bins that stack, come in a multitude of sizes that all stack together. I separate all my cases and loose bulk bullets in these. Coffee cans are a perennial favorite. Empty 1# powder jugs. I also use plastic boxes bullets came in, for small parts for my trimmer, and other little things. I use an old desk with drawers on one side as a bench. The drawers are labeled. there are a coupla command hooks underneath where I sit that I hang my wrenches, bullet puller and calipers from. Two drawer filling cabinet holds 1# jugs of powder and primers. Four and eight pound jugs sit on top. Regardless, you must organize it to start with and then put everything back when done. Coupla minutes before you get up to leave means no whole afternoon reorganizing. Putting new stuff away as you buy it or it gets delivered is paramount.

....and yes, having a dedicated space makes it a whole lot easier.
 
...And like I’m one to talk organization.
BA839B1D-7806-4812-887C-F4815C129CD7.jpeg

I just “found” some bullets that I thought I used up.
Looks like the bushmaster gets to go out this week after all!:)


Here’s some chicken scratches from my notes.
Not a lot there, but enough to keep me on track. image.jpg
They get sparse after the initial “New Rifle” wears off.


It’s a mess now,
(of course I’m going to take pictures right now to show my wonderful organization skills, I’m tipping over an empty filing cabinet to get far enough back for a picture because the water softener exploded in here. I have most of the carpet replaced but this cabinet is rusted out on the bottom. So here it sits..;)) image.jpg
but everything has a bin and is labeled.:)
 
As my reloading room is in my finished attic I get concerned about heat affecting my powder and primers. So I bought three high quality coolers made by Lifetime, and I got them at Walmart. I did not pay the MSRP, I wait for a sale and then buy one.

https://www.lifetime.com/lifetime-90903-lifetime-77-quart-high-performance-cooler
upload_2020-4-1_7-43-4.png

In one I keep my powder. Every time I buy powder I write the purchase date on the jug for my own reference, and I use the oldest stuff first.

In another, I keep loaded ammo, but I need another one of these for that purpose. I've filled one up and then some, and the other cooler I'm using is like a 45 year old Coleman chest cooler. Not the best for this purpose.

In a third I keep my primers and bullets.. I have thousands of bullets and around 35,000 primers in one, with room to spare, but obviously that depends on your stockpile and what bullets you are storing.

Even when it gets warm in my attic, I can open one of these and it feels pretty cool inside. I leave the attic windows open so it cools back down in the evenings though too. There are metal inserts for padlocks also to keep kids away.

The rest of my items all get a dedicated space, and I always return items to their dedicated homes. Failure to do that is the quickest way in the world to clutter up a work space, and home for that matter. I tried to get an ex-girlfriend to understand this as her habit was to pick up something, and when done she would just put it down wherever she was and move on to the next thing. She wasted so much time looking for stuff I realized I couldn't handle it.

Reserving dedicated spaces for items to live, always returning them there, and making sure to spend time cleaning up after each loading session really helps me stay organized.
 
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