I spent the morning getting my relocated reloading bench back in business. Relocated from the basement to the garage. Lots of sorting, cleaning and organizing. More work than I had anticipated. I also had to fix the homebrew sagging shelves. I went with 1" dowel, 2 per shelf, cut to size and mounted in the middle to straighten and strengthen the shelves. It worked perfectly. A bit tricky to get the dowel length perfect, but it's done. I also reinforced the shelves with stainless T brackets to stop any side-bend or wobble. I need access to the back wall through the shelving to get to my commercial power strip, and for other small items I am going to hang back there for storage and/or reference, so I did not want to go with plywood sealing the back of the shelves.
The left drawer below the bench top is filled with brass, the right drawer is storing bullets. I realized after sorting and boxing that I have to get back into 9mm. I have enough 9mm components to supply a large platoon. So a 9 mil will be on the shopping list this year as well.
I used to have a good supply of cleaning media and polish, but I must have tossed all that years ago, so that is also on the list. The Midway vibrator is basically brand new. I bought that about 15-20 years ago and never used it.
I also have to mount the 2nd stand behind the powder drop to store my progressive "Piggyback" adapter that sits on top of the Rock Chucker if I want to go progressive. I do plan on using that once in a while just because I have it and might as well put it in service rather than let it sit unused.
There are two metal signs I want to mount above the bench. A Remington Sporting Cartridges sign (you can see a glimpse of that behind the shelves on the right) and the Marlin Firearms sign you see sitting next to the Philips stereo on the garage shelf above the reloading bench shelving. That's just decoration, so as of now, the bench is ready to go to work.
I was going to use Elmer's Tac N Stick to secure the center dowels for the shelves and to secure the bottom of the shelves where they sit on the bench, but I decided instead to go with Gorilla Mounting Putty. That stuff holds like, well, a Gorilla once it sets, but you can remove it with some effort if you decide to move something. Those dowels and shelf bottom sides are under some pressure, so they are not going anywhere anytime soon.
The hard stuff is done. This week I'll actually start reloading. I am looking forward to that. I could not find my large pistol primers, but a local gun shop had some at a reasonable price that I picked up yesterday. I have plenty of small pistol primers. 45 Long Colt will be my first reload project.
I should have a pup of my own around pretty quick. he was not with me today, and my daughter is with mom this weekend, so I did get a few things done.View attachment 1203594 I finally got these things primed that have been staring at me for like three weeks! Still takes forever when you’re working with one arm!
Love the dog, really like the bench. That looks like a serious production facility when you want it to be. Very nice. I plan on getting my bench, recently relocated to my garage, done by tomorrow. That's my plan, anyway. I only have a 6' Craftsman workbench that I bought specifically for reloading (circa 2000 ish), but it works for me. I have some minor carpentry work to do to get the homebrew storage shelves back in top shape. Similar to the shelves you have above your bench, but mine are sagging from lack of center support. I have a remedy for that and then I need to do some final straightening and sorting. I should be back in operation by Monday. Again, that's my plan, anyway. If that plan succeeds, then a pic will be posted to celebrate the completion.
processed 370 starline cases for my 38 wadcutters and loaded 100 tonight. Berrys plated 148 DEWC, W231 3.8gr, cci primers OAL 1.212
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