Heavy Bench for Dillon Press, Reloading & Storage

[Old No7]

Not exactly a project that this day is meant for...

But the unseasonably cold "spring" weather (20 degrees this morning, really now?!) and plenty of extra help in the kitchen to prep our dinner, all gave me an unexpected 3-hour stretch in the cellar this afternoon.

I'd been meaning to share photo's of the heavy-duty reloading & storage bench that I'd built awhile ago for my Dillon progressive press, so here it is. The height of this bench is 36.5", which raises it 2" above the other benches on both sides and makes it really comfortable to stand up and load ammo. In this picture you can see my upgraded 450 press (with some of the newer 550 features added) mounted at the front:

Dillon Bench 01 (Small).JPG

This picture shows the storage room for lead bullets underneath. With 4x4" posts in the corners, plus 2x4 supports and 2x8" for the top, the bench is plenty solid -- and with the weight of the bullets, it doesn't move at all when loading:

Dillon Bench 02 (Small).JPG

Here you can see the press is dismounted, and with the powder measure & die head removed, it stores easily in the bottom, between all the boxes of bullets:

Dillon Bench 03 (Small).JPG

Finally, with the press removed, you can see that I have yet another nice large -- and wicked stable and solid -- workbench to use for cleaning guns or other such tasks.

Dillon Bench 04 (Small).JPG

I don't have any plans to share, as I made the design to fit the space I had, plus the press, but hopefully this might give the gang on the forum some ideas.

Tight groups!

Old No7

[AJMD429]

Here's a topping I put on some old cabinets that worked well. . .

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I moved my presses to another bench, but re-created the same 'cubby hole' bit just under the countertop; the top is 3/4" plywood, but the front 4" or so (just under the presses) is a 3/4" piece of oak). This provides more strength and rigidity and keeps small stuff from rolling off the bench. The cubbies on this are only made from 2"x4" stock so are not as tall, but are perfect for die wrenches, micrometers, pamphlets, etc. . .



. . . of course moving the presses off the first bench freed me up to have a nice organized, clutter-free workbench for regular tools and so forth. . .

[M. M. Wright]

DocAJ, When I saw all that clutter I began to wonder how you got into my loading room.