My Loading Bench

[Griff]

Is so full of stuff, I can't find ANYTHING! Got home yesterday from a 9 day trip that lasted 12 and have to load ammo for a cowboy action match next week. Fortunately, I have two of almost everything... EXCEPT a .452 sizer die & top punch for my 45 bullets. Cast up a couple of hundred 200 grain pills from my 6 gang Lee mold and hunted around for the Saeco Sizer die. The last time I used the sizer was for the .32-40... Found where that die was after removing them from the sizer... but, alas, no .452 to be found! The RCBS sizer is full of Lyman lube for smokeless... So... do I load them with APP, or wait for the new sizer & top punch to arrive Monday and load with Goex? Cases are all annealed, (new experience for me), so I could powder coat, load with APP or, wait? Not all is lost, as I want to load up some .32-40 for the Highwall and some .40-90SBN for the Sharps! Still have 100 shotshells to go. That I can do indoors while it rains tomorrow & Saturday... No going outside to load in the unconditioned atmosphere of the shop while it's raining!

Also opened up the package from "Longshot", a camera system for target viewing. I got the 300 yard version as I don't see myself shooting at greater distances. May match starts on Thursday, but side events will be on Wednesday... and I'd really like to shoot the Long Range with both the Highwall & the Sharps. So, Monday will probably find me at the range to sight both rifles in at 200 yards, finally!

[COSteve]

One word . . . . Organization!! Without it you have randomness and chaos. If you know where to find what you need, life is very relaxing and enjoyable. If you can't find things it makes for a frustrating and irritating exercise in futility. Anal you say? Not hardly. Organized!! for an enjoyable experience. As you can see, I've collected a bunch of equipment as I'm not keen on fiddling with something to change calibers. I just pull 2 pins, swap toolheads and shellplates and possibly the primer assy (a second one is just to the left of the Akro bins) and I'm ready to go. Organized so even changing calibers is enjoyable as it goes smoothly and effortlessly.

My bench looks exactly like this 100% of the time I'm not actually handloading and not more than 10 minutes after I stop. It's a pleasure to walk up to to start to work at and everything has it's place so I know exactly where to find anything I need. Click on the picture and you'll note that I also have things labeled as well in case I need something I haven't used in years. I know just where to look and know when I've found it's location.

19-Reloading Bench.jpg

Note: I took the locks off of the firearms for the picture.
The old TV is NEVER on when I'm loading. In fact, it's only there for an old workout disc my wife uses sometimes. At the left out of the picture is a bookcase with one of my kids old boom boxes in it that I use to listen to soft jazz or country music down low while I handload as it's very relaxing music. About a year ago, I took down the 9 other large brass kegs I had stacked up on the 6 still there as I didn't need all of them there and they combined, weigh a ton. They're in a storage room stacked neatly.

I use the chair for general work and fussing with my firearms but the stool when I'm handloading at the press as it puts me at the proper height and gives me the openness to work unimpeded. Same situation with my Case Cleaning Station. It's in a storage room to the right just out of the picture so it's a couple of steps away from my bench. Organized so it's a pleasure to work at and with two tumblers, I can make short work of cleaning a day's shooting worth of brass. My Super Swage, modified to work more efficiently, is out for the picture. I use it on my bench and can run 1K pieces of 5.56 or 308 brass through it in about 50 minutes, no sweat.

18-Case Cleaning Station.jpg

[Griff]

But, Steve, my chaos is organized! And what do they say? A clean desk is a sign of a sick mind! Mine's HEALTHY! Why, the powder is over there in the refrigerator, primers are in in the freezer, bullets in their cabinet, dies, toolheads are in their respective drawers, powder measures in theirs, molds & handle in their own cabinet... stacks of cases in various containers near the loading presses... It's when something isn't where it's supposed to be that it becomes that "...what did I do with that?" kind of moment!

[COSteve]

But, Steve, my chaos is organized! And what do they say? A clean desk is a sign of a sick mind! Mine's HEALTHY!

While "They" may say that it simply isn't true. "They" only say that to try to justify their sloppy lifestyle.

An organized mind is supported by an organized life. I've had to have an organized mind my entire working life, all 41.5 yrs of it, and it became the way I roll.

[Sixgun]

Geeze Griff…….you and I have been buds for over 20 years….you have my phone number and I would have overnighted it to you had you asked……..and I wouldn’t have asked for loot…..I’m not cheap like most people here……..ooooo, you owe me .12 cents! or like some here, I’ve had to ask 3 times to send a check……..you know who you are …from Ohio…..

You want it let me know but I’m headed out to the pasture to cut 6 acres of grass…(the kind you don’t smoke unlike what those Kalifornia / Colorado ex hippies do.

Organization is fine but a “super organized” mentality shows that the person does little or has a serious case of neurosis which is common in the hippie/do nothing culture.

These are my “users”….have twice as many underneath……

[COSteve]

Thank you Dr. Sixgun. Your medical acuity is surpassed only by your humbleness.

[Griff]

Thanks Sixgun. I had a bud locally that offered, but before I made a trip all the over to Ft Worth, I went back to the barn and looked again! There it was, in the drawer it was supposed to be in... but not in the correct sleeve! Just inside a plain plastic bag the was so full of grease from the last lot I sized, it was unrecognizable! Just finished sizing & lubing a couple hundred (a full Dillon blue bin, however many that is!), and now ready to load after I finish annealing some more 45 Colt cases. Luckily, since I'm shooting Frontiersman Gunfighter... as if Cap & Ball ain't hard enough, I don't have to worry about pistol ammo! Tomorrow I'm breaking out a 1911 & my AWA Lightning and model 12 shotgun and shooting a Wild Bunch match. That ammo is already loaded as I loaded enough this spring to last till next year.

[Walt]

Six, I like your coping saw and your Dremel flexible shaft....both handy tools. And BTW, the word is humility, not humbleness.

Thanks for the picture.

[Sixgun]

Six, I like your coping saw and your Dremel flexible shaft....both handy tools. And BTW, the word is humility, not humbleness.

Thanks for the picture.

This was only supposed to be an answer to Griff...that's all.

Thanks Walt! You ought to see that dremel run....10K........

Oh well, let the fun continue!....I tell ya, it's a new adventure everyday.


Let the good times roll!!!!


Here's the rest Walt.....

[Bearskinner]

I know I can spend hours organizing the bench, and it still looks like nothing got done. A few months back, while recovering from a hernia fix, I spent days building little shelf’s in between large metal shelving, so I could attempt to lay all my tools and supplies out, easy to find and use.

[Griff]

Sixgun... your bench puts mime to shame! Although the annealer is awesome, except when it isn't! Sometimes a rim get caught up and halts progress. I should only need 120 rounds for the main match, but got 155 loaded... in case! We'll see if annealing the brass in the 45 Colt Uberti 1872 rifle or the 1860 Henry works as well as advertised by some cowboy shooters. I've clearance the carrier for an extra .010-.015 per side and haven't had any fouling issues with BP... but better sealing in the chamber won't hurt any! I'm going to have narrower wheels made so I can anneal the C45S brass.

[COSteve]

And BTW, the word is humility, not humbleness.

It was suppose to be a joke statement.

[Sixgun]

Griff,
The annealer is a cool tool but really only comes into play for benchrest shooters or brass that’s expensive…….for 50 years I used nothing but a propane torch……when using old brass that’s hard to get.

Oh well, don’t hardly do any of it anymore….

[Griff]

Griff,
The annealer is a cool tool but really only comes into play for benchrest shooters or brass that’s expensive…….for 50 years I used nothing but a propane torch……when using old brass that’s hard to get.
Oh well, don’t hardly do any of it anymore….

Several of the cowboy action shooters that shoot BP in their 45 Colt rifles swear by it. Figured I'd give it a try. If nothing else, it should extend the life of the .32-40 cases I have... Winchester & Remington brass is unobtainum as new, and expensive as all get out on You're Going Broke auction site. And I'm not impressed with the quality of the only maker right now... Quality Brass of Las Vegas. Maybe if they send me a couple hundred, I'll test 'em for longevity against the two bags of Winchester brass I found at a "Mom & Pop" gun store in WY!