[therhino]

Here's a couple miscellaneous questions I didn't find answers to in the stickies above:

Does anyone have their setup in an unheated space? The wife just had a brand new workbench built for me for XMas, and it's in our unheated garage. I thought about starting up reloading out there, but I'm concerned that the extremes of heat in the summer and cold in the winter would make it an unsuitable work and storage area for components. How do reloading components react to heat and cold?

If you work in such a space, how do you make the area comfortable? A space heater in the garage feels like a disaster waiting in the wings. A fan in the summer feels like it'd cause issues with powder and dust.

Does anyone own the Lee Hand Press? I'm looking at it for my first piece of kit, as it's easy enough to put away, and I won't be loading crate upon crate of ammo. Mostly just wadcutters for the wife's wheelgun and Makarov for myself. Cabelas has a kit containing the hand press for a reasonable price before dies, but they also sell the Lee Precision for an equally low price. Is one a better piece of equipment than the other?

I simply cannot reload in the house. I have a one year old little boy zooming around the place, and can't have lead and carbon residues all over my office area where he's crawling around and touching things. Of course, I could always get the hand press and load in the basement...

 

[anm2_man]

IMHO - If I was you, I would move to the basement. Much less temp swings and can be comfortable for you in winter or summer.

 

[kingrider]

I second the basement if at all possible. If the garage was the only option I would build or buy a wooden cabinet and store powder and primers in the house somewhere safe with a padlock. I would but a good dehumidifier and keep my press lubed. Only major problem outside of that would be your comfort in extreme heat or cold, not sure what you do their other than try to load during good weather. A fan would play hell with a balance beam scale.

 

[Txhillbilly]

I've reloaded for 30+ years in a barn/metal shipping container/portable storage building/etc.
The only issues that you will have is surface rust on the outside of your dies and on your press where your hands/fingers touch from the oils/acids off your skin. This won't affect your reloading,it just forms a lite surface rust on the surface.
Here's a picture of some of my rifle dies with this condition,and these dies are pretty old and have loaded thousands of cartridges.

 

[jjfuller1]

i would choose the basement, a dehumidifer, and possibly a few additions such as a maybe a small room that you could at leats slightly control the temp, and humidty. mostly i would worry about powder, and rust forming. powders are made to work in a lot of different temp's. its the humidity that hurts. and humidity will also effect your tools. i hear lee makes good stuff for the price. personally, i prefer RCBS. but if lee is affordable im sure it will work fine, many people on this forum use lee products. i would look for a full lee kit that included as much as possible. then you can search out other tools you may need.

 

[jebsca]

I started out on the lee hand press, and am still using it for y 45 auto, even though I have a single stage press now. It works good for setting in the living room depriming and talking to the wife. This way, reloading isn't taking so muc time from her and the boy. Hope this helps.

 

[Txhillbilly]

Humidity will not affect powder if you keep your containers sealed. We have extreme temperature swings here in Texas,and always have a lot of humidity.
I have A/C in my new shop,and have always used propane heaters to heat in the winter months. I have never had any problems with primers or powder in any of the reloading areas that I've used over the years.
With the amount of reloading supplies and loaded ammo I keep on hand,I've always kept it in an area away from my residence in case of a fire.

 

[therhino]

Thanks for the replies, everyone.
It looks like the hand press is actually my best option, then. I can store it in a SAW ammo can along with the rest of the gear, and put the components in another SAW can. Everything can be safely stored in the cans in the closet (with locks on if needed) and picked and moved to the basement or garage when I am loading. Simple enough!

Thanks again, all.

 

[tri70]

I would get turret press, you can do rifle and pistol with ease.

I like the way Txhillbilly stores the die sets.

 

[Txhillbilly]

I would get turret press, you can do rifle and pistol with ease.

I like the way Txhillbilly stores the die sets.

Thx,It took me a long time to figure out that little system. I just took a turret plate to the local hardware store and searched around for something that would hold them,and the 3" PVC fitting worked perfect!