jaffo Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Hello all from Texas. I am researching reloading and have read everything I can find on the internet. I have decided on the RL550B and will be reloading 9mm and 45 ACP. My delimma is that I have limited places to set up a reloader. My choices are the Tack Room in the barn or a spare bedroom upstairs. Tack Room Pros Well ventilated and not in the house. Cons Not climate controlled and very dusty/dirty Upstairs Bedroom Pros Climate controlled Plenty of room Convenient Cons lose bedroom no exhaust venting carpeted and will get dirty Help me out with your opinions. Thanks j Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlamoShooter Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Go for the climate control / dust free room every time. if that room has a double wide closet = you can set up a nice load area in the closet and be able to close off the doors to still use the room as a spare. You can get a 4x6 ft rubber mat = the kind you see in front of commercial building doors, for your carpet floor. What will happen is you will end up needing to load after 10 pm at night some times the day before a match. = you don't want to be a tack room. a mouse could bit a primer and start an explosion well it could happen The doors to the closet will have to be modify ed if they are sliding . you can even close off a corner of the room with a two pair of bi-fold doors = just set the doors up when you need to block it off. The exhaust vent is not important Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Vigilante Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 If the Tack Room is dusty and dirty then you don't want your 550 there for sure. That leaves the bedroom. Is it a spare bedroom? Is it used regularly? Wouldn't take much to exhaust vent the bedroom if you think that's necessary. You can always cover up the carpet with something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlamoShooter Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Wish I had a -dusty Tack Room - for visitors Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-ManBart Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Loading in the house has to be done with some particular safety measures in mind. If you have children in the house, you need to be even more careful. Assuming you're not going to be loading virgin brass every time, you're going to be bringing lead contamination into that bedroom every time you bring cases in....they're going to fall on the floor, it'll get on your hands, it'll wind up on the doorknob, light switch, etc, etc, etc. Absolutely don't tumble, separate cases/media, or sort brass in the house. As a shooter, you're almost certainly bringing lead into the house now, which is bad enough, by wearing your range clothes and shoes into the house, and if you add reloading in the house, it's just one more source of exposure. I've had to learn a lot about this because I wound up with a high lead count due to blocked ventilation at an indoor range during a training week...it's no fun. If I had kids, I wouldn't reload in the house if there was any way around it, and I wouldn't let them in that area...ever. There's at least one thread in the Misc forum that talks a lot about it....it's no joke. http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=71547&view=findpost&p=828305 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaffo Posted January 17, 2011 Author Share Posted January 17, 2011 Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm a former RN and never even gave the lead poisoning idea much creedance. Thanks for the link Bart. It was interesting reading. Another fear I have is the "dirty" appearance in the room. I'm REALLY scared of my wife...lol... Does anyone have any experience with setting up a portable building for a reloading room? How bad is the Texas summer heat on reloading equipment/supplies? Would I spend a fortune on a portable air-conditioner? How do you heat it without blowing yourself up? Boy I wish we had basements in Texas!!! Thanks j Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njl Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 It doesn't have to be dirty or messy looking. You can setup something the size of a computer desk (but preferably much sturdier) in a bedroom, and still have room for a bed and other typical bedroom furniture. Get something with drawers (locking preferably), and a machine cover. When you need the bedroom for a guest (assuming it's the guest room), put everything away. This appears to be out of production...but should give you an idea of what I'm talking about. http://s7d2.scene7.com/is/image/samsclub/0001764120256_A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ima45dv8 Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 How bad is the Texas summer heat on reloading equipment/supplies? The environmental conditions will have a far greater impact on you than they will the reloading components. Unless there's a hole in the roof you could throw a cat through, you won't hurt or damage them at all. YOU, on the other hand..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walsh Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm a former RN and never even gave the lead poisoning idea much creedance. Thanks for the link Bart. It was interesting reading. Another fear I have is the "dirty" appearance in the room. I'm REALLY scared of my wife...lol... Does anyone have any experience with setting up a portable building for a reloading room? How bad is the Texas summer heat on reloading equipment/supplies? Would I spend a fortune on a portable air-conditioner? How do you heat it without blowing yourself up? Boy I wish we had basements in Texas!!! Thanks j I'm going to be working on the attached soon. While I have the room, two kids think the house is now a storage area and I lost my 2 car garage completely. I've been reloading with a RockChucker clamped to my computer desk. But I'll get my 550 up and running on a Black & Decker Workmate like this picture shows. It's from someone I met on AR15.com who said if you sit properly with your feet on the bottom brace, it's fairly comfortable in a pinch. If you go this route, please post photos. I have 5/4" laminated board and will also build sides and a rear 6-8" wide top and backing across mine. PM me for instructions on how the sides were built and attached. This should also solve the wife problem. I have a nice room picked out but it's "The Guest Room" that sees guests for maybe 7-10 days a year. Walsh P.S. MODERATOR...If you'd like me to put the photos up in a new post - "Building a Portable Loading Bench" - please PM me. They weren't of my bench, but both builders told me to feel free to share them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noylj Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 Reload in bedroom. Clean brass is tack room. I am not sure why ventilation is important for reloading--needed for brass tumbling and smelting/casting lead bullets. Get the little lee press and the Lee universal depriming die and mount in the tack room. Deprime as you sort and inspect your brass. This will keep the priming dust in the tack room and you can open and sift the brass outside. Use corn cob media to minimize media dust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 When I sold my last house, I just through a decent bed sheet over the reloader/bench. If your wife can't go for that...have her watch some zombie movies with you and then suggest you need more ammo at the ready. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik S. Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 Show your wife that you are grateful that she has allowed you to use the spare bedroom and keep it CLEAN. Cleaner than anything else in the house......she will notice, trust me. Pick up and wipe off everything on the desk/bench and put it away in tupperware or drawers. She will be more understanding if you want to purchase additional reloading equipment. You can always remind her that Dillon sells these really nice looking equipment covers that keep her stuff clean and your stuff clean and look nice for when guests come over. Caliber quick change kits also reduce the "clutter" .... I'm sure there's a justification for just about every product on Dillon's website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walsh Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 Show your wife that you are grateful that she has allowed you to use the spare bedroom and keep it CLEAN. Prior history comes into play. She has no reason to believe I'm not lying and therefore I will not have the opportunity.. Thanks anyway, Walsh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik S. Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 Well, if you do get your way, trust CAN be regained...start off on a new foot. My wife volunteers to sit down with me and order reloading components for this reason and because I reload ALL her ammo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walsh Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 Well, if you do get your way, trust CAN be regained...start off on a new foot. My wife volunteers to sit down with me and order reloading components for this reason and because I reload ALL her ammo. Your wife shoot? And you load her ammo? We are now talking night-and-day here...LOL Walsh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Wayne Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 When the wife leaves for work set it up in the living room. Tumble outdoors. Our living room had some extra space of to the side. Have five Dillon machines and one Star there now. All our friends are pro gun conservatives anyway. I can load and watch Bonanza re-runs on the computer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik S. Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 I know this forum looks down upon talk about self defense shooting, but I'll write this anyway since that's the history behind how these great sports originated. For those of us who are members of USCCA, there was an article called "10 ways to make your wife/girlfriend hate guns" that was a REALLY good one! If you're a member, read it and try to do the opposite of everything on that list...you'll get your wife intrigued about why you spend so much time at the range and reloading, she just might end up liking it. She might also respond well if you talk to her about defending herself. That has had a good effect on many women shooters that I know today. The article is funny but true..I wish I could post it here, but it's behind a paid membership/login, so I won't dabble in that sort of thing for fear of violating any copyright laws. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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