Reloading and Apartments

strick · May 17, 2012

As the title says. How do you deal with reloading when living in a apartment? To give some kind of description of what i have to deal with in my apartment, MOVING is not a option.

740 sq ft 2 bed 1 bath
I am on the second floor with no deck/porch
No garage/storage unit either attached or on property to use

The only calibers I have are my 9mm XD and my Wife's .357 Ruger. My next gun buys will mostly likely be either 12 gauge shotgun or a .22lr rigle/pistol, Leaning 22lr heavily. So reloading 22 is worthless but here is my questions/choices?

What kind of reloading options/choices do I have for indoors. I can not have a dedicated "workbench" so anything that is bolted down or held down with heavey c-claps are not really much of an option.

I shot about 100-150 rounds a month.

I will list more info as I think of it or asked by other who are experienced.

ZA_Survivalist · May 17, 2012

An old wood desk from Goodwill or a garage sale. Mount your stuff all to that. That OR a one of those cheaper plastic folding tables from Costco or any other store that sells'em. As for reloading, I'd only invest in dies for your 9mm and .357 but you could always go with less and practice with .38spl again reloading especially with cast lead bullets will save some money if you shoot quite a bit. But 100-200 rounds a month aint too bad in terms of just buying in bulk rather than reloading.
As for the desk, Its what I did for my set up.
I'm in an apartment too brother.
However.. my Mrs had me move it to storage.. where now I have a even bigger space along with my other two safes.

drew · May 17, 2012

I'd think a portable, workbench that collapses like a Black and Decker Workmate would be a good way to go. You could clamp stuff to it but move it or break down the setup and fold up the bench when you needed the space.

taylor · May 17, 2012

I've reloaded thousands of rounds with a Lee hand press. Its quiet, could fit in your pocket and uses standard dies. It'll last forever and if you're not in a big hurry will reload quality ammo just like any other press.
You can get one at Master Distributor for Reloading products and parts for $29 get a ram prime for $10 more and you can reprime on the press. Believe me you won't regret it.Youtube has a bunch of videos on it.

DieselScout · May 17, 2012

Google "portable reloading stand"

You'll find all sorts of ideas.

Lee's option

Another.

JSJPDX · May 17, 2012

I lived in an apartment for a number of years and mounted my equipment on a short section of 2 X 6 and just used C clamps to attach it to my kitchen table or desk when I wanted to load. I'm still using that arrangement only now in my garage.

Mark W. · May 17, 2012

I have seen a very nice reloading bench built out of or into a small roll top desk. When closed up it looked just like a nice piece of furniture. The guys wife actually showed it off to me she was so proud of their compromise.
The took the desk and removed the inner shelves. Put a heavy plywood false top over the original writing surface. He had threaded sockets in the plywood to allow him to quickly mount his press and powder measure stand. Then he added in shelves that would fit his reloading dies and some supplies. He kept most of his supplies in a light wt gun safe in a bedroom closet.

The little desk was about 3' wide and he said he bought it at a second hand shop.

I have also seen a couple of 7 drawer rolling cabinets at BiMart that could be made into a small work bench. With storage below.

strick · May 17, 2012

Thanks for the great ideas. I like Taylor's idea of using a hand Press due availible space. I have to add that currently our second bedroom is used for storage if all our extra stuff, but that us changing. My wife is due with our first child July 3rd. So that becomes his room. We plan on staying in our current place for the foreseeable future. We will be renting a storage unit for anything that we do not use regularly.

I like the idea of using a hand press for reloading as I can easily use it on the days my wife is at work and I am home with the baby. I could be resizing the casings and re-priming them while I watch the baby.

So new question. With a hand press what basics would I need. I would ask for this stuff for Christmas as Wife says its hard to shop for me as I just go out and buy what I want.

taylor · May 17, 2012

Get the breech lock hand press it clicks in the dies in a second, opposed to screwing them in with the basic model.
You'll need dies, something to prime(lee ram prime is good and cheap), primers, powder, a simple but decent scale, calipers, cases and bullets. and maybe lube. You'll need loading data but theres a dozen places online for free.
Alot of sites offer kits with the Lee hand press, for something like $75 you'll get everything except the powder and bullets,cases.
You can add things later on as you go like a tumbler to clean brass, the thing with the hand press is no matter how far you go in reloading you'll always find a use for it, on site reloading, camping, traveling, survival kits etc.
On the Lee website they show this guy who won a long distance shooting event and used a hand press to reload the night before, he didn't want to wake his wife.
You'll like either the new breech hand press or the basic model.

taylor · May 17, 2012

I may have been wrong, I was just pricing stuff and Natchez has a Lee 4 hole turret press with everything you need -powder measure, scale all the small things for $104, I think if you got the hand press you'd still have to buy alot of stuff thats in the Turret's kit.
You should check around you might do better even, Google Lee reloading press kit and see what you come up with.

sneakboxer · May 17, 2012

Count me for another vote for the Lee hand press. I started with one and loaded 308, 357 and 40 for about a year until i upgraded to a real press. The hand press is slow but everything fit in a tool box and kept the wife happy. I cleaned brass in the sink and oven and loaded on the cheap computer desk. Oh yea i made some good shooting rounds too.

You can do it! But be careful the bug might bite you...

RVTECH · May 18, 2012

mounted my equipment on a short section of 2 X 6 and just used C clamps to attach it to my kitchen table

I did this exact same thing while living in a small, temporary place when I was in the AF. I used a Rock Chucker press and it worked very well and I reloaded thousands of rounds with this arrangement. Not to 'dis' on the Lee hand press but it sure looks like it would be rough on the squeezing hand - if you plan on anything other than very minimal quantities.

deadshot2 · May 18, 2012

drew said:
I'd think a portable, workbench that collapses like a Black and Decker Workmate would be a good way to go. You could clamp stuff to it but move it or break down the setup and fold up the bench when you needed the space.

When I was single many years ago, I used a B&D Workmate in my apartment. It was great. A couple of c-clamps held either my Rock Chucker or Lee Progressive in place and I could store the whole setup in a closet when entertaining.

Only suggestion I would offer, regardless of what you use in an apartment to reload, spread a sheet or cheap tarp under the loading area. That way you can merely pick it up and dispose of any spilled powder or live primers that escaped. If you don't do this, the powder can leave dark stains on the carpet from the graphite it contains. Real hard to clean up.. The primers are worse. If you vacuum, and the vac has a beater bar, the primers can explode, leaving a burned black mark. That's impossible to remove and can cause you to loose any damage deposit you put down. I was lucky and able to "trim" the carpet thus removing the black mark or two so I didn't loose my deposit. Just a friendly tip from someone who "has the hat and t-shirt".

mark olindale · May 18, 2012

When I first started reloading I used a desk. It is a little harder to get things mounted on but can be done. Lee makes a portable reloading stand that you can buy and put a press on. Some hardware stores have small work benches that are designed to go in sheds, those would work in a small apartment too. What ever you chose just make sure that it is sturdy and does not rock when you cycle your reloading press