Reloading room

[Grendel]

Trying to decide on the best location to have my reloading gear. I have two choices available. Both have advantages and disadvantages.

I can either set up my reloading station in my detached workshop which is separate from the house or in my storage room in the house. I live in Minnesota so the weather and temperatures/humidity changes can be a bit extreme

The workshop is heated, and itself has a cement floor and substantial power outlets and lighting, but is built off a garage area with an earthen floor. Consequently, there is a certain amount of moisture in the air in the spring and summer. It is not air conditioned although I have several floor fans I use to try and keep it dry or at least have the air moving. In the winter, moisture is not a problem. It has a sturdy and spacious workbench with ample room for storage.

My storage room in the house is well lit, heated, and air conditioned. However, it also contains a furnace/AC unit, a breaker box, and a gas fired water heater. The workbench has large storage areas above and below and is about 6-8 feet from the water heater and furnace. The breaker box would be on the wall beside the bench. This room too is well lighted and has ample power outlets. I currently store several 1000 rounds of factory ammo in the cupboards but still have plenty of room for reloading components.

The only real difference between the two is the air conditioning or lack thereof and the proximity of the furnace, breaker box, & water heater.

I also have a storage room in my attached garage that is kept at about 50 deg in winter which I could use to keep the bulk powder/primers in and only remove the amount I'm using on each reloading session. This room is not air conditioned either, so it can get pretty warm in the summer.

Humidity rates in my house run at about 30 - 40% dependent upon the season. I have no idea, nor any way of telling, what the humidity levels are in the detached workshop/garage.

What's my best choice? I don't want to have stuff rusting or getting damp but I don't want to freak out the wife either.

[M1A4ME]

My powder/bullets/primers/cases have been in unheated, un air conditioned areas for 30 plus years.  Never had any powder go bad, primers either.

It can be (at the coldest) around 0F for a night or two at times.  In the summer it's just ugly.  Temps in the mid to high 90's.  Humidity high enough that when you open the door, even at 6AM to go to work it hits you like a bucket of warm water.

My Lee dies have had rust on them a time or two (outside).  The handle of the Lee press gets rust on it where I sweat on it.  Never had rust on the internals of the powder measure (not yet anyway).  I started putting a coat of resizing lube on the metal handle of the press and on the outside of the dies.  So far, the RCBS dies have not had and issue, not sure why.  The old Pacific dies have some type of hard chrome coating on them and they've never rusted either.

I store all my (well, almost all) ammo in the shed and the garage, too.  When I got the GII a couple years back I opened up a case of SA surplus 7.62X51 that had been in non-climate controlled storage since 2007, so almost 10 years.  No issues with any of it so far.

As they say, your mileage may vary.  The internet is full of people hollering their guns rust on them in the house, let alone in an attic, garage, storage shed or the trunk of their car.  I guess I'm just lucky - or I'm careful about wiping them off with an oily cloth and not touch the metal after I've wiped them down.  So, I don't pay much attention to the crying about climate conditions and rust as long as it's not left in the rain or the roof doesn't leak on them.

Oh, every now and then we get some funny weather conditions down here in central VA.  I've gone to the garage for something (where my reloading stuff and a couple cars are kept) and the humidity and temperature are just right (or wrong) and the moisture is beaded up on the cars, the tool boxes, the metal cabinets, etc.  Weird.  It's only happened a couple times in the 6 years or so I've had the garage, but it happens.

[painter]

My components, and equipment are in a workshop in my barn. The temps can vary between -20 and 100. I only heat it when I'm out there loading, and use a pellet stove. I wipe down my equipment with an oily rag occasionally, just like my guns, and have no issues with rust.

I haven't had any apparent issues with primers, or powder, due to temp or humidity either.

[Grendel]

Only two replies? C'mon guys, help a brother out here!

[MadDuner]

My ?what ifff? and paranoia would keep my reloading room as far away from the pilot light on that hot water heater as possible. 

My wife has cats - that aren?t allowed in my reloading room.  I can just imagine one of them ?rubbing? against the reloading powder dispenser, dispensing powder on itself then generating a static spark to set it off.  Picture a flaming kitty running through the house!  Possible? Yes. Probable? No. Paranoia? Guilty!

I have only had a short period of time when I thought humidity was causing me an issue with my powder.  The powder dispenser on my Dillon press started to ?crust up? on the inside while using TiteGroup.  I figured it was somehow related to leaving the windows open and listening to the light rain while reloading a couple of days in a row.  It?s never done it again, so I don?t know for sure if it was actually humidity or just that bottle of powder.  Living here in Phoenix AZ means humidity is just one of those things you hear about from somewhere else.....

[timetofly]

Reloading in CA was easy.  I put up a bench in the garage and a few cabinets and no issues.  Hot water heater and furnace was 15 feet away and the garage was up to code and the floor kept clean. 

Kansas is going to be a small issue due to needing to add heat in the garage during the winter and year around humidity.  Oiling/WD40 on the dies will need to be a continuous operation. The reloading equipment will be in the garage on the same type of bench as CA.  No gas appliances in the garage at all, only two electrical contactors 10 feet away in HVAC enclosures in a closet.  In this garage I can and will locate the primers 15 feet from the powder per NFPA recommendations.  The powder will be located inside a cabinet for mostly "out of sight out of mind" and I will store powder in cabinets of less than 20 lbs per NFPA recommendations per cabinet. 

NFPA 495? can be licensed for about $70.00 online and it gives some safe distances for storage of explosives.  Of the 50 pages in NFPA 495?  they have about 3 pages that pertain to residential storage.

As far as a dirt floor goes, the spillage of powder could build up and eventually become a fire hazard.  If you can, put a concrete floor in that area or a plywood floor so that cleaning spillage would be easy.

Another solution would be to have your reloading equipment in the house and store the flammable parts in the other building.  At best you would be moving some primers and a container of powder for each reloading session.  Bit of a pain in the rear, but it solves a few safety issues and could make the better half happy.   

Last week a co-worker, who is a volunteer fire fighter, had a call at a mobile home where a reloader lived.  As you can imagine, the area where the powder was stored had more melting of the siding and the roof than the other areas.  He reported that the fire when a container caught fire was so intense that water didn't phase it.  "Supposedly" they had a infrared heater in the living room near the reloading area.  After hearing this, I'm actually considering building/buying a 10x20 storage shed for reloading and storing other flammable substances to keep them away from the house.  I'm not a paranoid chicken little, but keeping the reloading away from family memories and such makes sense.

Good luck with your decision, and happy reloading.

[Grendel]

As far as a dirt floor goes, the spillage of powder could build up and eventually become a fire hazard.  If you can, put a concrete floor in that area or a plywood floor so that cleaning spillage would be easy.

No dirt floor in either potential area. My shop has a cement floor but is off a garage area with a dirt floor.

I think I'm going to set up in the outside shop and just CLP the crap out of the dies and press unless someone tells me the storage room in the house will be okay.

[timetofly]

As far as a dirt floor goes, the spillage of powder could build up and eventually become a fire hazard.  If you can, put a concrete floor in that area or a plywood floor so that cleaning spillage would be easy.

No dirt floor in either potential area. My shop has a cement floor but is off a garage area with a dirt floor.

I think I'm going to set up in the outside shop and just CLP the crap out of the dies and press unless someone tells me the storage room in the house will be okay.

Sorry, I misunderstood something.  Caffeine must not have kicked in.

[painter]

As far as a dirt floor goes, the spillage of powder could build up and eventually become a fire hazard.  If you can, put a concrete floor in that area or a plywood floor so that cleaning spillage would be easy.

No dirt floor in either potential area. My shop has a cement floor but is off a garage area with a dirt floor.

I think I'm going to set up in the outside shop and just CLP the crap out of the dies and press unless someone tells me the storage room in the house will be okay.

The storage room in the house would be OK. It's just not worth provoking the ire of SWMBO.

[larryflew]

Same options as yours and in MN I went for in house due to the AC and keeping down the moisture.  Bench and powder storage is abour 20 feet from water heater but would not be afraid of being closer if need be.

[Grendel]

Same options as yours and in MN I went for in house due to the AC and keeping down the moisture.  Bench and powder storage is abour 20 feet from water heater but would not be afraid of being closer if need be.

You know, having read the last two replies, I think I'll store the combustibles in the attached garage, and only bring what I need into the storage room. I can make that work and it saves trekking across the road.

[cdhbrad]

I live in FL, where it can get very hot and, even in Winter, the humidity can be in the 80%+ range.  I keep all my reloading equipment, powder and primers indoors in HVAC conditions.  I never have rust, etc.. on my equipment.

[ClarkB]

I also live in MN and would avoid a space where the climate cannot be manipulated. The amount of rust that can accumulate in the right conditions over a short period of time can be very frustrating and outright expensive. I have my reloading equipment in the basement and it is nice to go down there in the winter and crank out some rounds. If I had to heat up the space beforehand then it would never happen. Also, the temperature swings could cause more condensation on your equipment.

I think the danger from your appliances is a bit overplayed. Putting the combustibles in a heavy container (old ammo can) would mitigate 99% of the danger.

[Goju]

Living in SE Wisconsin, my weather is not that different from yours. I know my seasonal humidity can be well in excess of 80%. So even if you think you don?t need one, I would most definately consider acquiring a dehumidifer to keep your rH at 50% max. As previously stated, rust can be frustrating and expensive.

[Grendel]

Living in SE Wisconsin, my weather is not that different from yours. I know my seasonal humidity can be well in excess of 80%. So even if you think you don?t need one, I would most definately consider acquiring a dehumidifer to keep your rH at 50% max. As previously stated, rust can be frustrating and expensive.

Thanks for the input. With the A/C and furnace we never get higher than 35% humidity unless we actually run a humidifier - even though we live on a lake. The house is so tight it actually gets too dry sometimes in the winter. In the summer I sometimes run an air exchanger to keep it about 40%.