I will begin setting up my last reloading area in a few days

[M1A4ME]

The old cafeteria bench (from an old industrial plant in south Richmond that was built back in the 1930's.)



And something I'd about forgotten I had.  An AFH bayonet for my M1 Garand.  It was in a drawer in the old gun cabinet that's down in the shed.  I was working to get the cabinet out this morning.  Pretty good shape for something that's nearly 80 years old.  The old gun cabinet will make a great place to store fishing rods and old reels, new (spare) reels and fishing tackle in the new shed.

[Dan_69GTX]

Hmmm.

I think an update on the progress is overdue!   

[M1A4ME]

I have not reloaded a single round in it, yet.  Moved a few bullets over there.

Got into all kinds of other stuff.

Refinished (moved it, took it apart, refinished it, put it back together) my father-in-laws old gun cabinet.  It was a built in (end of the hallway) in the house they built in 1975 and removed sometime in the 80's and put in the garage behind their house.  I brought it down here not long after and it sat in one of my sheds for another 20 years.  I'm already putting fishing rods/reels and fishing tackle in it.



Didn't take pictures of the trucks.  Both me and my youngest son have had brake issues on the trucks (busted lines on both, stuck caliper on his, installation of lines on both, installation of rotors, calipers, pads, hoses on the front of his).

Bought a 2014 Expedition.  Cleaning it up, installing all the accessories on the windows, hood, inside, etc. to reduce wear/finish damage, etc.  Trying to polish out some scratches in the paint.

Total disassembly, sanding, painting of my youngest son's little bicycle for his fiancee's son (colors of choice for him is a blue and gray camo paint job.)

Going home to repair the front porch on my grandma's house (house is 100 years old now, front porch only about 40 years old with rotten joists, flooring, etc. and no idea how it rotted as there was not roof leaks.)  Man, that was a job.  My brother stops every little bit to smoke and he does not work while smoking.  Or while talking.

Cooler weather is coming and that's reloading season around these parts.

Forgot about the Jeep.  Third cylinder misfire problems (who would have thought the 4.0's don't like the high dollar Bosch platinum plugs??).  New Champion Copper Plus plugs, fresh gas, a couple bottles of fuel system cleaner, a fresh tank of gas and a new insulator panel (to keep the exhaust manifold heat off the injectors and fuel rail when you shut it off/park it) and it seems cured.  Then, of course, took it to get it's annual inspection and it failed for the track bar being worn out (greasable joint end).  You think working on a CZ pistol sear cage is a pain???  Took me several hours to get the old one out and the new one in.  Now for front end alignment and getting the rejection sticker off the window.

[Wobbly]

I'm not seeing the required Dillon calendar.

 

[Dan_69GTX]

So....you still should have the reloading room done if that is all you have had to deal with!   

(that was a joke)

Keep us posted!

[RoverSig]

I like it all.

My reloading bench is simple -- I built it from salvaged wood and it is heavy, which is a good feature for a reloading bench, and a perfect surface to mount the Redding T7 turret press.

I bought the press from a guy who was getting divorced.  I went to the house to pick it up, and all of his stuff was sadly stacked by the door -- she was in the process of kicking him out.  I felt guilty paying the distress-sale price, but he was glad to get the money.  As I left, I apologized to the young wife for interrupting their evening, and she proceed to tell me not to worry, it was the #$&%*'s fault and did I know that he was an asshat and so on.  I went out to the car and thanked my lucky stars for the wife I've been fortunate enough to have for the past 47 years.

I admire the way you have created your own realm of stuff you use and like.  Not everyone has the resources to do that (the guy I bought the T7 from no longer did) and the freedom and imagination to do it the way you want it to be.  May you reload in peace and tranquility, with the dogs at your feet.

[Wobbly]

I went out to the car and thanked my lucky stars for the wife I've been fortunate enough to have for the past 47 years.

Only 38 for me, but looking forward to 47 !! She left several weeks ago to help a niece with newborn twins for 3 weeks. That was the longest we've ever been apart. That gives a guy some real thinking time about the sources of strength and peace we draw on every day.

She came home to a clean house, empty dishwasher, flowers, chocolates and a surprise brunch date the next morning.

Bunny Trail: I don't like some of the things I see on YouTube where shooting sports are being marketed as a sign of masculinity, similar to what Harley-Davidson has been doing for the last 20 years. I don't think machismo has any part in it. It's a truly interesting hobby in its own right, won for us by our fathers, and meant to be shared and enjoyed with our families. Unlike straight pipes, the loud noise does not equal "manliness" to me.

If we as a hobby go the way of HD and equate loud pipes to hair on your chest, then we may see a small spike in NRA membership for the present, but that's not love of sport, only a temporary identity. And like HD, who is currently having huge problems staying in business, our hobby would ultimately suffer and our gains be lost, because identity is a fad that changes like the wind.

Every time a hear of a young couple's divorce, I think about this. Fad and fantasy vs. fact and family.

I admire the way you have created your own realm of stuff you use and like.  Not everyone has the resources to do that (the guy I bought the T7 from no longer did) and the freedom and imagination to do it the way you want it to be.  May you reload in peace and tranquility, with the dogs at your feet.

Amen.  I think "created" is the operative word there.

[Dan_69GTX]

With the kids out of the house (for a while now) I finally got their "playroom" (an insulated, heated, A/C etc 12x20 building) worked on to be my storage/reloading room.  My bench and press was already there, but now I have shelves, sorting table, etc.  Wow, I'm spoiled!  I noticed my bench was sagging a bit in the middle and that now that I have the case feeder, the press moves/wiggles more than I realized.  Fixed that problem.

Now, I'm ready to start organizing and seeing what components I need to order for this winter reloading sessions.

Of course the shelves have mostly just junk from the house/kids stored there, but at least I can now see what brass I have and go from there.

Next I need to fix the pinball machine to make the room complete!

[Wobbly]

My son moved last week into a new (to him) home with his wife of 10 years. He has 3 main hobbies: sports cars, welding, and reloading. And shall we say... he has trouble maintaining any "boundaries" on his hobbies. They tend to grow and occupy new space (used or unused). 

So his wife has conveniently selected a new home that includes a 20x40ft outbuilding. This building is simply crying for a reloading room, and I can't wait. But I think I'll let him decorate the welding and sports car portions.

Any idea how much it costs to run a small window a/c unit per month ?

[Dan_69GTX]

Hmmm - Used to be sports cars, but now it is just - cars.  Don't race anymore, but still always tinker or something.  I used to do A/C work and keep turning people away - only help out friends - not worth the hassle of a business anymore.

Due to so many variables for our electric, I can not say - I never really noticed an increase in electric use, so I'd guess it uses very little.  Some day I'll have to hook up an electric meter to it and really see.  Sorry for the no answer.  Compared to my air compressor it uses nothing!  That takes 184 amps @ 240V to start that motor!  After it is spinning it only take 34A to keep it running.

I just looked at the KWH usage for july/aug for the years before and after install and was maybe 100KWH different - at most - very unscientific.

[Dan_69GTX]

Oh yea - the A/C in that room always is on, but temps are set to 79 or so when not in use.  I or the kids would drop it down when they were going to be in there.   So that helps.

[M1A4ME]

I was thinking electric heater (already have one that is more than big enough) and a window style/size AC unit for mine after it's insulated/finished inside.

Then I saw those neat "miniature" heat pump set ups for small buildings/large rooms.  That's what's stuck in my head right now.  Some of the new ones can be controlled by my phone, I can monitor the temperatures inside the shed from my phone, etc., etc.  It would be neat to (depending on the weather) look at the temps inside and make an adjustment while I'm eating breakfast so that the place would be "nice" when I got done eating/brushing teeth/clothes changed and out to the shed.  Have to justify the cost though.

[Wobbly]

We have 4 seasons here, so I'm also thinking about a heat pump window unit. Heat pumps do OK here because we rarely get temps that stay below 30°F.

[Dan_69GTX]

Those mini split units are nice.  I decided to mount the A/C in the wall and add a vented propane heater (vented to avoid increased moisture).  Was cheaper and easier than the mini-split unit.  That was in 2010.  Already had propane available since I use that for the house and shop.  Also keeps the building more "portable" so local Virginia zoning has less to complain about.

[M1A4ME]

Well, used some left over flooring/padding from a couple bedrooms to do the area around/under the big bench.  Not too bad once I got out of the angled corner and around in front of the door where it's just straight cuts on the ends.

Darn, thought I had some pictures of it.  Can't seem to find them.

Still on my phone.  Here's one.  This was 1/2 way.  Another 4 feet (so the area coming in from the porch/front door was covered by the laminate floor) is down now.  Now I've got to get that last kayak out, get the fishing pole cabinet and a storage cabinet moved onto the new floor and then I can put down some padding and piece of carpet from one of the bedrooms.  That will cover another 10.5 feet back and it'll stay red painted floor after that to the rear of the shed where the roll around cabinets are located.



But, today, while cleaning up/sorting out the stuff piled on the bench (I'm less than a day away from having the front end sorted out enough to bring some reloading stuff over and load up some .40 S&W 180 grain test loads) I ran across my reloading logbook from the early 80's.

For years I've talked about the IMR4350 loads in .308 and .30-06 that shot so well in my M1A and 03A4 in those days.  Now I've got the load data for those as well as some .223 Rem. varmint loads and handgun loads.  Even the time I loaded some black powder round ball in .44 brass to shoot in the Super Blackhawk (only had to do that once to know I didn't need to do it again.)

And, yeah I know, I won't be shooting any of the IMR 4350 powder in my M1A without getting an adjustable gas plug.  Back in 1980/81 there was no internet and the only reloading data I had was what was in the books.  I broke the op rod twice with those loads and they were not even max powder charge loads, just to slow of a burn rate for and M1A (or M1 Garand.)

In a few months that logbook and the ink on the pages will be 40 years old.