press spacing

[Ozarklongshot]

After a zillion years my reloading room is getting a complete remodel (floor,benches,lighting etc.) Anyway my question right now is specific to shotgun presses. Two texan progressives and 3 different MEC's. I want to get the most efficient use of the bench space so does any one have suggestions on how far to space presses and still be a functional setup ? What has worked and what was to close kinda thing.
Thanks for any suggestions

[IllinoisCoyoteHunter]

I have mine at least 2 feet on center. I am cramped for space though. The more room you can have the better. Build your bench bigger than you think you need. Trust me. My bench is like 20' long and still over half my presses do not have a dedicated spot on the bench. BUT beware, if you build it bigger you will fill it up with presses. "If you build it, they will come."

[hornetman]

I have five Ponsness-Warren 800 progressives and two of their 375 single stage presses on my shotgun loading bench. When I built a new bench I played around with spacing a good bit and decided on 10 and a half inches between them (measuring from the edge of the base on one machine to the edge of the base on the adjacent machine). This allowed me to put a large Akro Bin on either side of each machine-one on the left for wads and one on the right for empties. This has worked well for me for a number of years-no wasted space , adequate room to operate the machines, and no lost motion while loading. I cut holes in the bench top for loaded rounds to fall from the progressives into bins below. I'd suggest that you play with dry spacing a good bit before you drill holes. While this has worked well for my P-W's your Texans and Mec's may need different spacing.

[btroj]

I have more presses not on my bench than I have on it. I use a Redding T7 for all single stage loading and a Dillon 550B for progressive loading.

I don't see a need for more than that. I have a couple presses laying on a shelf collecting dust. They aren't in my way like they would be on my bench.

[bobthenailer]

ON my bench i only leave my Dillon 550 mounted on the bench all the time, my mec shotgun loader , rcbs RC press, posness warren p 200, 2- powder measures , case trimmer ,outside neck turner , 2-star l/s are mounted on plywood platforms some with a raised border to keep loose objects on the platform, mounted to a piece of 2x4 that fits into a securley mounted vice at the other end of my bench, tools can be switched quickly in the vice to elimate bench clutter , extra reloading tools are stored under the bench for quick access

[Char-Gar]

18 inches works for me.

[lancem]

Due to limited space I mounted my 2 MECs on a piece of 3/4 ply back to back but slightly offset so that the bottles could be tipped back. Measured, marked and drilled two 5/16" holes through the ply and into the bench top, make them centered front to back, evenly in side to side. In the bench hole insert 1/4 x 20 threaded inserts. Now depending upon the gauge I wish to load I remove the two screws holding the ply to the bench flip it around install the two screws and start loading. Don't see any reason why with a little larger piece of ply you couldn't mount all 3 Mecs to one piece. Same with the Texans. Then if I need a clean bench for something else I can remove 2 screws and have a flat bench to work on while the presses sit on the floor.

Here's a link to the type of insert I use, http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002WC8TUW/ref=biss_dp_t_asn

[DonMountain]

My Pacific shotgun presses (DL150 and DL350) are only 6" apart of clear space on the bench, lined up with my other reloading presses for rifle and pistol. It functions for me that way but I line up my shotgun cases (12 gauge) in blocks of 5 wide and 10 front to back on my left and the wads the same way on the right. Its tight but works well. If you are going to use containers on each side I would add 2" clear of those for spacing. I have 4 reloading presses, one bullet sizer/luber and one powder measure set up all the time on a bench measuring 4'-8" long by 2'-1" deep. The big resizing press (RCBS Ammomaster) is on one end to take advantage of the long dimension of the table as counterweight. And likewise my RCBS LAM II is on the other end next to my case trimmer.

[dbosman]

How about a lazy susan as wide as your bench is deep?
You should be able to mount five presses on that. Maybe a clamping mechanism of some sort to keep it from spinning.

[r1kk1]

I bought a maple workbench with two maple top under bench rolling cabinets. My plan is two RockDocks one per cabinet. I roll the cabinets under the bench when not in use and roll them out, attach whatever press and situate them wherever I want. The 550 is on a strong mount in the middle of the bench. I like the lazy Suzan idea for storing my presses. That rocks!

Take care

r1kk1

[williamwaco]

Fundamental Law of Nature:


"Contents expand to fill all available space."

[Mike Kerr]

Obviously the types of Press you are mounting plays a large role in determining the spacing. I have had some presses mounted way to close when I had rebuilds or checkout work to do and nowhere else to put them. The 2' on center is OK but can get tight depending on secondary tasks like checking weights of powder or projectiles; and how you set up your consumables. Actually I have more personal comfort since I am using a "work station concept" rather than one long bench.

One thing I am very sure of is that the depth of the work area does NOT need to be 3' deep like you have when you use a solid core door as your top. Been there - Done That - not even helpful unless your set up allows you to walk up to all sides (like in the center of the room). Waste of bench top space in most cases other than to store junk on.

[Mike Kerr]

Forgot to mention that the previous posts that promote the use of UNDER bench space or moveable under bench units are spot on. Its pretty efficient use of space.

[44Vaquero]

dbosman, I actually started designing your idea a few months ago as a way to mount 3 Pro-1000's. My thought was 2 for the most often loaded pistols calibers and one to flex for anything else. My current set-up is tight but very efficient.

88719

[Ozarklongshot]

Thanks so much for the advice. It really is helping. I need to have them mounted since I'm often teaching or letting friends load here. I built 2 wall anchored benches with what appears to be "mineral stain maple" 3/4 11ply plywood trimmed in walnut on top of 1" OSB. They are 11' long and 23 inches deep. One on each side of the room. one bench is shotguns and a star sizer. The other side is two 550's, one bonanza, one hollywood and one rock chucker. The shotgun bench will have a couple scales but most of the consumables will be stored on shelves under the bench.
My last bench was an island style with presses all around. Over the years it developed lots of "character holes" and a fair bit of wobble. the new benches are literally built onto the framing of the house. I think I could park a truck on them. I kinda went over board on the construction and put a high gloss tung oil finish on them. I finally got a complete room since wife moved all her sewing, quilting and embroidery machines to the other room. It is an "attic style" room (5 sides) 14'x20' with new red oak floor and track lighting. The angled walls require very thoughtful placement of anything.
I've put a ton of time in this and its very important that I get right the first time, something I don't always do.
I'll see if I can figure out how to post a pic to give a better idea. I really appreciate the ideas, I just set up a couple dry spacing on them to see how it feels. Right now the shotgun presses look like they will land somewhere between 20 and 24 inches on center.

[Ozarklongshot]

Lets see if this pic worked

88722

[jmorris]

16-18" for most presses is workable, closer to 22" for something that takes up a lot of space like 1050's.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I can't find a better photo in my library, but this should give you an idea of what I did. I refinshed a used round wire spool. I don't have any wall space in this room that I commited to a reloading room, So my round bench/table sits in the middle of the room, I just rotate it for which press I wanna use. I can also place it in front of a window and watch the squirrels in the trees...actually my Cat does most of that ;)

Oh, as to your question. It seems Different presses need different amount of room and also it depends if you are reloading or swaging or just decapping brass.

http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu127/JonB_in_Glencoe/100_1683.jpg (http://s640.photobucket.com/user/JonB_in_Glencoe/media/100_1683.jpg.html)

[W.R.Buchanan]

The best solution IMHO is to attach the presses to individual platforms that can be moved in and out of position. IN my case I have all of them other than my Rockchucker attached to aluminum plates that are 11"x22" I had 10 of these leftover from a job I did once.

When the machines are not in use they are stored on a shelf in another area. When I need to use one, I bring it down and clamp it to a bench and start loading. Eventually I will drill and tap the bench top so these plates can be bolted down rather than clamping them, as the clamps do get in the way sometimes.

Everyone has their own solutions to space problems. In the case of mounting a line of shotgun presses I would also say you need to have enough space around each one for your Hull Box and Wad Box, and be able to deal with loaded shells as well..

I think if you sat down and used the machines you could figure out what is needed for your situation and comfort.

Nobody can do this for you. Every setup is different.

Randy

[Ozarklongshot]

What we ended up with was alternating the heavy use shotgun presses with less often used ones. 12 gauge, 410, 20 gauge, 28 gauge then 16 gauge. It affords me some bleed over room onto the rarely used press. The dillons are pretty much pistol only so that is easy and I often use multiple single stage for the same rifle caliber so I can test while loading with out changing anything and still have the use of a single stage press. I left room at one single stage for multiple powder measures because some measures work better than others with different powders. A friend was over this afternoon and loved it because he can use the 28 gauge press while I'm loading pistol on the other side of the room and it does away with both of us working on the same crowded bench. Big bonus was that the room is big enough to have an area for a reloading library with a couch and coffee table so its comfortable to do your homework. Thanks everyone, I know that everyone had individual needs but some of the ideas had me reassess how I set it up and it was helpful. Thanks again and stay safe

Ty

[jmorris]

What we ended up with was alternating the heavy use shotgun presses with less often used ones.

That's what I did too. I drilled and tapped the top of my bench so it only takes a minute to swap them out.

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o213/jmorrismetal/reloading/IMAG1210.jpg

The 366's share the same bolt patterns and I mounted other presses to subplates so they could also use the same mounting holes. Like this photo of a turret and powder measure mounted in the same spot as the 366 above.

http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv5/qvideo/IMAG1256.jpg

[xman777]

Here's how I roll. Everything is setup with their own stands and the whole counter is routed with T-Track. This is the best money I ever spent on my reloading bench. I can put anything on a mounting plate that matches the tracks centerline. I even do it with a small band saw and mini milling machine. 89193