ALL-IN-ONE reloading box

[georgerkahn]

Last week I elected to load up a batch of 45 Colt ammo. No problem for me to find 3-set of dies as they're mounted in Dillon 550b. Or, the shell holders to put in my RCBS Bench-mounted primer. Or, the L E Wilson case gauges; L E Wilson trimmer case holder, etc.. However, I got the ideal to -- perhaps -- find and purchase some plastic or wood boxes, roughly the size old Dutch Masters cigars had come in, to put EVERYTHING associated with one caliber in said box?320814
It sure would have saved me some time and effort had I been able to just grab one box, say, labeled "45 COLT" -- in which everything needed for reloading this caliber might be in it. Now -- as you can see from photo of my bench -- I have a holder I made for each die set, and to its left individual boxes for M dies, Factory crimp dies, and you know -- all other stuff. For some calibers -- notably my .221 Rem Fireball ;) -- I probably have enough "stuff" to almost fill two boxes! And -- Murphy Law -- I regularly need spend way too much time searching for that one item I need...
Doing an Internet search I could not readily find a box which might work. And, it does seem to me an "everything you need to reload one caliber" box may not be the dumbest idea.
Hence, what do you think, for one? And, if you agree -- do you know of a recommended box which would work? I will add I found one box on Etsy and three or four on Amazon which might do -- but -- an added wish is they be in the under-ten-dollar range.
geo

[Carrier]

I have everything for each caliber in Tupperware boxes. Dies, shell holders, plates, powder dies, etc for each caliber all together. Makes finding what I need much easier.

[StuBach]

For the Dillon loaders out there, almost seems like someone should make a stand for the quick load that houses all the “necessities” on one stand?

[Winger Ed.]

Organized storage? Oh no, no, no,,,, The has to be a direct violation of Man Law.:bigsmyl2:

As we all know-- Nature hates a vacuum, and seeks to fill it.
So, you'll also need to put more things on top of the bench.
Dirty dishes, extra tools, candy bar wrappers, etc., pretty much anything will do.

[ascast]

You may want to check your local dollar store or variation of.

[Minerat]

George, call your local cigar store and see if they have any boxes they want to sell or get rid of. The interweb is full of cardboard cigar boxes for sale from around 3 to 6 bucks each. Some from cigar stores.

[georgerkahn]

George, call your local cigar store and see if they have any boxes they want to sell or get rid of. The interweb is full of cardboard cigar boxes for sale from around 3 to 6 bucks each. Some from cigar stores.

Steve -- I believe the closest cigar store is about 70 miles distant, south of the border; or, about 80 kilometers (~50 miles) distant, north of the border :). Hence, thanks to your brilliant suggestion I searched the e- auction site, and found a group of five 10 1/2" x 7 1/4" boxes which may meet my wants. Not the least expensive of purchases, but they cost less than a new Ford F150... Thanks you again for the suggestion -- my mind had been stuck on Plano-type plastic boxes, but all those I found had dividers which would have not allowed the plastic die boxes the dies come in to fit.
This is indeed the greatest of forums, evidenced by folks like you!320838
geo

[Bmi48219]

I load my frequently used calibers (9, 38, 45 acp & 30 carbine) on an SDB. I have preset powder measures for each and die plates with preset dies, brass pins etc, in marked plastic boxes. I can change to the subject cartridge in less than five minutes including double checking the charge weight. I load the other not so frequently used cartridges on a T-Mag, for which I’ve collected five turrets. Those are stored with preset dies and shell holders in round heavy plastic Tupperware bowls (& lids). All powders are stored in one 1-1/2” thick wood cabinet and primers in another.
Any brass I plan to reload gets deprimed, cleaned, lubed and sized before it goes into storage. There are no decapping pins in my SBD sizing dies. Since most of the brass has been sized and sitting in storage months after being prepped, I figure the SBD takes care of any brass spring-back.
I pre-prime whatever I plan to load as a separate step. I can feel each primer is seated properly sparing me the irritation of charging powder into an unprimed or crookedly primed case. I mounted my priming tool on a piece of wood I can clamp to my bench when needed. The primer shell holders and L & S primer feed heads are stored in another plastic box.
My process probably seems pretty anal and time consuming but I feel I get a better finished product without trying to keep track of too many things happening at once.

[wv109323]

Getting to do a deep search for something is like Christmas. I find treasures I forgot I had.

[15meter]

I find the 2 lb. plastic bottles from chocolate covered peanuts work well for a complete caliber conversion for both my Dillon SDB and 550B.

Only tough part is getting the empty bottles.

[georgerkahn]

I load my frequently used calibers (9, 38, 45 acp & 30 carbine) on an SDB. I have preset powder measures for each and die plates with preset dies, brass pins etc, in marked plastic boxes. I can change to the subject cartridge in less than five minutes including double checking the charge weight. I load the other not so frequently used cartridges on a T-Mag, for which I’ve collected five turrets. Those are stored with preset dies and shell holders in round heavy plastic Tupperware bowls (& lids). All powders are stored in one 1-1/2” thick wood cabinet and primers in another.
Any brass I plan to reload gets deprimed, cleaned, lubed and sized before it goes into storage. There are no decapping pins in my SBD sizing dies. Since most of the brass has been sized and sitting in storage months after being prepped, I figure the SBD takes care of any brass spring-back.
I pre-prime whatever I plan to load as a separate step. I can feel each primer is seated properly sparing me the irritation of charging powder into an unprimed or crookedly primed case. I mounted my priming tool on a piece of wood I can clamp to my bench when needed. The primer shell holders and L & S primer feed heads are stored in another plastic box.
My process probably seems pretty anal and time consuming but I feel I get a better finished product without trying to keep track of too many things happening at once.

Bmi48219 -- nothing you do sounds "anal" to me. :) I, too store shell holders in separate plastic boxes (the ones Lyman assortment comes in -- I need four of them for all my 'holders; and, I have a 3/8" threaded bolt coming up through my loading bench table. "Accessories" like my RCBS priming tool get held in place after being placed on it with a large wingnut. I have eleven different tool-heads for my Dillon 550b, each with its powder measure set, attached. (I drop a 3"x5" card in each after each loading session to indicate what the powder and charge was in now-empty powder measure. (I left powder in one many years back and it :( stained the plastic).
I think the best description for you would either be a "smart" and/or "safe" loader. My kudos!
geo

[JimB..]

Common calibers are in toolheads on Dillon stands.
Other dies and caliber conversions are in their plastic boxes in a 6” drawer of a snapon toolbox.
Case feeder caliber conversion parts are a bit of a mess, but usually go into the powder hopper for common calibers.

For stuff that I might load one day, everything including brass and bullets go into an appropriately sized ammo can or cans with some desiccant and VCI tabs.

It sounds a lot more organized than it is.

[dverna]

Good ideas.

[CastingFool]

If you have some woodworking skills, you could just make your own. All you need is a table saw.320841

This is one I made out of scrap paneling.

[Land Owner]

Alright - thoughts from a different direction. Knowing I had an increasing "wealth" of components, BY CALIBER, I was fortunate to be the recipient of ten (10) four-drawer metal filing cabinets. I am not saying these cannot be "found" in your locale, but mine were CHEAP.

Every drawer is a different caliber and even that is insufficient for all of the "common aspects" of an active reloading and casting hobby.

https://i.postimg.cc/nhrRmsdz/STORAGE.jpg


357 Mag (typical drawer):

https://i.postimg.cc/fy6JHf6L/357-2015-Inventory-20-percent.jpg


Shelf over the top carries cleaning supplies and "common" items:

https://i.postimg.cc/8PtXsdm9/SHELF.jpg

[Czech_too]

I use something like these for storage purposes.
https://www.amazon.com/Sodissa-Shipping-Corrugated-Cardboard-Bussiness/dp/B09Z5HPT9G/ref=sr_1_36?crid=2LJWSBS8T0I6X&keywords=boxes%2Bfor%2Bpackaging%2Bsmall%2Bbusines s&qid=1702292333&sprefix=boxes%2Caps%2C89&sr=8-36&th=1

One size for rifle, or larger, boolits & another size for pistol, or smaller, boolits. One each for "as cast" & "sized/lubed". There not free but it works for me.
Brian

[gloob]

I don't have a shellholder issue, but I have 2 die boxes to fit the extra dies for both cast and jacketed and case gauge I might use for some rifle calibers.

[John Wayne]

For the Dillon loaders out there, almost seems like someone should make a stand for the quick load that houses all the “necessities” on one stand?

They do, he is on ebay...alli44502 Pictured is my 1050 stand but he also has 550 and 650 stands plus a nice casefeeder plate stand.
320867320868

[GONRA]

For decades, GONRA has used wide mouth plastic peanut butter jugs for storing all sorts of small shop / reloading items.

[jetinteriorguy]

Another good source for accessories for loading setups is ETSY, lot of interesting things there.

[StuBach]

Steve -- I believe the closest cigar store is about 70 miles distant, south of the border; or, about 80 kilometers (~50 miles) distant, north of the border :). Hence, thanks to your brilliant suggestion I searched the e- auction site, and found a group of five 10 1/2" x 7 1/4" boxes which may meet my wants. Not the least expensive of purchases, but they cost less than a new Ford F150... Thanks you again for the suggestion -- my mind had been stuck on Plano-type plastic boxes, but all those I found had dividers which would have not allowed the plastic die boxes the dies come in to fit.
This is indeed the greatest of forums, evidenced by folks like you!320838
geo

Those are great boxes, I have one given to me by my father, though it was filled slightly differently:
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20231212/e2193bde965f5d171ca9e047124fa8a3.jpg

[StuBach]

They do, he is on ebay...alli44502 Pictured is my 1050 stand but he also has 550 and 650 stands plus a nice casefeeder plate stand.
320867320868

Yeah, I have the quick load mounts that Dillon sells with the slot for shell plate and retainer pin holes. I was more thinking something more robust with spot for the case feed parts, case guage, etc.

[Doughty]

George, George, George you are moving too fast. You need to get those boxes one at a time, full of cigars. Then as you smoke them down, you can cogitate on what reloading things to put in them.

[georgerkahn]

UPDATE :)! I started this thread on 10 December, and thanks much (!!!) to suggesters -- I took minerat's, and purchased a few cigar boxes (eBay) which were made in Nicaragua ;) that have filled my needs/wants to perfection! I glued a data sheet on cartridge to the inner top lid; have the spec-stuff under the Lee boxes holding much of my goodies; have two sets of press shell-holders in the plastic bags at top left, and even had room for the L E Wilson shell holder for the case trimmer. Of course, the main-Jane shell holders are already mounted and live in the Dillon 550b assembly along with two dummy (no powder, spent primer) cartridges. Pretty much all my other calibres have less "extra's" -- the .45 Colt and .221 Remington Fireball having the most.
Anyhoos -- with much thanks to all, I reckoned I'd take a photo or two -- this the .45 Colt -- and post what to me is a big success!321328 321329
geo

[Minerat]

That great George and the box looks nice too.:2_high5:

But its just too organized for me. I'd miss pawing around on the bench looking for a top punch or shell holder. Lol.

[georgerkahn]

That great George and the box looks nice too.:2_high5:

But its just too organized for me. I'd miss pawing around on the bench looking for a top punch or shell holder. Lol.

That, Minerat -- "pawing around on the bench looking for a top punch or shell holder." is what precipitated it all! I :) mailed two Ruger .45 Colt cylinders to DougGuy for some of his magic :) and reckoned I should put together some "OCD-made" ammo for when they came back. Sadly -- actually quite the opposite :) -- the cylinders came back in record time -- I had a major snafu looking for a specialized die I had bought on impulse, never used, but knew it was "here, somewhere!". I looked here, there, and everywhere, to -- last place I looked :( -- find it in the now-empty Redding die box the .45 Colt dies (now on a Dillon 550b plate) had come in. I would not be loose with the truth if I acknowledged more than two full hours searching and seeking -- including places I KNEW it would not be, but I had run out of options. Yup -- my very last look was in the Redding 3-die 45 Colt box!
...Which is why I am now elated to have this one done for my .45 Colt loading. I just finished, a month ago, my .221 Fireball stockpiling -- but that cigar box is next in line.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
geo

[TNsailorman]

I have dies, trimmers, etc. for each rifle or revolver that I have. They are in poly containers that I buy from either Wally world or the dollar store. They are the see thru type and they are labeled as to the exact firearm for which the contents are intended for use. Works for me anyway. james

[Three44s]

I keep my dies in their original labeled boxes, grouped together in instances where I have more than one brand. The whole collection are stored in succesive bore size along the shelf they are stored upon.

As to trimmer components and reloading press shell holders, I use parts boxes from HF (etc.) with dividers.

I am blessed with my shooting range at 125 yds from my man cave though.

Three44s