"Breaking your Routine"…BENCH TIPS

[OS OK]

A routine for me is to only have 1 powder on the loading table at a time. I think that when I mindlessly clean up and put things away I'm not paying attention as closely as when I was loading minutes before. Now I have some other thing on my mind to do…so I scoot along cleaning up as I think about the next project.
Yesterday, loading a different round, I left it's powder on the bench by the turret…Today I'm using another powder in the LNL…moving right along…crank-ping, crank-ping and I look across the bench while waiting for the scale to read on an intermittent load-check, just verifying that I'm getting what I want…then I see yesterdays powder sitting on bench also. That could have lead to a problem if I had emptied the throw back into that can instead of the correct one.
Last year I made myself a new rule to follow…Place the can of powder I'm working with 'upside down' on the bench and that should resolve any problems…well…it paid off today. Might have caught myself might not. Many times my loading pard will be here and we are running two presses and that was the scenario I was thinking of when I made me a new rule.
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??? > Do you have any routines that you want to share? Did they work out? Do we make too many rules for ourselves to load by? Any comment?

[r1kk1]

I put things up when I'm done. I use sticky notes for projects that I didn't finish like case forming, annealing, etc., but powders and primers go back no matter what.

Take care

r1kk1

[Ole Joe Clarke]

NO loose primers, only one powder, the one I'm using, on the bench at a time. Always put powder up when complete. Load in lots of, or multiples of 50.

[MUSTANG]

I always put a note in the bins/cans/cups/etc.. once I finish a task on brass, cores for swaging, various steps on jackets, etc.. Has paid off as I tend to have start/stop/start/stop activities for processing reloading components. Last week went to the SEA container and pulled some .38 special cases out - the note was from 2007 and let me know they were Tumble cleaned and ready for Sizing. Not a critical item, but saved me dumping them in a tumbler again "Just to Make Sure".

[Silver Hand]

I don't want to brake my routine?
But I do want to color code my primers loaded and in the cases to the load data on my matched color coded paperwork that indicates date -type of case, primer, powder, boolitt type, speed and weight.
So when I go out to fire the loads in five shot groups, I can record the weather conditions, speed, distance, and group size on that paper work.
I also make notes on the targets to coincide with the paperwork.
Silver Hand

[LUCKYDAWG13]

as above one powder on bench at a time and i always wright the load down on a sticky when I'm loading and all bins are marked

[lefty o]

1 powder at a time, and only 1 powder. no upside down and right side up cans. one powder eliminates any possibilty for a mistake.

[castalott]

When I am loading on a single stage and have the brass sized and primed, it goes upside down ( supeyeddowned as Uncle Larry called it) in the loading blocks and stays upside down until it gets powder. The second it gets powder it gets a bullet seated right then. Then on to the next case.

[Ole Joe Clarke]

A lot of the members of this forum are, shall we say, over 60, and pretty well set in our ways. But, I am not so old that I can't learn a trick or two that will make this hobby a little better for my way. If a hundred different folks answers Charlie's question, we will all have a different answer. It's ok to do things different and disagree as long as we don't get disagreeable. The common thread is to enjoy reloading and to be safe during the process. I'm not ashamed to say that I have learned several tricks that make me say: "Now why didn't I think of that."

Have a blessed evening.

Leon

[MrWolf]

1 powder at a time, and only 1 powder. no upside down and right side up cans. one powder eliminates any possibilty for a mistake.

Same here. Had times I only walked away for a minute that ended up lasting several days and very easy to forget.

[leeggen]

When I prime I use a lee hand primer and always seem to have a few left in the tray. I take the wrapper from the primers and slide it on to the thumb bar so I know what those primers are. This so when I take a break or whatever I remember what is in the tray.
CD

[OptimusPanda]

I only keep one powder in one measure on the loading bench at once. The empty or partial bottle stays on the bench as a constant reminder. If I decide to change over to another one, I'll empty out the measure back into the bottle and put it away, only then replacing it with the next one. That and as was said above, sticky notes are your friend for unfinished projects.

[edler7]

One powder on the bench at a time, bottle right behind the measure. Triple check load data. A case don't go into the loading block until it has a powder charge- no filling the block with empty cases and running the block full of cases under the powder measure...only one case under the measure at a time. Primed/flaired cases in a container to the left of the measure and filled cases in the block on the right side of the measure. All cases filled before seating boolits. Powder measure dumped and powder put up at the end of the session.

My slight OCD loves reloading.

[jmorris]

A business card in any measure with powder and charge weight if it is not already written on the measure.

[Petrol & Powder]

If I'm interrupted while using a progressive press that manually indexes, I stop with the ram fully raised (handle all the way down). That eliminates the guess work of where I was in the cycle when I resume operation.

Only one powder on the bench at a time. Only one type of bullet on the bench at a time.

[Garyshome]

No powder or primers sitting on my bench, they sit away from the work area, out of spark/flame range. When done with that powder/primers they get put away. Primers are how I keep track of the # of cartridges loaded. My new years resolution as far as reloading goes it to keep better records on what I have done and am doing.

[kbstenberg]

Petrol & Powder I like your tip on the progressive press.
Each type of primer (LR, SR, LP, SP) has its own tray that dispenses primers to my lee presses. And are marked with primer size and manufacturer.
Like Jmorris I leave powder in the dispensers but I have plastic cards I attach to the powder hopper saying what's in it.
I mark EVERY lead ingot with the lead type
All ammo containers have specific inf. on the reloads inside.

[ioon44]

A lot of good tips here, Another thing I like to do is to have primers of different manufactures so SR and SP don't get mixed up.

It can happen if one gets slightly distracted.

[OS OK]

No powder or primers sitting on my bench, they sit away from the work area, out of spark/flame range. When done with that powder/primers they get put away. Primers are how I keep track of the # of cartridges loaded. My new years resolution as far as reloading goes it to keep better records on what I have done and am doing.

The wife gave me a 'label printer' by 'Brother', many colors, various width of label materials available, even clear labels with black print.
I use them for everything in the reloading shop…including 'recipes' for the reloaded stock in the cupboard.

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[Ole Joe Clarke]

I use Avery labels and print them off as I finish a loading session. I put one on each box of shells. I also log them into the computer on an Excel spreadsheet, sorted by caliber then date.