load development & reloading at the range

[freebird63]

Has anyone while working up a load taken their reloading equipment out to where they are shooting?? Its something you wouldn't want to do at a popular shooting range as I am sure others would get tired of waiting for you to do your thing. I might have to look into one of those battery powered scales and some way to mount my press. It would be pretty easy to do where I shoot as I just have to stay out of the military's way and avoid the first weekend of each month. From my house out to where I shoot its about 35 miles one way and its all rocky road.

 

[Trickymissfit]

Has anyone while working up a load taken their reloading equipment out to where they are shooting?? Its something you wouldn't want to do at a popular shooting range as I am sure others would get tired of waiting for you to do your thing. I might have to look into one of those battery powered scales and some way to mount my press. It would be pretty easy to do where I shoot as I just have to stay out of the military's way and avoid the first weekend of each month. From my house out to where I shoot its about 35 miles one way and its all rocky road.

I do it all the time. Wether someone else likes it or not means little to me. Most shooting is in relays anyway, and as long as I'm right beside me, working off my bench, I could care less. I'm more worried about the idiot dumping black powder on a smokeless powder range next to me anyway. One of these days somebody with a brake next to him is going to create a major event, and I hope I'm not around when it happens.

I use a K&M arbor press and Wilson dies. I throw powder with a Harrell or a Lyman #55. If doing stick powder I have to weight it on a small Pact BBK. About the only other things I use are my K&M priming tool and a dial caliper every once in awhile. The best loading bench I've ever found is a small Black & Decker Workmate
gary

 

[freebird63]

Like I had said I do most of my shooting out in the desert where the military has their training areas, most of the time they will come out in their humvee and let us know troops are in the area and ask us to move to another spot, but the new spot I have been shooting provides me clear shooting out to 1000 yards and have marked it off, but in this spot they will come buzz us with blackhawk helicopters, ya its rather suttle and right to the point, when I see the 2 blackhawks headed my way I start putting stuff away and leave.
I use one of those black and decker workmate benches to shoot from, I have a rest kinda like a lead sled mounted on it, but am thinking I want to get rid of the solid rest and get either a bulls bag or doggone good bag.

 

[Trickymissfit]

Like I had said I do most of my shooting out in the desert where the military has their training areas, most of the time they will come out in their humvee and let us know troops are in the area and ask us to move to another spot, but the new spot I have been shooting provides me clear shooting out to 1000 yards and have marked it off, but in this spot they will come buzz us with blackhawk helicopters, ya its rather suttle and right to the point, when I see the 2 blackhawks headed my way I start putting stuff away and leave.
I use one of those black and decker workmate benches to shoot from, I have a rest kinda like a lead sled mounted on it, but am thinking I want to get rid of the solid rest and get either a bulls bag or doggone good bag.

One of the neatest outfits I ever in use was a 3/8th's thick aluminum plate that was clamped right to the opposite side of the shooting bench. He was using a similar style arbor press (Sinclair I think), and had two brackets that literally were bolted down to the plate. One held his powder measurer and the other was a multi tool outfit to deburr and a few other odds and ends. I built the stand he uses for the measurer, and the other bracket. When he sets it all up it takes him about five minutes to be ready to load. He also has a wooden box that is similar to a cigar box but bigger, and he keeps his scale in there to keep it out of the bright sun and the dust off it. His measurer is a Harrell like mine and it uses the small plastic bottles you can buy at camping stores. I doubt the plate is bigger than 16" x 30", and he got it at the scrap yard for about five dollars. You could do the same thing with a large chunk of wood.
gary

 

[LouBoyd]

It's difficult to handle and weigh powder in wind. I don't try to handload right at my shooting location. Instead I have a box with loading equipment I set the back of my Jeep Cherokee. It's ready to use inside the vehicle when I get to a shooting location. I rarely shoot from a bench, preferring to shoot prone with a mat. The major equipment includes an RCBS press, digital scale, a few bottles of powder, a laptop with Quickload, and an Oehler chronograph. A small inverter provides power for the laptop and scale.

My "range" is is about 50 square miles of the Coronado National Forest which surrounds my home.

 

[BountyHunter]

Here is a super neat portable bench setup that I take to matches or range if I want to reload there. Not my idea but works very well.


BLOG December 2006

 

[JARHEAD1371]

I made a simple 2'x2' frame out of 2x4's topped with 1-1/2" OSB. One edge over hangs about an inch and my Rockchucker is attached with 3" lag bolts into the 2x4. I set this on my tailgate with a 60# sand tube, or dumb bells, on the back to keep it stable. I pre-load powder into the brass at home. They are placed into a short ammo box with a 1-1/2" thick piece of foam in the lid. Once the lid is closed, the foam is compressed about 1/2" and keeps the powder where it belongs. On the outside of the lid, I have applied a large piece of masking tape with the powder, ammounts, and locations marked for easy reading.

I'm luck enough to live in a place I can shoot just about anywhere, at just about any distance, and only have to worry about dealing with this occasionally.

 

[megastink]

I want to resurrect this thread. I'd love to see some more options. I live 40 minutes form the nearest range (100 yards), and Id like to be able to powder charge and seat bullets at the range to make things more efficient. If you have a mobile reloading setup, please post it!

 

[RockyMtnMT]

We run our press on a saw horse. Our range has a clubhouse, so we set up inside. We bring a truck load of powder etc. Electric scale with beam scale to check. Clubhouse has a wood stove so works well in the winter too.

 

[The Oregonian]

I have thought about one of these for that same reason. I don't have a clubhouse at my current ranges but had one in the past in Tennessee and it was the tits.

I haven't looked hard and maybe there is a better portable option than this one.

Link