Just before Turkey Season, I was shooting 9mm with Angus and the thought occurred to me that 9mm was a lot of fun, and it was a shame it took so much effort to load up a measly 50 rounds with my single stage press. That triggered a line of thought that ended up with me ordering a new progressive loader and building a new bench. It is my intention to fill you in on the process and document my progress.

First off, let me take you through the reason for the new press. I have been loading a bunch of pistol and rifle chamberings using the RCBS Rock Chucker Deluxe Master Reloading Kit that KYHillChick bought me for Christmas in 2000. It has kept me happy and contented all this time. Normally I can do a couple dozen rifle rounds in an hour, or 50 pistol rounds in 2 hours. That is usually enough, and it makes for a nice trip down to the bench. However, I tried loading 200 rounds of 9mm for my outing with Angus, and it took up a whole weekend and left me with a sore arm on Monday morning. You have to figure, a pistol round takes sizing, priming, expanding, powder, bullet seating, and crimping. That is six pulls of the handle for each round. That times 200 rounds meant (let me take off my boot and socks so I can count) 1200 manual operations for 200 rounds. Yikes! No wonder my arm was sore.

The other thing is that the 22 shortage has meant that 22 LR has becom an expensive proposition. If I can load 9mm on the cheap, that competes with the price of 22, I’m going for it. Used brass, cast wheelweight bullets– probably I can get down around 5 cents a round if I work at it. However, that sore arm told me something had to be done to streamline the process.

Everyone told me to go with a Dillon press. However, I found the Hornady Lock n Load AP gave a lot more bang for the buck. Yes, the diehard folks all say “Go Blue.” However, I really found nothing bad about the Hornady offering. It was cheaper than a Dillon 550, and had the function of a Dillon 650. What’s more, there was a deal on at Grafs.com: A Hornady LNL, a $150 stool and 500 free bullets for $450 bucks. I jumped on it just before I went off to hunt turkeys and it was all waiting for me when I got home.

Before I could put up the new press, I needed a new bench. My reloading bench was built by the previous owner of my old house. He was a corporate lawyer. It was a workbench that looked like it had been built by a lawyer– not very solid and overly complicated. The problem was that I built my new reloading room around that bench and it had odd dimensions– 55X28″. I did some research, both in its construction and also dug around in my scrap bin. The design was pretty standard: 2X4 frame with a plywood top. I used 3-inch deck screws and Gorilla Glue throughout. I did not have any 3/4″ plywood, but I had scraps of various stuff, so my top surface was a 1/4 Ply with 3/4″ particle board and then another layer of 1/4″ plywood. Underneath I had 2 slabs of 1/2″ plywood glued on. This thing is a ROCK! For extra ballast, I plan on storing a 100 lb stash of pure lead on the bottom shelf.

I thought about all sorts of ideas for a finish. If this had been all brand new wood and such, I might have opted for wood stain and polyurethane. As it was, this whole thing was built of scraps. Most of it came from packing crates I took home from work when I was employed at the solder factory. As a result, I have decided to just paint it with latex and be done with it. I’ll use the same pain scheme as the old bench– Battleship Gray on top and Forest Green on the bottom. It held up through 15 years of reloading and if I scratch it up, all I have do is spackle the holes and repaint.

Now for the mounts. I wanted to still use my Rockchuker. The new Hornady LNL AP required a whole different set of mounting holes. I researched it a lot and asked folks on the 24HourCampfire.com what they were doing. What I found was a major mix of methods. A lot of guys just bolted their presses to a 2X6 and then clamped that to the table. I wanted something a little more sophisticated, but I did not want to spring for any of the fancy mounting systems. I figured on a scrap-made table stout and cheap would do fine. I ended up with cut-up chunks of old shelving in an ‘L’ afixed to mounting holes on the bench with 3/8 inch bolts run through the surface and secured with T-Nuts. On top, I sprung for some 3/8″ knurly knobs like what you have on your lawnmower. Shazzam! I set up the Hornady first and then built an identical mount for the RCBS Rockchucker and I have enough wood left from the old shelf for a third bracket. Additionally, I added holes and T-Nuts so I can mount the presses in 3 positions on the front of the bench. I figure I’ll also use these mounting holes for things like my case trimmer, case prepper, and a gun vise down the road.

I have also added a pull-out computer table to the new bench.  Having a laptop is handy.  I get most off my loads off the Hodgdon Reloading Data Center, and it is great not having to go to another room to look things up.

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