Seriously considering starting to reload in my garage.I do have an oil furnace but the garage is not heated 24/7.With a full sized Snow covered Chevy Extended Cab parked in there on winter nights does anyone think I would have rust or moisture problems with eqipment or tightly sealed powder?Also what about tolerances on brass and equipment?Would probably fire up furnace about an hour before any activity.I can usually bring temperature up to at least 60 degrees on single digit winter days.Thank you for any opinions.

tacreload, far be it from me to discourage anyone who wants to get in to reloading, or expand/improve his reloading situation. But I do think the arrangement you are proposing will present rust problems.

Dies and presses rust like the dickens in uncontrolled environments. Sure, there are rust preventive products that will help a great deal, but dies and presses will need to be coated regularly and heavily. Powder should be OK if containers are tightly sealed, but metal powder cans will rust on the outside, and eventually rust through.

Other unexpected factors can make things worse, too, such as other items that might be stored in the garage. I knew a guy who had a nice little shop built in his backyard, only to find all of his tools being attacked constantly by malignant rust. Really, if you left bare metal exposed in there for 12 hours, you'd find rust on it. One day while I was there he was removing rust from a die set and complaining about the rust, when I spotted a 5 gallon bucket in the corner, lid tightly in place. Curious, I turned the bucket and saw it contained chlorine for his pool. Even with the bucket sealed tight enough that not even a whiff of chlorine could be detected, vapors were escaping and literally eating every ferrous object in the room!

Don't let me discourage you too much. This same fellow, once the chlorine was removed, has since used his infrequently-heated and never cooled shop with perfect satisfaction. He still battles a bit of rust, but nothing like he had at first. And he has plenty of room for himself and his stuff.

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Pisgah

Pisgah
Thanks for your input.I don't keep any chemicals in there and my hand tools have never shown any signs of rust but wasn't sure about reloading equipment.I will think this through some more.Thanks

Yes, I think it would be a problem. Even though I live in Fl now, I have lived many years up North in the snow belt.

Temp extremes are bad for powder, plus the changes in humidity with bringing the snow on the truck, some will melt, then freeze etc, etc. Then if you heat up the garage its like bring a scope or binoculars from outside freezing into a warm environment it forms mositure and fogs up. Thats why so many hunting rifles rust.

No other room or basement to set up a small reloading section.??

There was a good thread on some small set ups. I have mine on a old heavy duty Black Decker Workmate which I can move from out in the garage into the comfort of air conditioned kitchen or back room. Could store it in a closet.

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Still Running Against the Wind

Since you live in PA, you probably have a basement. Is loading in your basement an option?

I previously lived in DE, and even properly stored dies rusted. So in a garage with high moisture and temperature swings, your equipment will rust unless you are very diligent about coating all bare steel surfaces with a light oil.

You can reduce the temperature impact on components if you store them in an insulated container. An unhooked refrigerator could work, but presents a hazard on the powder if it were to begin burning. Building a wooden magazine with insulation on the inside could be an option.

Yes it would be a problem..

One of the things I tild my wife before we were married, is that WE would sleep in the garage before my "gunstuff" would go to the garage.

MAN UP. Claim a bedroom in the house as your MAN CAVE...

You need to have a comfortable environment in which to do your reloading. When you are comfortable, less mistakes will occur, and you will enjoy the hobby that much more. I don't know what your home set up is, but if there is a way to move indoors it would be a plus! Moisture and gunpowder do not mix very well, and I think reloading under adverse conditions is asking for trouble and problems.

When I first started to reload (we lived in an apartment at the time), I mounted my Dillon press on a heavy wooden cart that I built and had lockable wheels on it. When I was not using it, I would roll it into a closet. My wife wasn't thrilled, but she got past it and wanted to make me happy because I absolutely hated apartment living. A few years later we bought our house and I now have a finished, very well lit reloading room which is both heated and air conditioned. To me, reloading is a necessary chore in order for me to enjoy the shooting hobby, so I need to make it as pleasant as possible.

good luck with you relaoding venture,
chief38

When we bought our first house, it had two bedrooms in it and no basement. There was an attached garage. I closed in the garage (it was a one car garage that was built from a carport) and made it my reloading and work room (to hold my tools, maintain lawnmower, camera dark room in one end, etc). There was no heat in the garage. Condensation was ever present but I made do by carefully wiping off each tool after I used it.

Bullet moulds are relatively fragile and subject to rust and corrosion. Serious attention to detail is necessary for long life. I don't take chances with my bullet moulds. Being OVERLY attentive is just about right...

We lived there eight years and made do. It wasn't perfect but it worked and I did a lot of reloading and some bullet casting. Each move we made, things got better. The second move put me in a dry, heated and air conditioned basement for my tools and reloading benches.

Now, I have been at my present location for thirty years. I have a nice carpeted basement with lots of storage for my reloading efforts. My dedicated casting area is in my heated and cooled utility barn (when I am using it). The bullet moulds are stored in my climate controlled house.

Important things have a tendency to get better as time moves on. They certainly have for me. On the other hand, sometimes you just have to make do. The important thing is that you MUST reload and cast your own bullets if you wish to maintain proficiency (unless you have REALLY deep pockets).

Dale53

Well I think everyone has talked me out of the garage.My man cave aka my dead room seems like the best option.My basement would work except for grandkids playing down there in bad weather.Unless I could close in a small lockable area in the basement,but there's that deep pockets thing Dale53 refers to.On to the drawing board for revamping the dead room.Thanks for everyone's advice.You guys are the best.