Gun Room Starting to Blossom

I’ve been dreading attaching my ammo press to an indoor workbench because I didn’t want to drill holes in the bench. I was inventing devices that would clamp to the table without gouging it. I had some ideas for welding a plate to steel tubing. I could screw the press to the plate, put rubber under the tubing, and clamp the tubing to the bench.

Today, I realized I needed to do something if I ever expected to get started. I decided to go quick and dirty with the Rockwell Jawhorse.

The Jawhorse is a weird steel tripod with a foot-tightened vise on top. It’s very heavy. It’s awkard to move. If you can get past those problems, it’s a startlingly useful tool. It holds things for sawing. You can clamp a little table in it. You can get special attachments for sheet goods.

It’s one of those tools which is so annoying, you peridically consider selling it, but then you find yourself using it, and you’re glad you have it.

Harbor Freight now makes a good clone.

My plan: construct a wooden platform for the Jawhorse, clamp it in the jaws, and mount the press on it. Then I could keep the platform, and when I wanted to make ammo, I could slap it in the Jawhorse and go to work. IF it was rigid enough. That was the question.

I used to have my press mounted on my garage workbench, which is very sturdy. For reasons too boring to go into, even though the bench was strong, the press still tended to wobble during use, and I had to add some wood to the bench to make it stop. When a Hornady Lock n Load press wobbles, it can cause rounds to fail to complete the reloading process. It’s a problem.

I don’t want to make ammunition on my old workbench, which is now in my un-air-conditioned shop. I want to do it in my gun room, a few steps away from the refrigerator. This is why I got the Jawhorse out.

Using a Sawzall, I cut two pieces of 2 x 8 from a wet board I found behind the shop. I cleaned them up on the band saw. I used 4 Tapcons to screw them together. This gave me a platform. I drilled two 1/2″ holes in it. I found some mismatched 1/2″ bolts and some washers. I stuck the press on the platform and used the bolts to fasten it down. I guess this took 20 minutes.

I gave the press a few test pumps. I think it’s going to work. It seems more rigid than my old workbench system. How about that?

This will give me time to create a real reloading stand or come up with a device to mount my press to the indoor bench.

If I can get the press to run, I’ll be able to produce a lovely stash of 10mm, .38 Super, and .45 ACP from my components. I may use some of my endless pile of .40 S&W brass to make ammo for my buddy Mike. Then I won’t have brass overflowing from my brass container, and I’ll be able to shoot my new Glock 20 without paying ridiculous prices for ammo. It will be nice.

Seems like I have gotten much better at finishing projects. I used to be very good at starting them but not so great at following through.

Now I need to machine a handle for the press. That plastic ball loves to unscrew itself.