Very nice setup gtermini. Very organized and well advanced of most reloading stations that I've seen.
I wish it was 1/10th as organized as the pics make it look. It's a mess usually.
As for the pics,
1st is a "rock tumbler" I built to tumble brass. It uses various barrels I bought off ebay. Stainless pin tumbling is the best way to clean, bar none. You put the brass in with 5lbs of pins in a barrel full of soapy water and let it run for 45 min. Brass comes out brilliant bright inside and out. You can tumble with traditional walnut or corncob media in the barrel as well. It takes less time than a vibe tumbler. Usually 2-4 hrs.
My general order of ops is deprime - wet tumble - dry - lube/size - trim to length - dry tumble to clean lube off - chamfer/deburr mouths = ready to load
2nd pic is a couple old Herters turret presses I got and modified from 6 to 12 holes per top plate. The riser stands are homemade as well. I like turret presses for bullet seater dies because I can leave a bunch set up for different bullets and calibers. Then it's just index to the one I want and load away without having to spend 5 mins getting overall length adjusted. They are less rigid than single stage, so I don't typically size on them.
3rd pic is an RCBS autoprime tool. It self feeds loaded strips of primers. I've gone through a lot of different priming tools, and personally like this one the best. Anything beats priming on the press, although a few guys still do it. The rcbs hand tool works well, but hurts your hand after 100 rnds and is a paint to change calibers on. The 30 cal ammo can is screwed to the bench and there are several lids with different presses that interchange at that station on the bench. Spent primers fall in the can when it's set up with a lee press to deprime.
4th pic is a Ponsness-Warren Metallic II turret press. It is designed for straight walled pistol, but works well for loading 223. I feed it primed brass, throw powder from with a Hornady case-actuated linkage on the RCBS thrower. When the case comes up it drops powder. Next station is a bullet seater, then finally a Lee factory crimp die. The case never leaves the shellholder during the process. Consistency in movement is key to throwing consistent powder charge weights. It will typically hold within 0.1gr with ball powder.
5th pic an ultrasonic cleaner I use to clean small lots of brass.
6th is the Frankford Arsenal platinum prep center. It's about $150, but well worth it. The power trimmer index off the shoulder and trims plus/minus .002 very well. It is a real saver vs doing it by hand. Mine has all upgraded rcbs carbide cutters that cut much faster and cleaner. It also has a station to uniform primer pockets besides chamfer/deburr.
7th pic is a Harrell's Precision Culver powder thrower. It is the Cadillac of throwers and works much better for rod extruded shape powder vs the rcbs ones. Very spendy though and definitely not first round reloading equipment.
8th is a "World's Cheapest Trimmer" ($20) mounted on a spare motor I had. Trims 223 plus/minus .005 very quickly.
9th is the press that started it all. 1969 RCBS JR2 single stage. It's still my primary single stage press for everything 30-06 and smaller. I like that the handle stroke is shorter than a rockchucker because there's less leverage. The riser is homemade, but similar to a InlineFab. I use a homemade case ejector similar to Inline's as well. It really smooths the process out to not have to touch the case as it comes out of the press. Reloading is all about rhythm and consistency, so I'm always trying to smooth the process out. I still haven't gotten a progressive press, but see one in the near future.
