Getting started

Thirteen leaves

On this page12

The brass The bullets Gas checks Shotgun hulls and wads Patches Case lube Bore solvent Which puts bore solvent in glass Then the two we route elsewhere The sorting drives the container count Eleven of thirteen is a good property References

A reloading bench is a parts bench with two dangerous exceptions.

The brass

Cases sorted by calibre, by headstamp, by how many times they have been fired and by whether they have been trimmed. One calibre is several containers.

The bullets

Cast and jacketed, by weight in grains and by diameter in thousandths. Heavy for their size, so containers fill by weight long before they fill by volume.

Gas checks

Small copper cups fitted to cast bullets, sorted by calibre. Tiny, light, and easy to lose in the bottom of a container that is too large.

Shotgun hulls and wads

Sorted by gauge, by hull type and by wad height. Bulky rather than small, which makes this the one part of the craft wanting large containers.

Patches

Cleaning patches by calibre, which is a dry bulk storage problem and the simplest leaf here.

Case lube

A wax or liquid applied to brass before resizing. Thin film, small quantities, and it must be cleaned off afterwards.

Bore solvent

The one aggressive chemistry on the bench. Ammonia-bearing copper solvents and strong cleaners, which is a resin compatibility question.

Which puts bore solvent in glass

56 glass containers here, 15 of them Boston rounds. For a copper solvent the resin chart matters and glass is the certain answer.

Then the two we route elsewhere

Smokeless powder and primers. Both have their own section and both end in the same place: buy the purpose-made thing, or keep the factory packaging.

The sorting drives the container count

A serious bench is thirty or forty containers, because one calibre splits four ways and there are several calibres. 101 PET single wall jars is what makes a set of that size affordable.

Eleven of thirteen is a good property

Which is worth saying plainly. Refusing two leaves is not refusing the craft, and the sorting problem here is real and well served.

References

The archetype behind this shelf is store-small-dry: 15 to 500 mL, wide mouth, PP and PET and glass, cold, solid, chunky, scooped, with "small dry parts, wide mouth to get fingers in, clear so you can see what is inside" as its stated reason. Eleven of the thirteen leaves are small dry parts and the shelf is 210 jars against 27 bottles, which fits. It describes the powder and primer leaves too, and should not.

The Davis Pack Supply catalog, measured 19 October 2026. The reloading and shooting shelf is 539 rows: 251 containers and 288 closures. 5 mL to 500 mL with a median of 177; 17 containers at 15 mL or under, 25 at 30 or under, 60 at 60 or under, 116 at 120 or under. 117 PET, 78 PP, 56 glass. 210 jars, 27 bottles, 12 tubs and pails, 2 tubes. 91 clear, 47 white, 32 amber, 26 black, 24 natural. Closures: 221 continuous thread, 22 dome lids, 18 lug and twist, 9 liners and sealing discs, 6 round tubs, 5 phenolic, 4 specialty.

Written from 27 CFR 555.11 and 555.141, and from the catalog as it stood on 19 October 2026. No storage quantity limits for smokeless powder or primers appear here: those come from NFPA 495 and from state and local fire codes and they vary. The reason given for keeping powder in its original container is the industry's stated reason, not a regulation and not something this property has independently verified. Nothing here addresses who may manufacture ammunition for sale or how any of it may be transported.