I am building a hunting/reloading room in my basement. I would like to finish it off with camoflaged carpeting. I will have both my metalic and shotgun reloading benches in this room along with all my hunting cloths and accessories. The gun vault is a separate room.
Will the carpeting create unnecessary static electricity? Should I just scrap the idea and install a floating laminate floor in this room. Will be about 12' x 20' in size.

The biggest drawback I've seen to such things, Shane, is it can get pretty messy. Carpeting is naturally going to be harder to clean and anything you drop on it may be hell to find. I don't think static electricity is an issue realistically.

Personally I would just go with a nice, bright, lineolum. Preferably something almost patternless. It would be bright and very easy to keep clean. Any little thing you drop, you'll be able to find it easily. JMHO

Pecos brings up some good points, dropping a scope ring screw on carpeting is a lot different than the same screw falling on a linoleum floor! I like a laminate like you suggest, with some large carpet-type rugs. That way you can pick up the corners of the rug and shake any material into the center to find it or take it outside and shake or wash it. If you reload spent primers are a pain to get out of carpeting. Good luck in whatever you choose!

No carpeting for me anymore.

Tore mine out after dropping a few screws and spilling some shot.

Just a clean hard floor that I can clean up.

Being the timid sort, I shudder at the thought of vaccuming up a powder spill.

I'll be the odd man out and vote for carpet. I hate the way things bounce and roll around on a slick floor and especially dislike the "echo" you can get with hard flooring and basement walls and ceiling which may be made of concrete.

I suggest a flat-pile commercial-type carpet. It's easier to vacuum up spilled shot from this type of carpet than to chase those little buggers all over the room rolling on linoleum. You'll also find that carpeting improves your creature comforts in a place where you'll intend to spend alot of your time.

It's true that if you get a patterned carpet of a certain type that dropped screws and other little parts can be hard to find, but at least they'll be close to where you dropped them -- on linoleum they may bounce under the couch at the other end of the room, which makes hunting them very sporting indeed. "Camoed" carpet helps hide the grease spots and stains from spilled Hoppe's No. 9, but a solid color carpet will advantage you, the hunter, in recovering that escaped scope ring screw.

Besides that, I'm shocked at how expensive flooring vinyl is these days! It costs about the same as a decent grade of commercial carpeting by the square foot.

All these reasons, and I wanted the carpeting with a camoflaged pattern to further lesson the chances of finding small parts? I think you guys are right that a hard floor with an area run in the center of the room as a way to go.
If I ever set my camoflage hunting cloths on the floor, there would be a chance I'd never find them again.

A low berber carpet works well. I have cedar planked walls and cealing I had to paint the cealing white to get enough light. Electric heaters work well in reloading rooms for warmth and they keep it dry.

[ 11-07-2002, 20:24: Message edited by: bearlake ]

No carpeting on the floor. Too much trouble to find dropped items, too much trouble to clean-up spilled items.

As for sounds, put the carpet on the walls...works wonders.

My reloading room/office is beige carpet.

I have dropped tiny parts (not shot), and small amounts of powder, but I would rather vacuum up a spill than have to chase little springs & screws all over a hard floor.

A part would have to be microscopic in order to dig its way down into light-colored carpet and hide.

As for finding a small part on camo carpet,

Rick.

I currently have carpeting in my reloading/gun room and think it really sucks. I'm planning to remodel my little room and take care of this problem. I plan to install log beams and vault the ceiling. Install log type siding to the walls and a yellow pine floor. I hope to make it look basically like the inside of a small cabin. Besides I really need the ceiling height to hang my Elk mount and antler light fixture (the Mrs don't like dead animals in the living room). The wood flooring will take care of the cleaning problems that you have with carpeting.

I have carpet in my reloading room and I don't like it either (not my house). If I spill powder, which does happen when I forgot ot seat a primer checking on my Dillon 550 it becomes a mess. It also isn't good when you drop spent or live primers. I am a clutz? Any way the carpet does stop stuff from bouncing around. I would put down a throw rug that can be picked up to be shaken out. I am still thinking about doing this on top of my standard carpet (lazyness has prevailed). The camo carpet sound cool if you are having a sitting area. I keep looking at some of the furnature in like Cabela's a say if I had room.....

Remember where you are positioning you bench to be away from drafts and heat duct if possible. My bench is on the oppostie wall from the window and heat register. Have fun.

Hcliff

I never imagined that linoleum vs. carpet could rival using Matchkings for hunting as a flaming topic!

Carpets = STATIC ELECTRICITY; add gunpowder & that doesn't mix! I have a wooden floor.

Linoleum is easiest to keep clean, including spent primiers, and I'm scared of vaccuming around powedr. I wouldn't mind a camo throw rug , keep the feet warm, easy to move for searching or cleaing. Laminate floor okay too!

I used to have carpet in my room, and I ripped it out. Replaced it with tile. Sure like it better. Yeah, things bounce, but I've never lost anything. One sweep, everything is clean. FWIW, Dutch.

If you feel you absolutely want carpeting take a look at what they call "indoor/outdoor" carpeting. That stuff is so tough I don't think it would create static.

I have had carpeting in the reloading room and it was not the way to go. Powder, primers, decapping pins, you name it would get into the carpet. Stick to a nice hard serface.

I must like living on the edge, but I vacuum up all of my spilled smokeless powder. I don't think static electricity is likely to ignite smokeless powder. Now blackpowder is another thing. Have any of you ever tried to burn a small pile of smokeless powder? Didn't think so because I'm the only idiot that on here that has. Actually, it is really hard to get it to burn. It certainly won't maintain a flame.

Longbob, I pulled a bullet a few years ago, and poured the powder out on the sidewalk.

I brought my son over and he watched while I lit it. He was holding his ears while the powder burned with the noise of..... well, a candle.

Then I put the empty case in the gun and fired it.
BANG!

He was convinced that all the noise of shooting comes from the primers.

Rick.

Rick,

You are right. We don't need no stinking powder. It's all in the primers!

I picked up an industrial catalog and bought one of those rubber mats that
are supposed to cushion your feet if you are standing all day. They got little
'bristles' that catch live primers, scope screws, etc. I once klutzed an entire
bottle of Hoppes on it and although the aroma was eyewatering, it wiped
right up. You might want to look into that instead of carpeting.

However, I have a little nook a few feet away with a very nice comfortable chair, super
lighting, and thick, crunchy carpeting. This nook contains my reloading, etc.
books and that's the only place I want carpeting. Nothing camoflaged, just
dark 'manly' colors. lol.

Oooo, Oooo, Oooo, Mr. Carter?

What is it Horchak?

I got a idea! Why he don't ya, just put down a throw rug. Anything youse spill if ya can't find it, just gather up the rug and dump it out! Hard floor or rug floor, you can go either way.

Very good Horchak!

VACUUMING BULLSEYE OUT OF A CARPET SOUNDS REALLY DANGEROUS TO ME. I RIPPED THE CARPET OUT WHEN I PUT MY LOADING COUNTER IN.LOTS OF GOOD POINTS IN HERE ABOUT DROPPING AND LOSING STUFF IN CARPET I NEVER GIVE THAT ANGLE MUCH THOUGHT BUT IT MAKES SENSE. I WAS AFRAID THE IF IT SHOULD CATCH FIRE IT WOULD BE A BITCH TO PUT OUT.

A .357 MAG CAN BE YOUR BEST FRIEND...........

ask my wife about the time she ran the vacuum cleaner over the area where i managed to spill half a bag of shot I was not on her happy people list for a while

I have had light brown carpet in my reloading room.......now it's CAMO!

gruvinbass,I can relate,I dropped a whole 25lb. bag that slipped off of my shoulder and it burst when it hit the floor,,Made one hell of a mess

Any concerns with static electricity when using carpet?

I have no choice in this matter.I rent a home and cannot remove my carpeting.I use an old solid oak dresser for a reloading bench.I open a large drawer under the powder measure and press while loading,priming etc.To vacuum up powder I use a hoover steam vac after wetting the carpeting throughly.not exactly the finest setup,but what other choices do I have?

My $0.2

I have carpet in my reloading room. While it is not thick carpet, it is just deep enough to keep #7 shot from being effectively picked up by the vacuum.

I have been vacuuming smokeless power out of this carpet for six years now without incident. However, this is not a testimony to it being a safe practice. (More a testimony to my dear mothers prayers.)

To combat static generated by plastic, carpet, etc, I wrap a dryer sheet around the power measures on each of my presses. This seems to also help prevent power bridging in the measures and thus, gives more consistent powder charges. (At least it has on my shotgun press which uses light flake type powder.)

I purchasede and installed some cheep carpet in my reloading room, and yes it is now camo color. But the alternative would be a cement floor, I never gave a thought to vinal as I did ot want to chase things. I have spilled Hoppies and just about everything else that is in that room. I figure that I can replace it after it gets too bad. It has a low enough pile that shot and primers can be picked up, or vacumed up with out any problems other than the wife yelling about all of the clatter from the vacume. Bottom line get what you want for the look you want and live with it. Like a camper, boat, or vehicle each has it's advantages, and drawbacks.

If you are really serious about having the camo look on the floor, consider getting a static-free floor mat. They come clear ( so you can enjoy your camo pattern ), would be easy to clean up spills on, and, as is implied, would not give a problem with static. Techs often use them when working on computer circuits, etc.

greg p,

Static electricity should not affect smokeless powder. Now black powder is a different story.