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Posted: 3/19/2009 4:51:16 PM EDT
So I want to get into reloading, which reloading manual will have all of the calibers I want to reload Should I still buy the ABC's of Reloading?
9mm,40SW,45ACP,45LC,223,308,6.8SPC |
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You shouldn't buy any book. they are utterly useless. If you want to pay shipping + half of the book cost, I'll send my ABC's reloading and Lyman's reloading manual to you.
This is 2009, you find all the information you need and more on the Internet. Just reading through the sticky in this forum is more than enough. |
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So I want to get into reloading, which reloading manual will have all of the calibers I want to reload Should I still buy the ABC's of Reloading?
9mm,40SW,45ACP,45LC,223,308,6.8SPC Usually you buy a book for the bullets you are loading... i.e. a Hornady book only has load data for Hornady bullets w/various powders. Powder websites like Hodgdon give you load data for different brands of bullets, but only for their powders. Getting the info from the web is useful if you trust the website (i.e. Hodgdon); however, getting load data from random postings on the internet, probably not the brightest thing to do. It's nice to have some kind of reference to see if the data you plan to use is reasonable. 
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You shouldn't buy any book. they are utterly useless. If you want to pay shipping + half of the book cost, I'll send my ABC's reloading and Lyman's reloading manual to you. This is 2009, you find all the information you need and more on the Internet. Just reading through the sticky in this forum is more than enough. You're kidding right? (Not about selling the books; and by the way the offer should have been made by IM or email, not in your post.) This is monumentally bad advice. For starters, data published in print should be considered the gold standard, not data passed on over the internet between faceless individuals; this is particularly important for beginners. The second reason is that published manuals are more complete and have far more load data than found in the web sites of powder and bullet companies. The on line data from Hodgon, Alliant, Accurate, and at the Accurate Reloading web site are the almost gold standard, and only because they are less complete than printed sources. Most bullet manufacturers have no data on their sites. There are a couple of other sites with data that I might use, but you can bet I will compare it to one or two other sources. There is one "reloading" site that is completely unmoderated and has all sorts of stupid loads "contributed" by persons that are intentionally trying to get someone hurt. I would recommend borrowing the ABC's from the library. I recommend buying a Hornady #7 manual, easily the best of the current manuals. After that, buy what you can afford. If you find a copy of the Hodgon No. 27 manual, grab it as it contains a compilation of the load data from Hodgon, Alliant, IMR, and Winchester. The Alliant and IMR data is the same that would have been found in their free pamphlets. Otherwise, the Speer manual is a pretty good staple. If you run across a used load manual, no matter how old, buy it if the price is sensible. There are thousands of Speer manuals in circulation. Most of the time these old manuals cost $3 oto $5. The exception are the Winchester pamphlets from the 70's and 80's; if you find one, and it's a few bucks cheap, buy it, and if there are several buy them all, then sell them on the internet to pay for all your reloading equipment. I have manuals that date to the 1950's. They are all useful, either for "possibilities" or historical information. Try to find load data for BL-C gunpowder in a modern manual. That stuff has been out of production since the late 80's, yet we have had inquiries here about load data. There are lots of old bullets around that are out of production, but the load data for a specific bullet may be useful sometimes. Buy all the manuals you can stand. Four or five are not too many. |
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You shouldn't buy any book. they are utterly useless. If you want to pay shipping + half of the book cost, I'll send my ABC's reloading and Lyman's reloading manual to you. This is 2009, you find all the information you need and more on the Internet. Just reading through the sticky in this forum is more than enough. You're kidding right? (Not about selling the books; and by the way the offer should have been made by IM or email, not in your post.) This is monumentally bad advice. For starters, data published in print should be considered the gold standard, not data passed on over the internet between faceless individuals; this is particularly important for beginners. The second reason is that published manuals are more complete and have far more load data than found in the web sites of powder and bullet companies. The on line data from Hodgon, Alliant, Accurate, and at the Accurate Reloading web site are the almost gold standard, and only because they are less complete than printed sources. Most bullet manufacturers have no data on their sites. There are a couple of other sites with data that I might use, but you can bet I will compare it to one or two other sources. There is one "reloading" site that is completely unmoderated and has all sorts of stupid loads "contributed" by persons that are intentionally trying to get someone hurt. I would recommend borrowing the ABC's from the library. I recommend buying a Hornady #7 manual, easily the best of the current manuals. After that, buy what you can afford. If you find a copy of the Hodgon No. 27 manual, grab it as it contains a compilation of the load data from Hodgon, Alliant, IMR, and Winchester. The Alliant and IMR data is the same that would have been found in their free pamphlets. Otherwise, the Speer manual is a pretty good staple. If you run across a used load manual, no matter how old, buy it if the price is sensible. There are thousands of Speer manuals in circulation. Most of the time these old manuals cost $3 oto $5. The exception are the Winchester pamphlets from the 70's and 80's; if you find one, and it's a few bucks cheap, buy it, and if there are several buy them all, then sell them on the internet to pay for all your reloading equipment. I have manuals that date to the 1950's. They are all useful, either for "possibilities" or historical information. Try to find load data for BL-C gunpowder in a modern manual. That stuff has been out of production since the late 80's, yet we have had inquiries here about load data. There are lots of old bullets around that are out of production, but the load data for a specific bullet may be useful sometimes. Buy all the manuals you can stand. Four or five are not too many. ^^^ all true. And what happens when the 'puter takes a dump and you need load data? |
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I do backups and i save all reloading data i find. Mostly i get them from manufacturers' websites or contact them directly for recommendations, and then i cross-reference.
there are step by step instruction videos and webpages online - no need to buy manuals. there are manufacturers' load data online - no need to buy manuals. I don't recommend anybody to use data published in any forum. When i tried to work up my Barnes TSX load, i cross-referenced 4 different sources: Barnes (both manual and contacted their CSR), Hodgdon, recommendations from 2 individuals. |
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You should get all of them. You can never have enough data to reference in any endeavor. That being said; I started with the ABCs. After that I bought Hornady and Sierra. The Sierra manual is a nice thick binder and is easy to follow. The Speer manual that came with my RCBS is not my favorite but it is good to have. I would say you should have the manual for whoever's components you plan to use. I recomend being prepared to use whatever you can get your hands on at the moment. |
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I do backups and i save all reloading data i find. Mostly i get them from manufacturers' websites or contact them directly for recommendations, and then i cross-reference. there are step by step instruction videos and webpages online - no need to buy manuals. there are manufacturers' load data online - no need to buy manuals. I don't recommend anybody to use data published in any forum. When i tried to work up my Barnes TSX load, i cross-referenced 4 different sources: Barnes (both manual and contacted their CSR), Hodgdon, recommendations from 2 individuals. Your questions in this forum, experience, and the quality and depth of knowledge on the topic of reloading you have gleaned with your method are all signals that you should refrain from giving advice on the topic of reloading. However, I am not going criticize the path you've chosen for your own reloadig. You're free to do just that, and as long as you adopt personal responsibility and don't endanger anyone else, I don't care. |
I think Lyman makes the best reloading manual, it covers a wide array of brands of components which most manuals do not. Generally a reloading manual is written by a company that sells projectiles like Speer, Barnes, Nosler, ..... these manuals of course only cover projectiles made by you guessed it that manufacturer. The Lyman will cover the basics and give you a decent amount of loads to pick from. The other thing I would highly recommend is contacting all the powder manufacturers of the powder you will likely purchase in your area, they will send you a load data pamphlet free of charge in most cases, you never can have too much data especially if it's free The most important thing is DO NOT use any load data you get online unless it can be verified by another method, EX. Joe Blow says use 100 grs of XX powder to push a 100 gr spitzer then you look at a reloading manual and it says the max load for a 100 gr spitzer is 75 frs of XX powder, you have verified that Joe Blow is full of crap and you ignore his info There are many internet experts but generally speaking they aren't getting paid for their wisdom in reloading and you know what they say, You get what you pay for
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Your questions in this forum, experience, and the quality and depth of knowledge on the topic of reloading you have gleaned with your method are all signals that you should refrain from giving advice on the topic of reloading. However, I am not going criticize the path you've chosen for your own reloadig. You're free to do just that, and as long as you adopt personal responsibility and don't endanger anyone else, I don't care. Good point. |
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