Books about reloading

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mikemyers said:
Don't worry about any disrespect - until someone mentioned the Lyman book, I didn't even remember I had THAT.

I understand what you're saying. It's just that I do better when I get one book or manual, and read it, and when I'm finished I get more.

I'm not really excited about "load data" (yet??). I want to find one powder that works well for me for 38 special, 44 special, and later on, 45 ACP. Then I want to know how to set up and use my existing reloading gear. I will NOT buy the new RCBS 5-station reloader until I'm comfortable with my Big Max. I'm in no particular hurry about any of this - and everything is coming along nicely, especially what I've been learning from you guys.
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Well get the ABC of Reloading and some HP 38/Win 231 and you are all set!:D:D

Go here and click on see all videos. You don't need no stinkin manual;)

http://www.rcbs.com/

Click here for hours of videos on different press and all kinds of good stuff!

http://ultimatereloader.com/
 
I am glad you are trying to expand your knowledge on reloading, but I will give you a word of advice. Please do not watch YouTube videos and think that info is gospel. I have seen so much bad information from so many different videos on YouTube it is surprising to me someone has not blown them selves up or gotten a bolt through the eye.:uhoh: If you have questions, ASK HERE. I have reloaded for a lot of years and still have questions from time to time. Getting credible info on YouTube is like asking a third grade class to rebuild your transmission in your truck.:)
 
Since the 1970's, I've seen how there is a lot of nonsense, and "garbage", an mis-information on what is now the internet. It used to be just a lot of individual BBS sites. Anyway, with a little common sense, and a place like THR to confirm things, the YouTube stuff can still be useful, even if it's for showing you what NOT to do. The internet, and YouTube, along with a good book that you trust, can be a huge help.

Wil Terry, I didn't mean I couldn't find a single book that has all the information - what I meant, is I couldn't find ONE book that had ALL the information. Anyway, I'm happily reading the Lyman Handbook, and already finding things that I thought I knew, that aren't.

I thought if you buy a box of new brass, you're all set to load. Nope - need to use that tool I was asking about earlier, that makes things round and removes burrs, on both the inside and outside.

I thought I could just collect brass, and pour it into one container for each caliber. Nope, if you're careful, you need to use brass from the same "lot number", meaning you buy lots of brass with the same lot number, and then sort it by weight.

In a week or so, I'll buy book #2.
 
A really good book is "the NRA guide to reloading"
Amazon I believe is the only place that still has it--$35
It is a good book as it was printed for people that teach reloading
 
good reloading manual

"Handloading" by Wm. C. Davis, Jr. Published by the NRA in January 1981. ISBN 0-935998-34-9
gets my vote for one of the best, but unfortunately is out of print. It can be found used though. It was a terrible loss when Davis quit writing for the American Rifleman too.
 
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I started loading with an RCBS Partner press reloading kit, with included a Speer #9 manual. I also purchased "The ABCs of Reloading". There was no internet so I learned to load by reading those manuals, and then following the instructions with the exact recipes listed in the Speer manaul. That was around 30 years ago.

The worst thing about asking experienced loaders for advice on the internet is that everyone wants to unload a few decades of knowledge, experince, judgement, and precision equipment on a poor guy who, right now, just wants to load some rounds and successfully fire them. Stick with basics, and keep it simple. Once you learn the basic functions with the very basic equipment, you can venture into improving quality, and reducing costs later. Revolver rounds are easiest to load, with semi-auto pistol rounds almost as easy, and lighter target loads are most forgiving, so thats a good place to start.

If you are a beginner, its great to read several sources, but when its time to start, you are better off to pick one, and stick with it. You'll get very confused trying to follow multiple sources that don't agree with each other.
 
Lyman 49
Lyman Cast 4th ed ( if you're going to use lead)
Hornady
Speer
Sierra
Accurate
Lee

I'd pick Lyman 49 as first choice and one other (company brand bullet if you've got a preference of brands).

Read everything in the reloading pages at least a couple of times. Make sure you understand the terminology and procedures. DO NOT continue if you don't understand something. Ask us your questions.
 
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http://www.amazon.com/Handloading-Competition-Making-Target-Bigger/dp/096269259X

Handloading for Competition is a guide to "practical precision" in producing high-performance ammunition. Ten major sections and one hundred separate segments detail all aspects of developing and producing ammunition for High Power Rifle, Silhouette Rifle, or serious varminting. Tools, methods, and processes for sizing, seating, case preparation are examined. Fixing "primer problems" like pierces and blow outs (and what really causes them). Bullet selection, real world accuracy and ballistic performance, and proven (because they win) loads for all popular competitive cartridges, plus "both sides" of bullet coating. Testing and development have their own sections, and there's also a special Long Range chapter by Scott Medesha, U.S. Palma® Team member. This book is a very large collection of information, ideas, and essays on the production of high-performance ammunition for use in competition rifles. We promise you've never read a loading book before like this one!​

Thanks for the suggestion! I think I will concentrate on the more basic books first, until I learn more, but after that, this sounds like wonderful book. I'm not sure I'm ready for a book that leaves me with "a lot to think about". I would prefer a book that tells me things, along with the reasoning behind that (the "what" and the "why").


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After all the advice posted here, I think this will be my next book to buy:
http://www.amazon.com/The-ABCs-Of-Reloading-Definitive/dp/1440213968

A step-by-step guide to reloading rifle and handgun cartridges and shotshells!

In these days of widespread ammunition shortages, it pays--literally--to know how to "roll your own" cartridges. But don't think it's some kind of rocket science. Let The ABCs of Reloading show you how! With the help of The ABCs of Reloading, you'll be reloading your own cartridges--and saving big bucks--faster than you ever thought possible.

It's all here!

Step-by-step procedures for reloading rifle, handgun and shotgun ammunition
Hundreds of detailed photos
Everything you need to know about primers, bullets, powders and cases
Bonus: The best reloading articles from the Gun Digest archives and more!

Don't let the next ammunition shortage catch you unprepared. Arm yourself with money-saving knowledge - with The ABCs of Reloading!​
 
mikemyers said:
===============================================


After all the advice posted here, I think this will be my next book to buy:
http://www.amazon.com/The-ABCs-Of-Reloading-Definitive/dp/1440213968

A step-by-step guide to reloading rifle and handgun cartridges and shotshells!

In these days of widespread ammunition shortages, it pays--literally--to know how to "roll your own" cartridges. But don't think it's some kind of rocket science. Let The ABCs of Reloading show you how! With the help of The ABCs of Reloading, you'll be reloading your own cartridges--and saving big bucks--faster than you ever thought possible.

It's all here!

Step-by-step procedures for reloading rifle, handgun and shotgun ammunition
Hundreds of detailed photos
Everything you need to know about primers, bullets, powders and cases
Bonus: The best reloading articles from the Gun Digest archives and more!

Don't let the next ammunition shortage catch you unprepared. Arm yourself with money-saving knowledge - with The ABCs of Reloading!​
Click to expand...

What? you don't believe me?:D Post #26;)
 
If you can find a copy, Precision Shooting: Reloading Guide by Dave Brennan is one of the best resources I have found for advanced level accuracy techniques, and a good discussion on how to approach accuracy oriented loading for different types of rifles like bolt guns, gas guns, full on BR, and magnum hunting rifles.

Its been out of print a while, but well worth keeping an eye out for. I bought my copy this last year new at a sportsman's warehouse. Old, dusty and beat but still sitting on the shelf.
 
I agree that Lyman Manual 49 is a great start, Speer, Lee, Hornady, and Hodgdon's annual are also fairly comprehensive. Sierra is useful if you use their bullets. ABC's of reloading is another great beginning book. But, I have gotten the bug so I buy some of the old manuals from Ebay by Speer and Lyman. Probably going to get Pet Loads for my upcoming birthday present to myself. I also subscribe to Handloader magazine which has useful general information as well.

Last, but not least, Loaddata.com has all of the load data that you could possibly want if you subscribe.

Why have more than one manual--part is because some manuals are better at some things than others--e.g. lead bullet casting and load data. Others have some useful chapters such as Lee's reduced loading data is very helpful for plinker rifle rounds. Handloader has articles that describe the loads in some detail as well as the guns that they are fired in. Old manuals have weird wildcat calibers and mention powders/loads for older rifles that have not been reproduced. It seems that reloaders come in two flavors--those that reload simply to shoot and those that shoot so that they can reload.
 
I like the dry humor in "Reloading For Handgunners". Reminds me of THR sometimes. Some of the B&W photos are interesting too. Not powder wide though - just a couple powders for each caliber.

I have taken a real shine to Lyman's "Pistol & Revolver Reloading Handbook" Second Edition. It's the only book with 9x25 Dillon data, plus it's just a good 1994 book.

What modern book covers the most, newest powders?
 
I've been starting pretty slow, with just rifle loads. So, I basically learned from these forums, and confirmed with LOADBOOKS for the particular round I'm loading. Got them cheaper at the gun show. I just purchased my first real manual, and I decided on Hornady 9th, basically because it has a section for 300 Blackout, and I wasn't sure if Lyman did. Haven't received it yet, but it had good reviews on Amazon.
 
Just a quick update to this thread. I finished reading, and re-reading pages 10 to 75 of "Lyman Pistol and Revolver Handbook". It's reasonably easy to read and understand, especially the second time, and explains not only the "what" but also the "why".

The good news is that the book makes it easy to know exactly what you need to buy, what you will probably also want to buy, and how to use all that equipment properly. Time to get my third book.


There are SO many things in those pages that contradict what everyone I've met says to do. I've been told to just ignore that text, as it's just "legal talk", but Lyman makes it all seem like common sense.

I met someone recently who has a huge gun collection, reloads constantly, and since he's retired, he can go shooting five or six times a week. He showed me his "garage" (it was more of a reloading shop). Everything was laid out so beautifully, his presses and reloading gear in one area, his materials in another, and the loaded bullets in yet a third. I thought he knows more about reloading than anyone I ever have met, or will meet!

Why bring this up? Because yesterday when I visited him to buy a target gun, his hand was bloody, and he told me that he got two powders mixed up, as he was in a hurry, and his rifle exploded in his hands on his first shot. He is so, SO lucky not to be seriously hurt, if not killed. I didn't see his gun - but apparently much of it was blown apart!

Anyway, I find it hard to accept that all the restrictions and warnings and so on, in these books, is just "lawyer talk". If this fellow had followed ALL those procedures, his accident wouldn't have happened. If this could happen to him, it could easily happen to a newcomer. I'm beginning to think that what Lyman prints in their books ought to be taken far more seriously than the way it's treated nowadays.
 
Give me two or three days - I was going to go through it again and use a yellow highlighter over the things that totally surprised me - quite different from what anyone has told me to do before. I'll tell you the page numbers, as well. I just got home - spent 10 days away, at a relative's home. I had lots of free time to read the book every night, going over things often enough until they all made sense.

In my opinion, for whatever that's worth, it's an excellent book. It explains what needs to be done, explains how to do it, and also why it needs to be done. Many of the things I've read in these forums suddenly made a lot more sense, once it was explained in so much detail.
 
I've got 30 more pages to review with highlighter in hand, and will then post the things that surprised me the most. I learned my lesson up above - I'm not going to post a single sentence, as taken out of context, people feel they're just lawyer-talk. I have no idea if that text is in previous editions though.

My next step is to follow the advice from 'Rule3' in response #26 up above.
 
My high school library had a copy of the first edition of The ABC's of Reloading by Dean Grinnell. It's the book that started my down the reloading path. I think it covered the fundamentals quite well. No data, just info on the process.

I think I have most of the major reloading manuals. All have their own strengths and weaknesses.
 
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