Lee's "Modern Reloading" looks like a great reference

[superhornet]

Lee Factory Crimp Die and non-cannalure bullets---including Speer, Hornaday, CT, Nosler, etc.etc. Ran many tests on these bullets, crimped and non-crimped..Found Speers claim to be not true. Accuracy was actually better in many cases using the FCD. At least a car load of whitetail, one elk, and one buffaloe had very few complaints with ammo loaded and crimped....Of course I probably do not have as much experience as many or you and I am not a bench rest guy.....Started loading Sept. 18, 1949 at 1300 hours Central standard time..for 30-40 Krag and original 45/70 Trap door........IMHO

 

[benedict1]

.38 Special

One thing they ask us to do in forums is to try to stay on topic. We kind of left the Lee Manual in the dust of a detour.

We all will drift now and then--guess I need a little 'windage' adjustment to stay on target!--

 

[Old Time Hunter]

Just remember that Lee's manual is primarily an open ended reference manual, with more generalizations for common reloading.

Bench resters by their very nature tend to lead more with emotion than actual fact and then support their intuitions with results that meet their goals after. You can take ten different bench resters and get 10 equivalent results from 10 different processes or equipment, yet by eachs own opinion only theirs is right! I believe it has to do with their arrogance factor.

As far as equipment, without Lee having a viable product and being affordable, we probably would not be having this discussion. Also, the leagues of reloaders would only be about 10% of what it is now.

 

[v65magnafan]

Back on Track

Back to the Lee Reloading Manual.

I spent four hours last Sunday with a reloading expert. The crux of the matter is this:

It's a Lee Reloading Guide.

As such, I have to play a little bit to determine the appropriate cavity in the Lee discs.

As for the writing quality in the LRM, it's entertaining, but vague. This vagueness is carried over into the equipment instructions. Reading both the key section of the manual and the instructions left me absolutely lost.

In any case though, with something as finicky as the art/science of reloading, one would be foolish not to have an experienced mentor. Watching someone set up the bullet--crimper die is incomparably better than trying to figure it out from instructions.

 

[benedict1]

v65-------

Of course it is a Lee manual! All the companies feature their own stuff.

Have you read the 48th ed. of Lyman's Manual? It slows Lyman equipment and products and only gives loads for Lyman cast bullets because they sell molds. Yes they show loads for other bullets; but, the Lee data comes mostly from industry manuals/brochures; credit is given on p. 4. So he is giving loads for many bullet companies in reality.

What kind of Lee gear do you use?

 

[v65magnafan]

Lee Manual Again

Maybe I wasn't clear. I understand completely why the Lee Manual praises Lee products.

I do find, though, that for a complete newbie, the instructions are vague. I'm not about to play with primers and powder if I don't know exactly what I am doing.

I may agree with Lee that his disc system is brilliant. It probably is. But when I read his loading charts and they tell me to use a disc cavity size that doesn't exist. I begin to wonder.

Actually this site and another site helped me a lot, too. I know that I have to weigh the powder, triple check it, or use a witness scale, and then go to the range to see what happens. I would probably be best to ask a liberal to test fire a few rounds--if I could find one.

You asked which Lee I'm using: I got a Lee Pro 1000 for free--along with a pile of brass, bullets and primers-- from a friend who is leaving handguns and going into sailing as a hobby. (I know, I know.)

People learn in different ways. I'm a hands-on learner. I can read instructions over and over, but once I get my hands on the equipment and watch someone manipulate it in live 3D, I learn it forever.

The Lee stuff reminds me of my car, a Crown Vic. It's a little crude, a little rough around the edges, but it will go on forever, and, under 50mph, it feels just like my cousin's BMW Seven Series. (Flame away.) And the Crown Vic cost me one-quarter what my cousin's Bimmer cost him.

So I like it.

 

[benedict1]

v65----

Great post! Just wanted to better understand your thinking. Forums and emails aren't the best means to communicate and subtleties can be missed.

I love the Crown Vic -- Beemer line! Is that where the v65 comes from?

Good shooting!

 

[v65magnafan]

V65?

It's absolutely true about the Crown Vic vs. Bimmer. Yeah, I know the Bimmer has a nav system--but the poor guy can't figure out how to use it.

When I'm driving my white Crown Vic in the fast lane, people pull over because they think I'm a copper. They slow down for him because they hate him and his car.

My Crown Vic has 158,000 Kilos on it and the only manufacturer-based problem I've had that the parking brake shoes seized (lots of salty roads in the winter) and a couple of ball joints were unhappy.

The V65 references my 1986 Honda VF1100C motorcycle, AKA V65 Magna. Although it's twenty years old (my wife lets me go out with a twenty-year-old), I can't find a modern bike that does much of anything better than my old bike.

It's an 1100cc V4--so it has lots of torque and lots of hp. With cheap Cobra F1 mufflers, it sounds like 2 Ducatis going by.

It has a standard seating position, a six-speed tranny, hydraulic clutch, disc brakes front and rear, comfort for a passenger, water cooling and zero to sixty under four seconds. It does not corner like a race bike. Who cares?