which reloading manual?

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dpwilson

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I have Modern Reloading Second Edition and a hand-me-down Hornady Handbook Of Cartridge Reloading Vol II (with tabs on father in laws loads). I would like to get some more with good info and have yet to get the ABC's of Reloading. I'm just starting out and looking for info. I have spent numerous months searching this forum and will continue to.

BTW, I have the new Hornady LNL AP with the ezject system. With some new Hornady dies. All other tools will be purchased from Santa I'm told ;).
 
dpwilson

first off , WELCOME to THR!!
secondly ya got a good start on manuls to read , it`s a never ending thing , evolving always so it seems!!
hope santa brings a couple pair of safety glasses with all the other goodies !!
go slow enuff to understand completely each aspect of reloading , my $2 cents worth.
oh yeah ; i like lymans 45th 46th 47th & cast bullet hand book

GP100man
 
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Mr. Wilson, I've never found a 'bad' loading manual. Some are more geared to this and some to that, but they're all pretty good.

I suggest the latest Lyman manual first. It is very friendly and easy to use and very general in approach. It covers a lot. Speer also makes an excellent manual and the Hodgdon and Hornady books are excellent.

I also suggest you have several. I tend to consult two or three when beginning a new round or a new bullet weight.
 
Looks like alot of recomendations for Lyman. I'll get one of those and ABC's of reloading. You sure make it easy on a new guy to find info and steps for where to start, Thanks.
 
You won't go wrong with any of the Lyman Manuals. They have lots of good information in them, along with varied load data.

Hope this helps.

Fred
 
Definitely the Lyman book. It has more loads using more powders and bullet weights than any bullet or powder maker's book. Bullet and powder maker's books have loads for their products only. Not that there's anything wrong with 'em, though. The Lyman book is just more versatile.
Go here for it. $27.95 for the soft cover. http://www.lymanproducts.com/lyman/publications/49th-edition.php
The ABC's of Reloading is good. (Your local gun shop or Amazon. $16.49 from Amazon.) However, if money is an issue, opt for the Lyman book first. There's lots of how-to info in it.
 
DP,

I have an extra copy of Lee's 2nd edition that you can have.

Send me a PM if you are interested.

Closet
 
Lyman RLM and more...

Mr. Wilson -
I have a fairly broad reference library and just bought my first Lyman RLM. It is awesome and already my favorite! The thing that makes it so valuable to me is that most reference books only quote their powder or their bullet, i.e. Speer book only quotes Speer bullets. Well, in the real world, you'll mostly want to mix and compare. The Lyman RLM, not being a manufacturer of bullets or powder, has all the weight and types of bullets listed and a huge cross section of powders.

As a second, I also like the new Sierra RLM. It has an excellent section on .223 which is sectioned off into AR and bolt actions.

For general "how to" you might look at the used books on Amazon. While powder formulations have evolved, "how to" really hasn't changed that much since the mid-90's. There are some good deals. I've bought a lot of books there for $5 - $10.

Also, visit your local gun stores and pick up the free manuals published by the powder manufacturers. Those are priceless for using rare or oddball powders not listed in the mainstream RLMs.

Hope this helps! :)
 
the more, the merrier when it comes to reloading books. there is no such thing as to much information. as long as you have the time to read them! after a while, you will develop favorite books. but rest assured, that unless you load tons, you will probably still have questions. and this is a great place to get good, experienced, honest, answers.
 
You can look at ebay and pick up several slightly used copies of different brands quite reasonably. As moooose102 mentioned, you cannot have too much data to cross reference your loads.

NCsmitty
 
Thanks Sunray for the link. I just placed my order for the Lyman manual. Also just finished my bench 6'L x 2'W x 38H". Now waiting on Santa and Hornady 1k free bullets.
 
Thanks Sunray for the link. I just placed my order for the Lyman manual. Also just finished my bench 6'L x 2'W x 38H". Now waiting on santa and Hornady 1k free bullets.

Thanks Closetgunnut for the offer but I have a good start. I think others could benefit from it more. Great hospitality here on THR and I'm glad to be a part.
 
DP -
One small note. It took Hornady about 4 weeks to send my free bullets. So no "holding your breath" allowed !
 
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Almost any of the current manuals will give you good information. I would suggest buying the one that will supply you with the most information on the components you intend upon using. For example, if you are going to load mostly rifle rounds using Sierra bullets you might want to pick up the current Sierra manual.

ALSO, your most important and reliable source of information will be your notes. Keep notes on everything (and I mean everything) you do. You will find your notes to be invaluable.
 
And after you get your slew of new manuals, get a good chronograph. Having one adds a completely different dimension to your hobby, and will help with proper load development immensely. It's nice that books can predict what your ammo will do, but so much better to KNOW.
 
Wow, that was ironic. I was just checking out the chronograph in the classified section. I need quality essential loading tools first. This is definitely on my things to have though.
 
dpwilson - Welcome to the board.

I have several manuals but my "go-to" manual has been the Hornady 7th Edition lately. I load for military surplus rifles mostly and I have found that the Hornady manual has more info on the cartridges I am interested than any other.

I also use Lyman's 48th edition, preferring it over the 49th edition. For some reason it has more info on the cartridges I reload than the 49th edition does. I think that is because they expanded in other areas which are of less interest to me.

Happy (and safe) reloading.

Chuck
 
As you get further into reloading, you will find it is a neverending learning experience.I've been reloading since 1974 and am still learning. Thats why I like all the 20 or so manuals I have. They are all good.
 
I was just poking around here, seeing what the consensus was (and I agree with the basic advice: more information is better, Lyman's is a great place to start). But the comment by Galil5.56:
And after you get your slew of new manuals, get a good chronograph. Having one adds a completely different dimension to your hobby, and will help with proper load development immensely. It's nice that books can predict what your ammo will do, but so much better to KNOW.​

Prompted me to suggest that you may want to check out our ballistics research project, mentioned in my .sig, for some general background on factory loads that are out there.

Keep safe. Cheers!

7
 
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