Best reloading how to book

[Gabby]

First off, I've been reading this forum for a long while and you guys are great. I always leave the site with a smile. Anyway, I'm thinking about reloading in the future and was wondering what you would suggest for a good how to book? Amazon's best seller seems to be ABC's of Reloading by Bill Chevalier. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Gabby

[madman4570]

Gabby,Welcome!
I am sure that is a great book! Another very good one is:

Lyman "48th Edition Reloading Handbook" Book $16.99 on sale at Midway($10 off) This one is good, starts right off for the beginner.


Manual covers components, reloading theory, game and target loads, cast bullets and ballistics. Contains rifle data from 17 to 50-70 calibers, handgun data from 25 ACP to 45 Colt (Long Colt) and a section on Thompson Center Contenders in 22 to 45-70 calibers. Also has a section on factory ammunition specifications, maximum case length and trim to length, shellholder tables and a glossary. Published in 2003. 416 pages - Softcover.
Date of Publication: 2003
Number of Pages: 416

Summary of Material: Contains step-by-step reloading instructions, along with articles from famous writers and shooters. The 48th edition includes data for the Remington Ultra Magnum, Winchester Short Magnum, and Remington Short Action Ultra Magnum cartridges. It also includes smokeless powder loads for the black powder sillhouette cartridges up to 45-120

[Griff]

I don't think you can go wrong with any of the Lyman publications. I initially learned to reload using the Sierra Bullet reloading manual and the Lyman 43rd Ed of their Reloading Handbook, I have since used their Shotshell, Cast and BlackPowder handbooks to help round out my knowledge and understanding how to reload those also. I haven't bought every edition of the Reloading Handbook since, but I do have the 47th and now the 49th. Believe it not, I still refer back to my OLD reloading guides and books from time to time.

Excellent question and one that often gets overlooked. I have books from almost all the bullet manufacturers, Speer, Sierra, Barnes, and Nosler; plus ones from the powder companies. Not all are current and up-to-date, but... for the cartridges I load, I don't need the latest, greatest.

[pokey]

first welcome home.

next try this one too.

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/i ... 0000690277


read all the manual you can, each has a slightly different take on the subject.

[Sixgun]

+1 on Griff and Madman4570's advice. I learned on the 45th edition of Lyman's manual in 1972 and continue to learn from them----------Sixgun

[Kansas Ed]

I have always preferred the Lyman. Primarily because they aren't trying to push their own brand of powder or bullets. I've found that the bullet makers manuals are of limited worth because they only list loads for the bullets they sell, and most of the powder data is listed on each powder makers website.

Ed

[.45colt]

Yep, Lyman for Me.

[gamekeeper]

Welcome to the fire Gabby

I too am just about to start reloading so I'm very interested in the replies to your post.

[J Miller]

I agree with the recomendation of the Lyman reloading manual. My first was the Lyman #43 ( I think ) and I've still got it along with many many others.

Read as much as you can AND try to find someone who has been doing this for a while to coach you. Book learning is good, but OJT adds to the book learning and reinforces it.

Joe

[Hairy Clipper]

Greetings from the tundra Gabby! Welcome to the forum.

As for a book to recommend, Phil Sharpe wrote a pretty good one a couple of years back. It was published by Funk & Wagnalls Company. Most of the data is a bit dated, but, it does cover many of the older cartridges that you find in leverguns. "COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING" covers many topics that seem to be forgotten these days. The one on the use of the case gauge is a chapter we all ought to know by heart since it relates to headspace/sizing. I believe it is out of print now and can be found occasionally on eBAY or Amazon or Ray Rilings store as well as others. While more current data is available just about anywhere, including the powder manufacturers websites, this book covers it all as it relates to the art and science of the hobby.

Hairy

[BigSky56]

Howdy, yes to lymans for learning, I use a lymans #45 for the levers as they have loadings for all of them including accuracy and factory loads. danny

[AJMD429]

It does push the "Lee" products of course, but the principles and concepts in the Lee Reloading Manual was useful to me.

I agree with reading all the ones you can.

Also - take NOTES of your own projects, results, and ideas; you'll have your OWN reloading manual to refer back to that will be of tremendous use as time goes by.

[brucew44guns]

Thanks for coming by Gabby, I think I will order me one of those Lyman manuals too. That's how it is around here, you're just trying to mind your own business, then BAM!! You read a post to someone else, and off you go to follow the advise that was given. Good place to be!!

[Chuck 100 yd]

Get the Lyman Load Manual and read,read,read!
It`s all in there.
Then if you get into bullet casting get the Lyman Cast Bullet Manual.

Its good to have a reference to cross check loads with. You can do that on line or expand your collection of printed manuals. I suggest the Hodgden`s annual manual for lots of data.

[awp101]

Thanks for coming by Gabby, I think I will order me one of those Lyman manuals too. That's how it is around here, you're just trying to mind your own business, then BAM!! You read a post to someone else, and off you go to follow the advise that was given. Good place to be!!

Yeah we're all pretty good at spending each others money, aren't we?

[JerryB]

Welcome to the best forum on the web.

[DPris]

I'd strongly recommend the ABC book, the new Lyman #49 manual, and Speer's newest manual.
Between the three of those, you get a very comprehensive amount of material on the handloading process and what various pieces of equipment do, not just powder & bullet combinations.
The Speer manual does deal only with loads for Speer products, but the new one is the biggest & best yet, includes a very good selection of Speer bullets for a large number of calibers along with a brief background on each caliber, and at least as importantly it also details very valuable info on handloading.

I've had my much older editions of the above three books for many years, and they were invaluable to me in getting started reloading.

I also have brand new samples of each here, and they're worth every dime of the purchase prices.

Denis

[madman4570]

Gabby, brucew44guns caught it that Midway discontinued that 48th edition for $16.99. You will need to get the 49th edition(I think its on sale for like $1 more??) Anyway Good Luck---Good catch Bruce!

[Sixgun]

Wow, I must admit that we sure do have a lot of Lyman fans here. They say it in a way that the novice can understand. While Sierra's, Nosler's etc are great, you almost have a have a mathmatical degree to understand some of the stuff in there. Guys with little minds (like me ) get along just fine with the Lyman.------------Sixgun

[Ysabel Kid]

Welcome aboard! I started with the Speer manuals years ago, and still find them useful. As others noted though, getting a good cross section from the major reloading equipment and component companies and reading them is a great way to go! Good luck!!!

[Retro]

ABC, but the fifth edition by Dean Grennell.

[Gabby]

Thanks for the good advice. I'll have to get the Lyman manual for sure. Gabby

[DPris]

My first ABC was a Grennell edition a long time ago, the current Chevalier version is easier to find and still a very good resource.
I use the Lyman mostly for lead load information, it tends to feature more of those than any of the brand-specific manuals.

If I'm using a particular brand jacketed bullet, I don't mind using their manual since they've done the testing foundations on their own products.

Denis

[jlchucker]

I agree with the guys who've recommended the Lyman book. When I first started handloading, way back in the early '70's, I bought an RCBS kit with a Speer Book included. Since then, I've expanded my library. 45Colt and KansasEd have it right--Lyman produces no powder, primers, nor jacketed bullets, so they've really got no vested interest in favoring any brand of bullet. One book I have bought a couple of editions of has been the Lee book. Interesting reading, but IMO the loading data is not very useful. Lee seems to favor one particular brand of powder at the expense of most others. It's also more blatant than any other when it comes to advertising their own products in the text of each page. The Lee book's a bargain, but the latest edition seems to have been sponsored by Accurate Arms powder! You won't find much data for many other brands there. I use many Lee products, but for general handloading, along with cast bullet data included, the Latest Lyman books are hard to beat.

[JohndeFresno]

Yes - Lyman Reloading and ABC's... books are excellent resources. And Lee's 2nd Edition. And one or two books by a leading bullet / reloading manufacturer. Spend a few bucks now, and save money later on equipment that you didn't need or don't like - or on a hobby that you decide to drop after an expensive initial outlay!

The Lee book, as mentioned, is inexpensive and covers some stuff that few others touch upon, such as loads that fill most of the casing for consistent ignition (whether the gun is held vertically or horizontally between shots, for instance), and pressure information of the loads and how it relates to safety and consistency. The authors (Lee Sr., finished by his son) tend to dwell a bit too much on how great their equipment is, but you can overlook that, since Mr. Lee Sr. did indeed pioneer many innovations that were copied by manufacturers of more expensive equipment. And his stuff is quite good for the money.

You should also have at least one book from a bullet manufacturing company, such as Speer Edition #13, or Hornady's superb but expensive 6th Edition. Its second volume has ballistics tables of almost any cartridge that you might load, and you don't always have a 'puter with its Internet info in the field. Who knows if the gubbmint decides to disallow things like that on the 'net in the future? It is already that way at places like our California public schools (witnessed by me) and (from what I hear) some public libraries.

But don't depend upon just one book! If you are serious about reloading and not just a bit curious, you will discover that the reading of why's and wherefore's is interesting. If you find that you don't have the patience to study the basics, then it's a good bet that reloading is not for you, and you would just tinker with it for a couple of weeks and give it up, anyway.

It's best to know if you really want to do this before spending a couple of hundred dollars and then reselling the stuff at a loss, like many folks find themselves doing.

I spent at least 6 months reading up on this stuff before purchasing a single component - die, powder, kit - and was able to make intelligent purchases with equipment that I really like and use, at very cheap prices, predominantly from reloaders online selling the stuff used on sites like this one. This allowed me to avoid many errors that tyro reloaders are known to make - such as NOT handling lead bullets with unprotected hands or without a fan ventilating the area, NOT getting bullets stuck due to improper lubing, loading 10% under listed loads and working up for safety, NOT mixing primers, and so on.

Some great advice and even booklets can be found free online, such as the excellent UK reloading link,
http://www.deer-uk.com/reloading.htm.

If it is no longer online, let me know and I'll post the "Reloading Basics" booklet for download on a site that you can access.
EDIT UPDATE: The site is no longer available. You can download my Adobe pdf version of what was on this site (for the time being) by using this link:
http://www.box.net/shared/zjvcv43z9z

This Leverguns site, especially, provides advice that keeps many out of trouble, while making the hobby all the more satisfying. If somebody posts some advice here that is even a little off kilter, other more experienced handloaders are quick to correct the post. That is due in part to Hobie, who reads EVERY POST (thank you, Hobie) and the other fine folks who administer and oversee this site, making Paco's site an entertaining and creditable reloaders', shooters', and collectors' source.

Pictured below are the books that I use the most regularly. The excellent 5th Edition "ABC's of Reloading" is probably out of print. But this one was purchased at E-bay for a fair price, and there are still copies floating around. RIGHT NOW (if you are reading this within a reasonable time of this post), here is the link that will allow you to purchase this historic Grennel 5th edition:
http://www.amazon.com/ABCs-Reloading-De ... 0873491262

Here are the books that I research most regularly:

[Gabby]

Thanks again guys for pointing me in the right direction. I'll start collecting the books and go from there. Gabby