Sharpes book is excellent, but you must still be careful with his data due to changes in primers and brass since it was written. In other words, don't use it as a recipe book. There is a book that I prefer to his though, "Principles and Practices of Loading Ammunition" by Earl Naramore. This is not a recipe book either, especially for rifle data because he doesn't tell you what to load, but how to figure it out for yourself. Don't confuse this with his earlier book, "Handloaders Manual", which is an excellent book too, but doesn't contain nearly as much information. Even with thier advanced ages, "Principles and Practices of Loading Ammunition" by Earl Naramore and "Complete Guide to Handloading" by Phillip Sharpe are numbers 1 and 2 must haves for serious handloaders.

While at first it may appear as there is no real difference between giving seating depths, as Sharpe did, or in listing OAL as some modern manuals do, there is. The information is bullet specific and if you are using the same bullet the numbers should be the same, as long as you are trimming to the same length. However, if you have the seating depth, you can make a good estimate of changes if you are using bullets of a different brand, without having to buy some just for measurement. Which may be why the bullet makers give the OAL and not the seating depth.