Favorite reloading manual?

[J. R. WEEMS]

Have several up to date copies, and every manual Hornady ever printed. only missing a couple Speers. Guess it is just me, but can you ever have too much ref. material?? Reading some of the older stuff is a hoot-- stumbled on the first ever NRA manual some years back-- they even talk about reloading brass shotgun shells.

 

[aviserated]

The Lee manual is most unbiased and has good info on lead casting. Hornaday, Sierra, Speer is good but more centered around their brand bullets.

 

[old&slow]

I used to sit and read them while watching TV.

zipper, I figured I was the only strange person that does that.

I'm not sure how many reloading manuals I have. I have 2 or 3 editions of my favorites. Lyman, Hornady, & Speer, in that order.

 

[WaMike]

A Hornady manual came with my first Hornady reloading kit sometime in the '70s and I used it and a Lyman for a long time. Then I added a bunch of the others, but I still start with the first two. Love the "Pet Loads" collection as well, and I have almost all the others.

Possibly the rarest (?!) I own is a photo-copy-produced manual from Oregon Trail/Laser Cast, that I picked up from their table at a gun show, back when they were first getting known nationally. It's a pretty good go-to manual for cast bullets, not only theirs, but others as well.

 

[hangnoose]

LIKE ME, OLD/OUTDATED, NOT ALL THE CURRENT INFO/CALIBERS

KEN WATERS pet loads vol 1&2. Current, Lymans & whichever mfgr's of the bullet I'm using, also any that uses my gun as their test gun.

 

[TAROMAN]

I have a shelf full of them.
Always cross reference what I'm researching.
Most often used are Lyman (various ones) and Lee (because it also covers everyone's bullets and powder).
The old Pet Loads set still get looked at regularly, too.

 

[hangnoose]

DOES IT BUG YOU TOO?

That certain (big name bullet mfgr's) don't list many very viable powders cuz they don't want to advertise for THAT certain powders mfg'r.

 

[Rickster49]

favorite reloading manual...

Like many of your responders I have a pile of loading manuals on hand. I like them all with each having it's own strong points. If forced to choose just one I would go with the Lyman. I like having both jacketed and cast bullet data in one manual. The Lyman also seems to offer a wider spread of jacketed bullet weights in each caliber.

 

[millisec]

Hate to be a stick in the mud but the best manual is the web. Lawyers have to much influence on the load data in published books. While I do occasionally look at manuals I mostly look at web load data direct from the powder manufacturer or bullet maker (lawyers at play again) backed up with real world data shared on places like Brian Eno's and many others. With all that in play I can often skip dialing in a load for common stuff like 9, 223, 45. If the power and web ever go I always have a few books to fall back on.

 

[BennyS]

I have five and I like Hornady the best.

 

[Peter M. Eick]

It depends on what I am loading but probably the Sierra manual's are the best for me. I have a whole collection of them going back to the 1920's so it is hard to really pick one.

 

[kennicka]

I have a dozen or so manuals but probably use the Hornady manual the most - probably due to the fact that most of the bullets I use are Hornady!

 

[Jellybean]

I'm not a reloading manual collector, so I really don't know how many reloading manuals I have, instead of counting them I'll guess 50, and that is including the ones I have in digital format in their entirety.

Of those, my favorites are probably "Complete Guide to Handloading" by Philip B. Sharpe, and "Handloading" by William C. Davis. Another one that is also interesting, in it's own way, is "Professional Loading of Rifle, Pistol and Shotgun Cartridges" by George L. Herter.

But I don't refer to my favorite reloading references as "reloading manuals", but rather as books about reloading. Of the few of those I have, my favorites are "Principles and Practice of Loading Ammunition" by Earl Naramore, "Modern Handloading" by George C. Nonte Jr. and the two volume set of "Handbook for Shooters & Reloaders" by P.O. Ackley.

 

[Alaska MJ]

Berger

I have 30-40 manuals. This doesn't include the fliers that powder companies publish. The copyright dates start in 1969 and progress to last year. The manual I feel was the biggest waste of money is the First Edition (Last year) of the Berger Loading Manual. It is computer generated and not confirmed with pressure barrels or firearms. So it is a loose guideline manual at best. I have Lyman Manuals 45th, 46th, & 49th Editions. These are in a series that started in the 1800's by Ideal. In my opinion the measure of a manual is how repeatable are the results not in a laboratory but by the re-loaders themselves. In about 1980 the Ordnance Department of the Columbus, Ohio PD did a series of tests on the Lyman 46th edition and found that, not only on the professional reloading equipment they used, but on the equipment that armatures have available to them from Lyman, Hornady and RCBS. The velocities published were checked in multiple handguns, and found to be the most consistent (Matching published velocity and recommended accuracy) from several manuals (I think 7 current at the time). So on my bench all loads are compared to Lyman #45 and #46. In the 60's, 70's and early 80's the Columbus PD had one of the top pistol teams in the nation. All of the handgun training instructors were NRA Distinguished Marksman, and most competed in multiple disciplines of competition.
I shoot some black powder cartridges and find that for rifles the SPG reloading manual is best not only for load data but also for techniques to assemble accurate and proven longer range rounds.
For 1000 yard shooting, the recommend loads in the Sierra loading manual will be the place to start and tune to your rifle.
The ammo we make cannot exceed the quality of the components we use. Junk brass will not make great ammo. Nor junk bullets; I had a box of 168 grain BTHP Match 30 cal bullets by Hornady (about 1985) that varied in weight by 2.4 grains. However the 75 grain A-Max 22 cal bullets are in the top 2 I use in a 223 Savage at 1000. The loading manuals aren't going to make up for: poor weapons , poor components, or poor loading techniques. Ivan

Ivan. I just got done reading the Berger man. Cover to cover..I thought it had some interesting things that other manuals don't seem to think is important ,like the optimum twist rate for every bullet.And I thought they did a much better job of covering how your COAL is so important and the CBTO length.....about there G7. And G1. Iam not so sure Iam smart enough to figure it out. What do you think? I know a lot of people that reload that just use the factory over all length... And then wonder why my rifle shoots better than there's . I actually had one friend that couldn't get his 300 w.m under inch and a half. He ask me for help.I ask him how far off the lands do you have the bullet? He said " I ain't got a clue". He will be reading that Berger book or Iam done with him. Do you think a lot of there info is flawed or just there load data? MJ

 

[Nevada Ed]

#1. There is the standard factory fps, oal ammo and then there is .......

#2. The "Custom" reload ammo that is made to "Fit" a certain weapon.

Some do well with factory ammo...........

 

[Nemo288]

I actually like the Sierra binder.
Not only do they have some of the only 445SM T/C data,
You can just move the pages you use most often to the front of
the binder and save opening it up all the way.
I have all the others too
I have bought just about every one I could for the last 35 years including some from before WW2.
The A-Square is certainly one of the most entertaining.
I have read it all the way though twice.

Can't have too many reloading manuals.

===
Nemo

 

[zzzippper]

I just got Sierra's 7th edition. They have put the two binders back into one, it is way too big.

 

[Peter M. Eick]

7th Edition? I thought Sierra was on their 5th. Weird, I am not sure how I missed two of them.

 

[Nemo288]

Yep. It's still #5. Now 11 years old!

Sierra-5th-Edition-Rifle-and-Handgun-Reloading-Manual

+++
Nemo

 

[Bozz10mm]

I like the Speer manuals, but you shouldn't limit yourself to just one. Three of four would be good. Lyman and Hornady are good additions to the Speer. Or vice versa.