Times.... they are a changing

[Ole Joe Clark]

I reloaded some .357's today, my bullet was a cast Lyman #358156 and I used data from my reloading log from the early to mid 80's. I used Unique as I have for many thousands of rounds. After finishing up I decided to look in my Lyman 49th edition just to confirm my data, they don't even list Unique for this cast bullet!
Then I pulled the old Lyman Cast Handbook and there it was. My load is in the middle of the range listed. I'm gonna shoot them and enjoy the bang, even though my log is from the last century.

 

[JBnTx]

Times may change, but I just keep on shooting the old classic loads from yesterday.

They still work.

 

[Arub]

I very seldom go to a reloader manual unless exploring new territory. When I first try a load I run it through the chrony and test it for accuracy. If acceptable I log the data into an Excel spreadsheet that I use for reference. Spreadsheet is set up one page per caliber and each page sectioned by platform and barrel length. Saves paging through manuals for repetitive info.

 

[Nevada Ed]

Most of the old timers have the old manuals and the data for the old type powders.
When was the last time you saw a revolver listing calling for
Trap 100, Top Mark, Gray B, 450 LS, or w540..........?

Even todays Alliant data is leaving out a lot of the standard powders, in place of the new powders on the block.

The new loaders of today without any old manuals are forced to go to the new powders, which is not a bad thing, just that they will never know what the old powders could do for them.

Only thing bad about some of the new powders, is that a few have minimal data and don't list all the calibers or maybe just one loading. It is still early though............it takes time to test loads and get a new manual out.

 

[John R]

I have manuals that are 40 years old, and they still work for me.

 

[MichiganScott]

I have manuals that are 40 years old, and they still work for me.

I've never thrown out an old manual and don't plan on starting to do so any time soon. You never can tell when you might find a sealed can of a discontinued powder at a "can't turn it down" price.

 

[10mm_Shooter]

I'm a big Accurate Arms powder user, nothing beats the old Big Red manual for AA powders, I bought mine back in the early 90's. The new Western powders pamphlets they put out now, don't have a tenth of the loads that old manual has.

 

[USSR]

Try finding load data for a 250gr full wadcutter in a .45 Colt.

 

[Harley Fan]

...I used data from my reloading log from the early to mid 80's. I used Unique as I have for many thousands of rounds. After finishing up I decided to look in my Lyman 49th edition just to confirm my data, they don't even list Unique for this cast bullet!

Then I pulled the old Lyman Cast Handbook and there it was. My load is in the middle of the range listed. I'm gonna shoot them and enjoy the bang, even though my log is from the last century.

Ole Joe Clark, haven't been reloading for all that long, but I try to keep my own testing and record keeping clean, and find that I rely on those, some other manuals, powder manufacturers' on-line, rather than my Lyman #49.

 

[MyDads38]

I collect the old manuals! There is so much information from them, especially as mentioned above; powders that are no longer made/available. Even some of the "old stand-by" powders that are still available have been dropped recently in the new manuals. IMO, you can never have too many loading manuals or information.

 

[STORMINORMAN]

Hodgdon's website...

Try finding load data for a 250gr full wadcutter in a .45 Colt.

...has 26 loads for 250GR bullets in .45 Colt (and six more exclusively for the "more robust" Ruger, Freedom Arms, etc.), albeit none specifically for a "full wadcutter".

One would think a site like Cast Boolits might well have some data or hints. One possibility would be to scope out 240GR wadcutter loads in .44 Magnum and find a starting place.

How hot did you actually plan on loading them?

Cheers!

 

[sophie]

All of my Lyman, Speer, Hornady, Lyman Cast Bullets and other loading books are from '78 to '80 and I reference them often. I never loaded Unique in my 357 mag loads but started out then with 2400 and changed to WW296 because the 2400 was a little dirty and the WW296 worked better for me and cleaner. As a matter of fact I have an 8 lb can of WW296 that hasn't been opened that I really don't need as I don't load the magnum calibers like I used to. I still have some 1 lb cans also and mostly what I load lately is 45 acp and 9mm and use HP38, Power Pistol, and WST. About 6 months ago I decided to buy a current Hornady reloading book to get a look at new powders and loads and burn rates. I reference my old books all the time and in doing so it looks like the loads in the older books are a little hotter than the newer loads listed in some of the calibers, although it may be my imagination working overtime.

 

[Nevada Ed]

I have the Accurate loading guide #1 that is just a youngster.
Published in 1994.

My old Lyman 45th edition for only 95 cents, has a copyright of 1970.

Spent a whopping $6.95 for the complete book of practical handloading by John Wootters, copyright of 1976.

I would have had a lot more manuals but in my younger days I was out in the field a lot of the time shooting and hunting. I was only in the loading room long enough to get more ammo.
It worked so saw no need for more data, back then.

 

[USSR]

...has 26 loads for 250GR bullets in .45 Colt (and six more exclusively for the "more robust" Ruger, Freedom Arms, etc.), albeit none specifically for a "full wadcutter".

One would think a site like Cast Boolits might well have some data or hints. One possibility would be to scope out 240GR wadcutter loads in .44 Magnum and find a starting place.

How hot did you actually plan on loading them?

Cheers!

What I ended up doing was, dropping back 20% from a normal 6.0gr load of Bullseye (4.8gr) for a regular 250gr lead bullet, to account for the greater seating depth of the full wadcutter. Recoil was normal, so I dropped it further back to 4.5gr of Bullseye. Simply looking for the .45 Colt equivalent of the .38 Special wadcutter target load.

Don