Reloading Books

Wally

Wally

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Hey Guys,
Looking to buy a book on reloading. I was advised to buy either the Hornady or Speer reloading manuals. My question is, What is wrong with the Lee manual? The Lee manual is $20 and the Hornady is $40!!

I figure I'll buy either the Lee 2nd edition, Hornady 7th edition, or the Lyman 49th edition.

I'm not quite as worried about load info as I am about procedure and equipment usage and all that.

What do you guys figure is the best bang for your buck?
 
+1 on the Lyman manual, & the Lee is great too for showing the steps.
There are other good books that illustrate & explain the reloading steps that are worth investigating too.
The one thing I really would like to stress, is to obey the various warnings in them & always stick with their "START & MAX" loads for any given cartridge you may load. Don't experiment, ....leave that to the Powder companies with their sophisticated equipment....
 
If your loading handgun i suggest the Lyman 3rd edition Pistol and Revolver Handbook. Very indepth and easy to understand. Wide powder selection for each of the hundreds of handgun loads in this manual.
 
Personal fav is the Hornady manual - could be cause I like their bullets.
I agree 100% with Ruffbird - I read the steps 'every time' I reload - as a refresher - and i have loaded for 20 years - this is no place to make a mistake.
 
The Lyman manual has more loads using more powders and bullet weights than any manufacturer's book. Plus a good 'Reference' chapter. Might still have some obsolete cartridge loads too. $50, last time I looked. Worth every cent.
 
Bigbubba said:
I read the steps 'every time' I reload - as a refresher - and i have loaded for 20 years - this is no place to make a mistake.
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...really? I consider myself a very careful and responsible reloader but it would never occur to me to read the steps every time I sit down at the bench. You either have very poor memory or very little confidence in your abilities.

On topic, another vote for Lyman, although I learned with a Lee manual and it did the trick just fine. Some people can't stand #### Lee's occasional ramblings but I find them rather entertaining.

On the topic of manuals, I recently got two European manuals, from Norma and VihtaVuori and man... what a different world! I don't know if their educational system is better or if it's just that they aren't as litigious over there as we are in North America, but those things read like high school/university physics and chemistry manuals! Pretty advanced stuff...
 
big mouth

Actually - I have a great memory and lots of confidence - but I have seen too many guys blow up shotguns or have squibbs - so it doesnt hurt to refresh yourself......you go ahead and do it your way - just dont be condescending about people who are careful -ok?
 
I didn't mean to offend, just never heard of anyone doing that before.

And like I said, I'm very careful; I'm the kinda guy that zeroes his scale before every session, visually checks every case after throwing a powder load, cross-references from at least six different sources before starting to develop a load... But I don't re-read the basic steps every time. To each his own. :)
 
I currently own eight manuals,and my only advice is to be aware that just because a load is listed in a manual,does not mean that the load is safe in your gun.
 
stubblejumper said:
I currently own eight manuals,and my only advice is to be aware that just because a load is listed in a manual,does not mean that the load is safe in your gun.
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X2

And if possible buy atleast two, may be one cheaper and other good n expensive , then you can cross ref. the loads . In case misprented or any thing wrong with one , you have saved your firearm.
 
sunray said:
The Lyman manual has more loads using more powders and bullet weights than any manufacturer's book. Plus a good 'Reference' chapter. Might still have some obsolete cartridge loads too. $50, last time I looked. Worth every cent.
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I'm guessing by the inaccuracy of your statement you do not have the Sierra manual, which list way more powders than the Lyman does. The better thing about the Lyman manual is the data for cast bullets.

My favorite of the of the 7 I have is the new Nosler number 6, FS
 
Bigbubba said:
Actually - I have a great memory and lots of confidence - but I have seen too many guys blow up shotguns or have squibbs - so it doesnt hurt to refresh yourself......you go ahead and do it your way - just dont be condescending about people who are careful -ok?
Click to expand...


Do you read the instructions on the back of condom packaging as well? FS
 
Fassteel said:
I'm guessing by the inaccuracy of your statement you do not have the Sierra manual, which list way more powders than the Lyman does. The better thing about the Lyman manual is the data for cast bullets.

My favorite of the of the 7 I have is the new Nosler number 6, FS
Click to expand...

I have both Lyman and Sierra, Nosler too, among others. I have a lot of manuals but most of them don't get used too often.

The Lyman is better in the "how to" section, and as such is a better choice for a beginner to purchase as his first book, IMO. By all means get lots of them, but the question asked by the new reloader was "what manual should I buy to start".

If you want lots of powder data go online. Hodgdon's website is very good, and it is free.
 
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