Reloading Books, The Good, Bad, and Ugly

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Edmnushooter

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So before I plunk down hard earned cash on Reloading Books. I would really appreciate your picks for the Good (Must Buy), the Bad (Maybe Consider), and the UGLY (Waste of Paper). Please include authors as many books seem to have the same or very similar names. My interest is in both hand gun and rifle reloading. Thank You for your consideration.
 
Abc's of reloading, Lyman 49th, lee modern reloading, Speer manual are the ones I have and will buy more as I see them. Knowledge is king.
 
sikwhiskey said:
PO Ackley's books have a lot of good info in them.
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^^ THIS ^^

P.O. Ackley Volume I Handbook for Shooters & Reloaders fisrt published 1962
P.O. Ackley Volume II Handbook for Shooters & Reloaders fisrt published 1966

Both books, despite their age are very useful. Ackley has to be considered as the father of modern reloading and cartridge refinement (Wildcatting).
 
+1 for Lyman 49th Ed. (It has some of the best explanations for the different powders that I've seen in any book.)

I have current editions of Lyman, Hornady & Nosler. Between those three, I can find pretty much anything I need. Be wary and skeptical of what you read and see online unless you find it on a reputable source (Many bullet and powder manufactures have load data on their websites for instance.)

One important note, is read the whole book, not just the "recipes". Most books will have some background and safety information that is essential to reloaders.
 
The Lyman manual plus Hodgdon's online data (including IMR, and Winchester powders) generally get the job done for me. Accurate Arms also has lots of data for their powders on their website.
 
Lyman and stop. It has more loads using more powders and bullet weights than any bullet or powder maker's book. It also has extensive and thorough reference chapters covering nearly everything that gets asked about here and on every other forum.
The Lyman Black Powder Handbook and Reloading Guide is a good read even if you never even think about BP firearms.
Lee does no testing of any loads themselves. They use data from the powder manufacturer. Mostly Hodgdon. Why they keep selling those daft scoops that are calibrated in CC's is anybody's guess. CC's are a metric unit of liquid volume that have nothing whatever to do with reloading.
 
unfortunately , you will probably need the Barnes book because if you reload those, there is different data than any other books data. I have the Lee, Barnes, Nosler, and Lyman. Wish I had them all.
 
My go to is #### Lee's "Modern Reloading". But your first book should be one of the early "A,B,C'S of Reloading. A Dean Grennell (for original work) or Bill Chevalier edition. The latest edition edited by Rodney James is a mish-mash of gun articles. Not that it is without good info, I just find it hard to read because of the different authors' styles.
Next would be a manufacturers' book. I am a lover of books, not so much the internet. The more references you have, the better educated you will be. Although there are more than a few members on CGN who have excellent knowledge and experience to offer, lately, they seem to be absent as they get drowned out by people who started reloading last year and are now experts. Most internet opinions are just that and should be taken as such.
My books, 3yrs ago. Need to update the pic:
Tedsbooks2.jpg
 
rookie wildcat said:
The more references you have, the better educated you will be.
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I will most certainly agree with you there.

IMO never take loading advice from one manual alone, use as many as you can to cross reference. It will help you understand that one manual alone is never set in stone, IMO they are just a good starting point. Actions, barrels, bullets are all different between loading manual information.
 
Personally, I would start with the Lyman book. It is a great learning tool as well as lots of data. It is also one of the few books that has specific info for cast bullets. Next I would pick up a book from the bullet manufacture, in my case Hornady and Speer. Nosler has a nice manual but they only publish data for calibers they produce. No .303 and limited handgun data. The Lee book has a lot of data and it is an additional reference for me (the more the better) but I find that they list a lot of powder that is not commonly available. Many powders that would be in other manuals are not even listed.
 
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