Reloading manuals newbie question

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SharttStrike

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Hi All
I'm preparing to start reloading but I have a question (probably not the last!). Is there any benefit of getting say the 9th edition of the ABC's of reloading vs an early edition? I ask because I obtained an earlier edition and money is tight so wondering if upgrading editions is required.

Edit:
I'll be reloading for pistol .45acp at first then 9mm
 
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ABCs is a great introduction to reloading. Not sure what the earliest editions looks like, but any recent edition will be fine.

The only problem with ABCs is that they are short on 'recipes', on load data, ie. While the data in them is good, it's limited and you really - really - need a proper reloading manual, one put out by any of the major firms - Lyman, Sierra, Speer, etc. They're all reliable and from there it's personal choice.

If money is really short, much as I love ABCs, I'd just get one of the manuals. What I wouldn't do is take reloading data off the internet, especially from unknown people. Lotsa good info there, but also some really, really bad info.

Welcome to the dark side.
 
I too am relatively "new" to reloading and purchased the "current" manuals available. What I've found is that they do lack some of the data from "older" powders for different calibres. Most recently started into 303 British and 7.62x54R which were not an issue when Varget and H4895 were available. Now that the stock of those is all but gone locally to me, I had to be creative and find something that would work. IMR4320 is what I settled on as it's available here. My new manuals had no data to guide me along, so I posted here on CGN with a request and was lucky enough to have a few replies including a fellow nutter who kindly scanned the pages of an older manual that showed all the info I needed to put these together.
So I suppose my reply albeit longwinded should say, the more books the better - new AND old. Then check, recheck and double check!!!!
 
I wouldn't worry so much about the edition of abc's you have because most of the information you will need from it will be 'how' to reload. As ATOM said, it's short on recipes, and that's what usually changes with newer editions.

For load info I recommend IMR's website. Just Google IMR powder. It has listings for many powder/bullet combinations, not just IMR.

Have fun!
 
I have all the Handloader articles on DVD and they are a wealth of info as well as a lot of old and new reloading manuals. The manuals will all differ somewhat on the starting and ending loads as they use different pressure instruments/setups so I always compare what a specific load recipe is in one manual to the other manuals I have. Once I compare all the recipes then I start with the lowest one and work my way up watching for pressure sign etc.
 
The ABC's of Reloading is a how-to book, not a manual. Buy the Lyman manual. It's the most versatile book out there.
"...reloading for pistol .45acp..." Make sure you have a taper crimp die.
"...recommend IMR's website..." That'd be Hodgdon's site. Hodgdon owns IMR.
 
There's no harm in having more than one reloading manual around the bench. I have a few (in no particular order:Sierra, Hornady, Lyman, Lee), and I often compare load data from all of them.

The bullet manufacturers, manuals will list data for anything they make a bullet for, the Lyman typically lists a bunch of different bullet manufacturers for each caliber, and the Lee goes by bullet weight and style....

I've learned things and gotten ideas from all of them.

Stan
 
I have Sierra, Nosler, Barnes & Speer Manuals ... all +/- 5 years old, as well as a Speer Manual from the late 60's (with some really eye-opening load data !)
The internet also provides some good data, primarily the powder manufacturer's sites ... and particularly Hodgdon's for some of the newer cartridges and powders.

Haven't found it necessary to buy a new or updated manual for a while.
 
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