Must have books for reloading

[P7M13]

Happy to come up and offer guidance most anytime. Enjoy your vacation.

Was going to say if you were close, I could give you some help in person if our schedules meshed.

 

[Eveskcige28]

Well, you ARE making tiny bombs in the comfort of your own home... What could go wrong???

Important safety hints:

1. No drinking and loading
2. No smoking anywhere near the loading bench while loading
3. Put powder can away before starting (I keep all my powder in a steel cabinet)
4. Empty any unused powder back into the can it came out of
5. No distractions, wife, kids, tv, etc (this is your meditation time to get away)

I can personally attest to no distractions! A couple weeks ago I was showing my brother in law the basics of reloading and while having a casual conversation i repeatedly forgot to seat the primers!

 

[bbbass]

I can personally attest to no distractions! A couple weeks ago I was showing my brother in law the basics of reloading and while having a casual conversation i repeatedly forgot to seat the primers!

Did he get that move down right?

 

[mignuc]

I will give you actual answers to your question. Which one(s). All of the ones listed above are good, with the exception of The ABC's or Reloading. I have bought that book twice (second time accidently, after a few years) and didn't keep it. But others seem to like it. They have given you excellent advice on what to do with the manual(s) once you get them: READ them! Now, onto the books that I would recommend to you. Because I have many different editions of certain lines (Lyman is now in its 50th Edition), I have many, many manuals that aren't current. So don't be intimidated. Last time I counted (several years ago) I had over 400 books and manuals on reloading, cartridges and collecting cartridges. I must have over 600 by now I'd guess. It depends on what cartridges you want to load and what you want to do with the loads. Before you buy one, make sure that the
cartridge you want to reload gives loads for that one.
Category One: Bullet manufacturers - if you want to use jacketed bullets from one particular manufacturer (or that's all you can get
at the store) here are some excellent ones: Hornady, Barnes, Berger, Nosler, Speer and Sierra (although their manual has not
been updated since 2003)
Category Two: Powder manufacturers - There are four general types of gunpowder: Rifle, Shotgun, Pistol and Black Powder. Black
Powder is its own category and is not something you would likely be wanting to use. Rifle, Shotgun and Pistol powders are all
known as "Smokeless Powders." You will often find that some powders that are used for Shotguns can also be used for Pistol
(ONLY if the reloading manual says so!!!): 1. Accurate Arms 2. Alliant 3. Hodgdon (not Hog-don). Their last full-size manual
was number 27, but now they publish an annual pamphlet-manual that can sometimes be found for free, especially if you buy a lot
of stuff at one particular store. 4. Ramshot Powders manual. 5. VihtaVouri's Reloading manual.
Category Three: Shotshell - MEC and NTC both publish How to Reload Steel (shot) shotshells. Lyman also has good lead shotshell
information in theirs. BPI publishes pamphlets for reloading Bismuth buckshot.
Category Four: Cast bullet reloading - There are only about two major sources for this, although some manuals also have a few loads
for some cartridges. The most important one is the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook (not the same as the Lyman 50th Loading
Manual, as Lyman publishes several different manuals), including Shotshell and Pistol & Revolver manuals. The only other
dedicated lead bullet reloading manual is the out-of-print RCBS Cast Bullet Manual, long out of print but easy to find on the used
book market.
Category Five: Specialty manuals - If you need something for an unusual or obsolete, let me know what and I'll tell you where you
can find it. One example: Any Shot You Want, The A-Square Handloading and Rifle Manual. This company is gone but many of
these specialty ones can be found on-line. There are also ones for single cartridges that have reprints from more than one manual
in them. For example, if all you'll be loading is the .30-30, there's one just for that, and they're cheap.
Category Six: Lee's Modern Reloading are published by Lee who only makes reloading tools and dies. Now if you want to get into the
REALLY unusual stuff, I have a manual showing loading data for .10, .12 and .14 caliber cartridges.

Well, these answers should help you a lot. If you need anything else you can contact me directly at [email protected]

My name is R. Theron Cammer.