What are your favorite two reloading books?

[Bon Sauvage]

I have been shooting nothing for pleasure save blackpowder firearms for the last several years. I wish to start reloading smokeless, jacketed bullet cartridges for my .357 Magnum rifle.

I checked my reloading books and found them all to be hopelessly outdated; the latest being about ten years old. I prefer to have a minimum of two reloading books on hand when I develop my loads.

Does anyone have recommendations for two reloading books?

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[Mikej]

I only load hand gun at this point. I have the Lyman 49th and the Speer 14 that came with my RCBS kit. I also reference, and print out online sources such as Hogdon. There's quite a contrast between the two books. Speer seems to be more conservative in their data, and Lyman uses more than just one bullet brand.

 

[HB of CJ]

Memory inside the brain. Seems to work. Also understand hand loading is very fun but requires some learning curve. Safety is number one. Also the old hand loading books of 50 years ago are different than today. Todays powders are better. Also start low and work up slowly. But also understand some platforms require nearly full power or full power to work. The .30 Carbine used through the little light rifle is an example. Also some reduced loads with specific powders and bullets can be very dangerous. Detonation. Be safe, have fun.

There are many introductory hand loading books available. Getting started might include just reading up a bit. Or a whole lot. Again, somewhat of a learning curve, but all doable. Hand loading is fun. If you shoot a whole lot and lots of folks do, then getting started hand loading at the beginning of the shooting hobby MAY and CAN save you money over the long haul. What other hobbies can say that? But be warned once you jump into the deep water, you will find it very nice indeed. Expect to spend some money. Yikes!!

Respectfully.

 

[DizzyJ]

Boy that's a tough one. I like the Hornady, Speer and Sierra books probably the best, but also have Nosler and a couple others mixed in there as well.

I also like reading precision reloading books such as "metallic cartridge handloading, pursuit of the perfect cartridge" by Mic McPherson, and also some of the ones by Zediker, though they are not always as easy to follow due to his writing style.

 

[Lilhigbee]

I recommend the Lyman Reloading Handbook mentioned by @Mikej, although it is currently in it's 50th edition. Also the "Complete Reloading Manual For the (XXX Caliber)" books.

The Lyman book is nice for the generic how-to loading info as well as the load data that uses various brands of bullets and powders. Of course the Lyman book has a lot of info on cast bullets since that is a large part of their business. It is probably the largest single source for cast bullet load data if that is your thing.

The "Complete Reloading Manual..." is an accumulation of factory information from most common bullet and powder manufacturers, all specific to whichever caliber the book is for. Check out
Loadbooks USA, Inc.

Hogdgon and Accurate (Western) have excellent online resources for their products.

With any of the books published by a specific manufacturer you are stuck with their product or extrapolating their data to other products.

 

[eightyeight mag]

I like the nosler books myself. But I mostly use their bullets

 

[Member 5605]

Sierra #14
Lyman cartridge specific books
Hornady #10
Hodgdon Website

Not in any particular order.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Whatever Bi-Mart has in stock.. get some cheez wiz while you're there.
lol, what them guys said

 

[ageingstudent]

I have been shooting nothing for pleasure save blackpowder firearms for the last several years. I wish to start reloading smokeless, jacketed bullet cartridges for my .357 Magnum rifle.

I checked my reloading books and found them all to be hopelessly outdated; the latest being about ten years old. I prefer to have a minimum of two reloading books on hand when I develop my loads.

Does anyone have recommendations for two reloading books?

Why don't you just stop by and browse through my library.

 

[Bon Sauvage]

Great pickup line.

 

[ditchtiger]

Only one, Loadbooks USA, Inc.
One caliber per book.

 

[ageingstudent]

Great pickup line.

I'm feeling like this thread is going to go haywire quicker than most.

 

[Bon Sauvage]

Only one, Loadbooks USA, Inc.
One caliber per book.

I bought a couple of these a long time ago; maybe 20+ years, and I found that some of their printed data was so small and blurry that I could barely read it. Have conditions changed for the better?

 

[Certaindeaf]

I'm feeling like this thread is going to go haywire quicker than most.

Penthouse Forum is more like a periodical.

 

[ageingstudent]

Great pickup line.

Didn't you have a 9mm carbine loading project going last year?

 

[ditchtiger]

I'm pushing 60 and the print is good for me.

 

[Bon Sauvage]

I'm pushing 60 and the print is good for me.

Good enough. You haven't bum doped me yet.

 

[Bon Sauvage]

Speaking of bum dopes..... Ageingstudent! I believe that you are thinking of another member of this site: OGRE.

 

[ditchtiger]

Seems they very in size, most are large.

 

[ageingstudent]

Speaking of bum dopes..... Ageingstudent! I believe that you are thinking of another member of this site: OGRE.

Ah ha. Playing tricks on an aging fella. I like the one caliber books. I like the lyman 49th or 50th also. If you were going to shoot cast bullets in the carbine I'd recommend the Cast Bullet Handbook. It has lots of carbine specific data and a good tutorial. I like the tutorial in the Lee 2nd addition it's good if you have Some Lee equipment especially.