new to reloading and need a book

O

ohihunter2014

New member
new reloader here doing 223 and 9mm luger. guy at the store recommended lyman for a starter book and then hornady. what would be a good book for me to start off with?

instead of buying the A,B,C of reloading im going to rent it from the library.
 
The Lyman is the base book to start without question. It will get you going and if you want to get esoteric there are some out there. The ABC's will also be a good reference. You might buy one for your library, and you will want a library, for later.

Greg
 
I think the Lyman has the best intro to reloading and I like the fact that they include bullets from several manufacturers as well as cast bullets. I also buy or download the manuals from the powder and bullet companies whose components iI use most. The Nosler and Lyman manuals have most accurate loads listed as well. So far the Nosler pet loads have been very accurate for me. I have not varied more than half a grain from their listed load.
 
You can also get accompanying load data off several powder manufacturers websites. I use IMR, VV and Ramshot website frequently for load suggestions.
 
Originally Posted By: ohihunter2014the book they have available is the lyman 49th edition. walmart has it for $18 so I think I will get it there.

Good choice. I really like the Lyman manual for describing the process of reloading. From there you can add some of the other manuals after you've played with a few powders and bullets. I like and shot a lot of Hodgdon powder and Hornady and Barnes bullets, so I have manuals from those manufacturers.
 
If you want to have some fun go to a gun show and find you some old reloading books such as the Speer #8 or older. PO Ackley's books had some "interesting" loads too.

Back in the day when they used real guns to test loads in (before SAAMI) there was data in there that in some cases was hot hot hot. 1500+ fps with 240 grain bullets in a .44 Magnum (out of a 6" barrel!) revolver and 3000 FPS from a .270 Win with 150 grain bullets comes to mind. You will not find those loads today anywhere. Probably with good reason too!
 
Then buy the Lyman and Hornady manuals and download the powder company data for an added benefit. One thing I have noticed about a lot of new reloaders is that if they have one manual, they think it is gospel. If they have two or more, they are confused by the differences. The differences are based on powder lot variation, chamber variation, throat variation, different bullets, different primers, etc. You have to learn that every rifle is an entity unto its own.
 
^^^ I will pick up both. right now I want to go slow and make up some plinking loads and get used to the whole ordeal. id like to find a load for it that will shoot a tick of a dogs rear end at 300yards. it loves v maxes, touches them at 100yards and they open up a little at 200yards, if I can get everything right I can touch em at 200-300
 
well I picked up the lyman 49th edition book and got about half way through it and I got very disappointed when I got to the 223 load data. I really wanted to load fmj or v max bullets and it doesn't show data for them, only shows data for a few rounds and no data for cfe powder in which I wanted to try. am I going to have to buy another book to get the right info?
 
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It seems like all manuals are missing something. You can supplement your book with websites like hodgon.com or nosler.com, both have lots of load data available.
 
not sure if im using the site correct or not because it only gives me like 3 loads. I click the h335 powder, 223 bullet and run and it shows 3 loads, should it show more?
 
Originally Posted By: ohihunter2014not sure if im using the site correct or not because it only gives me like 3 loads. I click the h335 powder, 223 bullet and run and it shows 3 loads, should it show more?

Selecting 223 and H335 and hitting enter I get 17-18 loads total. I would also recommend you pick up their printed/magazine manual. It gives you a bit easier method to compare powders in a given weight.

Greg
 
If you care to subscribe to an on-line reloading source, there
is Ammoguide and Wolfe Publishing. I am currently subscribed to
Ammoguide, but think I like Wolfe better as it has data from
several powder and bullet manufacturers:

https://www.riflemagazine.com/home/index.cfm?CFID=48992393&CFTOKEN=67402486

From the load data link at the top of that page, you can get
to this page by typing .223 in that small window:

http://www.loaddata.com/home/index.cfm?CFID=48992421&CFTOKEN=20687559

Unfortunately, you have to have a subscription to get the
information you need. But if they do not have a load, I'm
fairly confident that load exists nowhere.

I'm one who liked Hodgdon's old reloading section a LOT better
than the new. Seems like they went to extremes to make the
new one idiot-proof!
 


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