Lymans 4th Edition Cast Bullet Handbook

[Ken77539]

Just wanted to put the word out . . .

http://i935.photobucket.com/albums/ad192/Ken77539/Lyman4th.jpg

Had my order in for about 6 weeks now - Lyman just sent me an e-mail advising they just got their 4th Edition Cast Bullet Handbook in from the printers and they're now being shipped. Never did get my hands on a 3rd Edition, but I'm hoping this to be as valuable resource as their reloading manuals.

[dromia]

Better late than never.

Huzzah! :D

[casterofboolits]

Hot dang! Now we just need a quick review of the contents. Hopefully it will be an improvement on #3.

I started with Lyman and still rely heavily on the #3 and 49th Handbooks.

[.357]

sweet maybe i'll ask for that for christmas.

[biscot]

Just got a FedEx shipping notice - mine is on its way!

[dromia]

Reviews, reviews please.

[WILCO]

As per the MidwayUSA website: "This is the first new Cast bullet handbook by Lyman in 30 years. Written by well-know cast bullet author, Mike Venturino and will contain everything a bullet caster ever wanted to know about cast lead bullets in one book. Including data for all Lyman molds and select RCBS, Redding and Lee molds. "

Based on this, I'm gonna have to get one. :-P

[white eagle]

thanks for the heads up I just ordered one
woooooopeeeeeeeeeeee !!

[Rocky Raab]

Yup, I can confirm it. My source says the books arrived at Lyman yesterday from the printer. Books are going out beginning today.

I may not be the first to get one, but I'll post comments when mine arrives and I can thumb through it a bit.

[thegreatdane]

hey thanks! I ordered too.

[Moonie]

Let the wife know one thing I want for Christmas :)

[SciFiJim]

This is the first new Cast bullet handbook by Lyman in 30 years. Written by well-know cast bullet author, Mike Venturino and will contain everything a bullet caster ever wanted to know about cast lead bullets in one book. Including data for all Lyman molds and select RCBS, Redding and Lee molds.

Ha. Probably open the cover and find they refer everyone to this forum.

[LabGuy]

I don't think I can wait until Christmas, like I really needed another excuse to make an order. I can’t wait until it gets here.

[alamogunr]

Just placed an order with Grafs. They don't have it and don't know when they will get it.

John
W.TN

[zdogk9]

Just this moment ordered mine from Lymans

[9.3X62AL]

This one goes on the MUST GET list.

[Char-Gar]

Sounds good. I do hope the content has more depth to it, than Mike's articles in the various magazines. If, it doesn't, it won't be of much use to any but beginning casters.

[.357]

Well hopefully it is more indepth, but honestly think about it a single source for load data for multiple different companies mold is awesome!

[Swede44mag]

I also want to order one but MidwayUSA don't have them either.

[Rocky Raab]

As I said above, the books arrived at Lyman. It'll take a while for them to be trucked to Midway or Grafs or any other outlet.

But at least they are printed and almost in our hands.

[ozonebob]

Terrific news! i have had one on backorder from Midsouth since May...

[870TC]

My local gun shop in MN says they have them on hand, as of today.

[alamogunr]

I don't think I will suffer a great deal if I don't get one for a couple of months. I will probably have several other things to order by then.

John
W.TN

[thegreatdane]

I got an email this morning. It's shipped!

[Ken77539]

Got this notice yesterday:

Tue, November 23, 2010 1:06:17 PM



Per your request for notification, we received the following:

Lyman "Cast Bullet Handbook: 4th Edition" Book

Supplies may be limited and are first come first serve. Don’t wait until they’re gone.

To view this item, click on the link in the next section.


Thanks for Your Business,

Larry Potterfield,
Founder and CEO of MidwayUSA


------------------------
Directions:
Follow this link to view the product.
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=867465

[1Shirt]

Notice from Midsouth yesterday on my backorder, and did I still want it. Called and said yes and ordered a second one as a back up for a present.
1Shirt!:coffeecom

[Mal Paso]

Got this notice yesterday:

Tue, November 23, 2010 1:06:17 PM



Per your request for notification, we received the following:

Lyman "Cast Bullet Handbook: 4th Edition" Book

Supplies may be limited and are first come first serve. Don’t wait until they’re gone.

To view this item, click on the link in the next section.


Thanks for Your Business,

Larry Potterfield,
Founder and CEO of MidwayUSA


------------------------
Directions:
Follow this link to view the product.
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=867465

They are out as of this AM. I have one on backorder.

[onondaga]

With all the commotion here, I gave up on waiting for Midway to notify me of an in-stock notification for the book and I ordered direct from Lyman online Tuesday, Nov. 23.......AHHHHH of course , Midway notified me an hour later in an email that the book is in stock and ready to ship. So, I lost a few bucks. It is on the way from Lyman to me.

Gary

[Firebricker]

These thing's seem to be selling like hot cake's so I picked one up today. Look's good most article's are by Mike V. and one by Brian Pearce and one by Tom Acheson. As some one noted in another thread they have load info for some Lee and Saeco mould's. I look forward to reading it further this weekend. FB

[markinalpine]

Got the e-mail from Midway, but by the time I got to their site, they were already out. :groner:
I did some looking around and found stock on hand at Wholesale Hunter: http://www.wholesalehunter.com/product.asp?productid=59019
I ordered one plus some other stuff. Note, their shipping/handling is a bit pricy.
I tried getting something from another vendor once, and asked if they just ship it, don't handle it.
They didn't appreciate my sense of humor :bigsmyl2: Brings to mind the recent air traveller's complaint "Don't touch my Junk!"
Mark :coffeecom

[sleeper1428]

Got a notice yesterday from Midway that the book was available but when I found time to get on their site only a few hours later, it was listed as 'Out of Stock' and on backorder. So I did a search on the book's title and came up with several other sites that had the book for sale. Checking on OpticsPlanet they had it for $17.99 + S&H of $6.99 which makes the total just about what Lyman is charging for the book alone. Ordered mine yesterday and they say it'll be shipping early next week.

sleeper1428

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
Who is the girl on the cigar?????????????

[Freischütz]

I'm hoping that Santa will bring me one.

[josper]

Mine showed up last week,nice book.

[thegreatdane]

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c66/drobberson/utf-8BSU1HMDA1MzUtMjAxMDEyMDItMTI1Ny5qcGc.jpg

Look what I got!

[onondaga]

Mine arrived yesterday and it has new cast loads for .500 S&W and .458 Win Mag that I had hoped for. I never had the previous editions and have only relied on the Lee books previously, so much of the book is new to me and I have begun to study it like a course from a new author. The metallurgy chapter looks to be very interesting and my kind of technical read to enjoy.

The variety of lead bullet weights for .308 Win is impressive and I load that caliber too. I'm happy with the purchase and like the way the pressure statistics are listed relative to cast bullet loads.

Gary

[mroliver77]

I am still waiting for a REVIEW of this book. Are these new tested loads or a rehash of the old ones with some from the Lee and RCBS books? Also, does anybody use a ladle as it is being used on the cover of the book?
Jay
Edit:
I meant use it as it is being used on the cover meaning holding ladle a couple inches above mold and dribbling lead into mould.

[WILCO]

I am still waiting for a REVIEW of this book. Also, does anybody use a ladle as it is being used on the cover of the book?


Mine arrived today. I've set it aside till x-mas as a present to myself.
I have a ladle like the one on the cover, but haven't used it yet.

[thegreatdane]

The review is pending. It just arrived yesterday.

So far the 10mm and 357mag (heavier bullet) loads seem to be considerably less than Lee's Modern Reloading for equal weights while the lighter-bullet loads seem to indicate higher velocities than expected, based on the Lyman 49th ed cast loads. I'll be reading and comparing further this evening.

...more to come. At this point, my focus is casting for handgun.

[82nd airborne]

I just dont know guys, the misspelled a word on the cover! Everyone knows there is no such thing as a "cast bullet", so Im sure the interior has got to be erronious too.

[thegreatdane]

I did find a spacing typo in the table of contents though :)

[C.F.Plinker]

I just got an e-mail from Midway that they are shipping the copy that was backordered on November 30. The shipping charges were $11.20. However when I backordered it they quoted me the book rate shipping charges as $3.76 so it will be interesting to see if I can get the lower rate.

I just got an e-mail back saying that at this time of year shipping book rate would take several weeks to get here. However, they are giving me a store credit for the difference on the difference in shipping costs that I can use on any future order.

[sleeper1428]

I received my copy from Optics Planet a few days ago and as time has allowed I've been reading through the chapters as well as checking out the reloading data. Overall, I'd say that it's a book well worth owning but I must say, I would have liked to have seen a bit more diversity in authors. Mike Venturino, while well versed in the subject at hand, namely cast bullets (or boolits, as we prefer), and an excellent writer, still has his own biases that do come through in this book. As an example, in Chapter 9 - Propellants, he states that, 'Neither Lyman nor this writer recommends the use of fillers in cast bullet loads'. Fillers are, of course, controversial but as is evident from many posts to this forum, they are used by many who have been casting and shooting boolits for many, many years. It's this sort of statement that ends up discouraging new boolit casters from even considering experimentation in their reloading efforts. Yes, it's probably better that new boolit casters and shooters stick with the 'tried and true' methods before experimentation but I would rather another author had written this section, someone who has had extensive experience using fillers such as Dacron and who might have presented a more balanced view in regard to their use in cast boolit shooting.

Another example wherein a chapter might have benefited by a different author is Chapter 3 - Sources for Lead Alloys. I can understand that with Lyman having asked Mike to do much of the authoring he would naturally be inclined to be a bit biased towards Lyman products. However, I was struck by the fact that while mentioning Lyman #2 alloy, he made no mention whatsoever about so-called 'hardball' alloy, a very commonly used alloy for boolit casters that consists of 92% PB, 6% Sb and 2% Sn. This alloy is also known as Taracorp Magnum Alloy which may well be the reason that Mike avoided mentioning it since Lyman might not want to seen pushing an alloy developed by someone else.

The chapter, 'The Metallurgy of Cast Bullets', is excellent and thorough. Much of this same material has been presented before by Bill Ferguson, 'The Antimony Man', much of it in the journal of the Cast Bullet Association, but it is well worth rereading.

The section on reloading data is good and has been updated to included many of the newer cartridges that have become available since the last edition of this handbook. Also, there is now load data for a few moulds from manufacturers other than Lyman which is refreshing and very helpful. However, I really would have liked to have seen data from a far wider group of mould manufacturers, including Lee, as well as a far wider group of moulds within each cartridge group. Obviously Lyman is going to continue to push their own mould selection but now that the 'gate has been breached', so to speak, perhaps we can look forward to a much more extensive coverage of other moulds in future editions. Unfortunately, unless and until a far wider selection of cast boolit shooters are consulted, it's not likely that this section will expand to any great extent. The experience of many casters and shooters needs to be solicited and distilled in order to come up with some solid information on loads for a wider variety of moulds and manufacturers.

All in all, a good book to have on any boolit casters shelf. It will serve as an excellent guide for the novice boolit caster and will be of great help to those casting for the newer cartridges, as well as the older standards.

sleeper1428

[dromia]

Thank you for the thoughtfull review.