Which reloading manual ?

[C-dubb]

I have been reloading for over 40 years and have made it a practice to buy an updated manual every 2 or 3 years so as to keep up to date on new powders and calibers.
Lately I have gotten a little lax about buying new manuals. I, like others have depended on internet load data to supplement my old books.
I feel I have done this long enough and its time to buy a couple of new books. I reload a little of everything and use mostly cast boolits but still load about 25 percent jacketed.

What reloading manuals would you recommend ?

PS: I do have Lyman's newest cast Bullet book.

[dragon813gt]

Hodgon Annuals for pure load volume. It’s everything on their site in a printed version. I buy them every year. Also buy every other manual I can. But if you’re only looking for a few buy ones for the brand bullets you use. If you know how to reload the info at the front of the manuals isn’t why you’re buying it.

[C-dubb]

Hodgon Annuals for pure load volume. It’s everything on their site in a printed version. I buy them every year. Also buy every other manual I can. But if you’re only looking for a few buy ones for the brand bullets you use. If you know how to reload the info at the front of the manuals isn’t why you’re buying it.

I have a pile of old Hodgdon books but haven't bought one in years because I figured that I could get all of their data on their website.
Does their printed book have more loads than on the website ?

[EDG]

There is nothing wrong with most older manuals and data.
The manual and powder companies do not reshoot all of their data.
Most of the time they add new powders, cartridges and bullets to a few new pages. All the other data remains the same.
You also are shooting a different rifle and components from different lots. So new data might be a good reference but you should work up loads for your own rifle.
I can see buying new manuals if you are a habitual first adopter of everything new.
I am not a first adopter. I have a lot of 50 yeat old rifles, bullets, brass and powder that I have yet to shoot up. Fifty year old data works fine for all the old components that I have

[jmort]

Lyman’s 50th

[wasa]

I bought the 2018 version of the Hodgdon manual (magazine format) and was disappointed. The online resources are much better - I reload 300 Savage and while lots of info on their website, nothing in the book. Probably would not buy again but just use the web resources (I do appreciate all of the free information they publish)

I have a pile of old Hodgdon books but haven't bought one in years because I figured that I could get all of their data on their website.
Does their printed book have more loads than on the website ?

[dragon813gt]

I have a pile of old Hodgdon books but haven't bought one in years because I figured that I could get all of their data on their website.
Does their printed book have more loads than on the website ?

Sure you can get the data online.....assuming it’s always there. There’s a lot to be said for printed manuals. I buy their annual magazine every year. I also go through their online data yearly and save all the loads listed, for what I load, in pdf. I have all this printed out and compare yearly for differences. If there’s new loads I will reprint. If not I don’t bother.

I have a lot of manuals saved in pdf which is hosted many places so I can access it wherever. But I also collect any and all manuals I can. Have a long list and the size is slowly decreasing as I buy older manuals. You need old manuals for cartridges that have come and gone.

[NSB]

If I could only have one loading manual it would be the Lyman. It's more comprehensive than any other. I have several current and older editions of that plus some Hornady, Accurate, Speer, and a few others. However, I always reach for the Lyman first.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

The Lyman 50th has the best mix of data. The powder company manuals are of course limited to the powders they sell, Hodgdon's, Western Powder. Not as big a problem but the bullet companies show data only for their bullets. Sierra and Speer manuals seem to provide information on a wider range of powders than Hornady and Nosler. The LEE manual has a lot of good 'How To' but powder data is a hodge-podge, I haven't looked at the most recent 2nd edition. Just One? The Lyman 50th

[tazman]

Lyman manuals are good. I also go to the manufacturers web sites and print out the data for the cartridges I load for.
The internet has changed things greatly as far as access to data.

[country gent]

The one calibers have data in them from a lot of sources all in between one set of covers.

[lightman]

I'll also be another to recommend the Lyman. The Lee also has a loyal following. As far as straight data goes, it never hurts to have a few opinions for comparison.

[redhawk0]

I'm in the same boat...however, I don't change powders very often for the same caliber. I tend to find a load and stick with it making the additional loading manuals somewhat useless (for me)

OK...that said...at my stage in life, if I do buy a new caliber (2 new ones in the past 15 years)....I purchase the "One Caliber" manuals giving me all the loading data from each manufacture in one book. I also like online load charts. I make a screen capture of the data I want to keep and store it in individual folders on the computer for whatever caliber I've been investigating.

its just the way I fly.

redhawk

[gumbo333]

The Lee manuals do have some shortcomings! But they have some good points too. One is you can find almost every powder that is suitable for a cartridge/ bullet weight combination. You don't get barrel length, etc. And it shows the usable powder capacity for each cartridge in cubic centimeters, and how many cubic centimeters each starting load occupies. If you are interested in % of case fill this is very handy. And the beginning text pages are very informative, sometimes with Richard Lee's opinions. Good to have a Lee manual in your stable. Hornady, Lyman, Speer, Sierra, Nosler all worth having in your stable too.

[RedHawk357Mag]

Single caliber load books, Lyman 50th, Lyman 4th Cast, and Speer 15th. Also buy Hodgdon yearly but more so to complain about CUP data still being printed in 357. I pay my 9 dollars to sanction my belly achiness. If I was cash strapped...Lyman 50th as it has both jacketed and cast.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

[Shiloh]

Lyman or mfg. online data.

Shiloh

[Shawlerbrook]

Yes, for a “generic” I like Lyman, but you can’t beat the manuals specific to the brand of bullets or powder you are using. Much of this can be found on the manufacturer website.

[MOA]

I've got lots of books that span from the early sixties to current. But I too have started to use and look at what is online now. I also know that it could be offline just like that too. So, I went down to the local Wally and got myself about four or five large D ring binders, a whole case of the clear protectors for letter size paper and then ordered two extra toner cartridges for the printer. I have created some nice data books that contain everything I currently load and shoot, and I even started printing load data for cartridges I do not even own (at least not yet). I mean how much does the LGS charge for the books or for that matter Amazon. For thirty bucks I have enough toner to print more than 5,000 pages and the protectors and binders were less than thirty bucks too. Two books will cost you that, if not more. So, that's what I do now. I still look at, and through, if it's not sealed up, any of the new books out, but so far other than the cast, and black powder books, I just keep printing up info that I come across that I find helpful now and that which might be in the future. I like the internet, but I'm of the old school, I still like to have printed paper in front of me that I can hold onto, and if in the future I can even pass it on to someone else.

[poppy42]

As many different ones that I can afford. So right now that means 0 new ones. That being said I would love to have a Hodgdon or a Sierra. Hodgdon, because I generally use Hodgdon Or IMR powder and Sierra cause if I’m not loading cast it seems like I use Sierra more than any other Jacketed. So if anyone was throwing either one of those out I would gladly take them off your handso

[JSnover]

I use the manufacturers websites but I prefer the printed manuals. Hard copy Hornady, Lyman and Sierra are my go-to-manuals most of the time. They never 'go down' and I can highlight, write notes in the margins...