RepackboxTitan ReloadingLee PrecisionSnyders Jerky
Load DataRotoMetals2MidSouth Shooters SupplyInline Fabrication
Wideners
Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 22

Thread: Handloader's Digest

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Posts
    334

    Handloader's Digest

    I saw my first copy of Handloader's Digest not long ago in the form of a 4th Edition. Since then I acquired a few more editions and find them all a wealth of information. It's my understanding that it is no longer published. Is there anything else published today to equal it?

  2. #2
    Banned
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    In the Gopher State of Minnesota
    Posts
    6,711
    It is not published on a regular basis. The last one was out a couple of years ago and was really not worth the time or money. Really bad.

    Get the 1st edition, it is a gold mine of information. All that followed it are just a silver mine of info.

    Ken

  3. #3
    Boolit Master



    skeettx's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Amarillo, Texas
    Posts
    4,111
    Yes!!
    I have them from #1 to #18, #18 was a waste of time so I no longer bought them anymore
    Mike

    http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw...igest&_sacat=0

    Mike

    Did a search and #18 may have been the last one published
    NRA Benefactor 2004 USAF RET 1971-95

  4. #4
    Boolit Grand Master


    Bad Water Bill's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Where our governors, congressmen AND THEIR WIVES make our license plates
    Posts
    5,642
    Can you EVER have to many reloading manuals?

    IIRC my first one was from Richard Lee followed shortly by one from the know it all Herters brothers and I am still collecting and matching one manual against another.

    Welcome to the collectors club.
    WE WON. WE BEAT THE MACHINE. WE HAVE CCW NOW.

  5. #5
    Boolit Man
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Location
    Summerhill, PA
    Posts
    81
    I have recently acquired a 1st and 6th edition, as well as a 1969 Herters catalog. Ive run into a lot of old equipment here as of late and these books are absolutely priceless when trying to identify some of this older but great stuff.

  6. #6
    Boolit Grand Master


    Bad Water Bill's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Where our governors, congressmen AND THEIR WIVES make our license plates
    Posts
    5,642
    If you ever come across "YOURS TRULY HARVEY DONALDSON" do not walk RUN to acquire it.

    Harvey knew and shot with many of the best in his time and he tells many stories of the bygone days.

    What will break your heart is when you read that he had saved each and every letter from the likes of Pope and others.

    Upon his death some folks visited the shop and most of the tons of information that bent his many shelves left with them and no one seems to know just who took what or where any of it ended up.

    Sad indeed.
    WE WON. WE BEAT THE MACHINE. WE HAVE CCW NOW.

  7. #7
    Boolit Master
    JSnover's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Sicklerville NJ
    Posts
    4,394
    I can usually find a book store or a gun shop that carries them and I'll leaf through first to see if they're worth it. Gun shows are a pretty good place to look for older editions.
    Warning: I know Judo. If you force me to prove it I'll shoot you.

  8. #8
    Boolit Master



    Kevin Rohrer's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Location
    Medina, Ohio USA
    Posts
    1,401
    Handloaders' Digests make great reading. Here are all eighteen (the 18th edition is a travesty). The early ones with Dean Grennell as the editor are the best, but the first seventeen are well worth buying. You can get them for a few dollars each on Ebay.

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	IMG_0647.jpg 
Views:	30 
Size:	99.4 KB 
ID:	144884
    Member: Orange Gunsite Family, NRA-Life, ARTCA, American Legion, & the South Cuyahoga Gun Club.

    Caveat Emptor: Do not trust Cavery Grips/American Gripz/Prestige Grips/Stealth Grips from Clayton, NC. He will rip you off.

  9. #9
    Boolit Grand Master
    Mk42gunner's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Butler, MO
    Posts
    9,107
    I've had 14 and 17 for years, and just last week bought #12 for a whole dollar. I like the early versions of the ABC's of Reloading by Dean Grinnell better, but they aren't published anymore either, (at least written by him).

    Robert

  10. #10
    Boolit Master
    Bent Ramrod's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Southern Arizona
    Posts
    4,305
    The handloading "scene" just doesn't change as fast as the gun market. Every three or four years was plenty often enough for the Handloader's Digest, but DBI evidently thought they could cash in by making it an annual. Guess not.

    They're still valuable references, but turning up the noise ratio only makes them less so.

    The Gun Digest Treasuries were another idea they tried to force along too fast. Later ones started exerpting articles from earlier Gun Digest Treasuries instead of culling more good stuff from Gun Digests. I've not seen any new editions of the Treasury in a long time.

  11. #11
    Boolit Master




    bruce drake's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Brownsburg, Indiana
    Posts
    4,231
    Dang you people! I've been quietly collecting the HLDs for a couple of years gleaning the valuable data out of them when I found a good condition edition. I bought the 18th as my first edition and I've been buying them whenever I can find them at a decent price. My earliest is the 4th but aspire to have all 18 eventually in paper versions.

    Bruce
    I Cast my Boolits, Therefore I am Happy.
    Bona Fide member of the Jeff Brown Hunt Club

  12. #12
    Boolit Grand Master


    Bad Water Bill's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Where our governors, congressmen AND THEIR WIVES make our license plates
    Posts
    5,642
    Dag nab it "Jar Head",now I am going to have to venture into my secret vault and see just what is still stashed there.
    WE WON. WE BEAT THE MACHINE. WE HAVE CCW NOW.

  13. #13
    Boolit Master


    Nueces's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Texas Hill Country
    Posts
    2,239
    I have all 18, collected long before there was a net by searching old book stores and such. I remember drawing to an inside straight while in a French Quarter book store - I had found a #3, the only one of the first eleven I lacked.

    The joy and info quality of the handloading genre sunk a bit when Dean Grennell stopped writing. Any of his works, specifically including his ABCs of Reloading are timeless treasures.

  14. #14
    Boolit Master



    Kevin Rohrer's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Location
    Medina, Ohio USA
    Posts
    1,401
    I have an extra of issues-1 & 11 if anyone wants to buy them for a small price.
    Member: Orange Gunsite Family, NRA-Life, ARTCA, American Legion, & the South Cuyahoga Gun Club.

    Caveat Emptor: Do not trust Cavery Grips/American Gripz/Prestige Grips/Stealth Grips from Clayton, NC. He will rip you off.

  15. #15
    Boolit Bub Pilgrim Sojourner's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Posts
    55
    I would like to purchase your extra copies if you still have them available. Please let me know the cost and payment options.

  16. #16
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Posts
    334
    Second in line for the 1st issue.

  17. #17
    Boolit Master



    Kevin Rohrer's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Location
    Medina, Ohio USA
    Posts
    1,401
    Pilgrim has first dibs.
    Member: Orange Gunsite Family, NRA-Life, ARTCA, American Legion, & the South Cuyahoga Gun Club.

    Caveat Emptor: Do not trust Cavery Grips/American Gripz/Prestige Grips/Stealth Grips from Clayton, NC. He will rip you off.

  18. #18
    Boolit Master




    bruce drake's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Brownsburg, Indiana
    Posts
    4,231
    Any article by Dean Grennell was good reading. I have his books on the 1911 and the ABCs of Reloaing and both are an invaluable trove of information as well as humor.
    I Cast my Boolits, Therefore I am Happy.
    Bona Fide member of the Jeff Brown Hunt Club

  19. #19
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Location
    WV
    Posts
    1,514
    Quote Originally Posted by Bad Water Bill View Post
    Can you EVER have to many reloading manuals?

    IIRC my first one was from Richard Lee followed shortly by one from the know it all Herters brothers and I am still collecting and matching one manual against another.

    Welcome to the collectors club.
    That's funny. When I read my Lee manual I get the feeling that Richard was the "know it all".

    Motor

  20. #20
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Posts
    4,612
    I have a copy of that book but never used it.
    I learned to reload reading Handloader Magazine in the late 1960s and the first 15 or 20 years were pretty good.
    EDG

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check