Rocky Raab
02-11-2012, 05:21 PM
As requested, here is the review I wrote for the October 2011 issue of Handloader.
Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook, 4th Edition
Even the folks at Lyman say it was a loooooong time coming. Some 30 years have elapsed since the last Cast Bullet Handbook was released, but the much-anticipated 4th Edition finally hit the streets late in 2010. For the many reloaders who cast their own bullets and even for those who buy commercially-cast ones, the manual is a welcome addition to the loading bench.
The new edition includes almost 8,000 load combinations using all current Lyman bullet moulds, plus selected loads using moulds from RCBS, Saeco and Lee – a first. Many newly-birthed cartridges are included, as well as sesquicentenarians popular with the blackpowder crowd. A comprehensive how-to section discusses introductory through advanced cast bullet production and loading techniques. Most chapters are authored by noted cast bullet guru Mike Venturino, with chapters by other authorities.
To prepare for this review, I reviewed my tattered and smudged copy of the 3rd Edition, then read the 4th Edition cover to cover. The new edition has about a hundred fewer pages (320 versus 416), containing 96 pages of introductory material versus 120 in the older. The entire 130 pages of ballistic data found in the 3rd Edition have been dropped; those two reductions account almost exactly for the total page count difference. The older book has load data for 78 rifle and 23 handgun cartridges whereas the newer one has 99 rifle and 34 handgun rounds. In both books, some cartridges chambered in rifles as well as handguns are double-listed.
Added to the cartridge count in the 4th Edition are the Ruger Compact Magnums, Winchester and Remington Short Magnums and such newcomers as the 327 Federal. There are even cast bullet loads for many of the Ultra Magnums, plus Weatherby and STW rounds.
Physically, the book is in the handy 8½x11” format and the crisp and open graphics layout crafted by Lyman’s Elizabeth Friedman makes everything easy to read in fonts large enough even for old duffers. Illustrations of every bullet are offered, as are SAAMI drawings of each cartridge. Components used are fully detailed, with footnotes where substitutions occurred. Loads with potential of good accuracy are shown in bold type and suggestions for best powders are given. Overall editor is long-time Lyman casting cognoscenti Thomas J. Griffin.
Cheers and Jeers From the Peanut Gallery
Rather than offer only my own dubious opinions, I elected to monitor the comments of over a hundred shooters via several internet message boards for a period of six weeks. The comments were enlightening, and uncovered a few points I had not noticed. Overall, the community of casters seems to cheer the new edition. However, one jeer was that there are a large number of proofreading lapses in the text. One poster asked if the text contains so many errors, how can the load data be trusted? That’s a difficult point to reconcile. Regarding the data, many cartridges highly suited for cast bullets are absent. Among the missing are the 221 Fireball, 6.8 SPC, 30 TC, 30 Rem AR, 307 Win, 308 Marlin, 338 Marlin, 356 Win, 357 Maximum and several others.
Counter to the absent cartridges were objections to some that are present. The impression is that some rounds like the 56-60 Spencer, 40-65 Winchester and several Sharps cartridges are included mainly because Mike Venturino uses them. The observation – which I cannot dispute – is that no more than a couple hundred shooters anywhere shoot those cartridges and that the pages might have been better filled with more popular rounds.
It was also pointed out that data for the 41 Magnum contains no mild or mid-range loads, whereas data for the 45 Colt contains no heavy loads. Indeed, there is no data labeled “Ruger and T/C Only” as was common in the past and in other Lyman manuals. That’s something I did notice, being a 45 Colt fan. Many people hunt with the 45 Colt and cast bullets, usually with loads that are above original specifications. Data for such loads should have been included, in my opinion.
Inexplicably, the listing for the classic 30-30 – arguably the most popular cast-bullet rifle cartridge extant - contains data for only three moulds, none of them lighter than 150 or heavier than 173 grains. Other 30-caliber cartridges have data for numerous useful bullets from 115 grains up to 220. While I welcome the inclusion of a Lee mould among the three shown, the wildly popular 30-30 deserves much broader treatment.
The manual contains all current Lyman moulds, but not discontinued ones. While I understand space limitations, the fact is that moulds can last darn near forever. To claim that this book is “The only complete source for cast bullet data” is a bit overarching on that account.
Finally, there is widespread agreement that Chapter 18 on The Metallurgy of Cast Bullets by Dr Robert Block is – to be blunt - indecipherable. Home bullet casters are highly interested in lead and its alloys, but this 17-page PhD treatise is so far above most readers’ heads that it hardly ruffles hair. There may be legions of casters who can follow it (and more power to them) but this writer is excluded from their ranks. From the comments I read on the internet, I am certainly not alone. (Thank goodness!)
On the positive side, Lyman deserves kudos for including moulds by competing makers. This, as far as I know, is unprecedented. Many popular bullet styles aren’t offered by Lyman and to take the time and energy to provide data for those other products shows how deeply Lyman is committed to shooters and the use of cast bullets. Proponents of plumbous projectiles owe them applause.
Also laudable is the inclusion of a wide variety of powders. Cast bullets are amenable to both fast and slow-burning powders, and Lyman data reflects that. Popular powders such as the 4198s, Accurate 5744, Reloder-7, IMR 4759 and many more are included throughout. Loads reflect Start and Max charge levels and pressure readings are included with most loadings at both levels. Notably, every bullet shown has its ballistic coefficient and sectional density listed along with the alloy used in the testing.
In summary then, the Lyman 4th Edition offers bullet casters and shooters a much-needed and long-awaited supplement to their library of manuals. It may not be a single source of all things cast, but it definitely extends the spectrum of knowledge about cast bullet shooting. If you have the 3rd Edition on your shelf, the 4th Edition will continue your education and fill in a three-decade gap. If you shoot cast bullets, you need this book. Thanks, Lyman – and may the 5th Edition be already in work.
Copyright: Rocky Raab, 2011
Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook, 4th Edition
Even the folks at Lyman say it was a loooooong time coming. Some 30 years have elapsed since the last Cast Bullet Handbook was released, but the much-anticipated 4th Edition finally hit the streets late in 2010. For the many reloaders who cast their own bullets and even for those who buy commercially-cast ones, the manual is a welcome addition to the loading bench.
The new edition includes almost 8,000 load combinations using all current Lyman bullet moulds, plus selected loads using moulds from RCBS, Saeco and Lee – a first. Many newly-birthed cartridges are included, as well as sesquicentenarians popular with the blackpowder crowd. A comprehensive how-to section discusses introductory through advanced cast bullet production and loading techniques. Most chapters are authored by noted cast bullet guru Mike Venturino, with chapters by other authorities.
To prepare for this review, I reviewed my tattered and smudged copy of the 3rd Edition, then read the 4th Edition cover to cover. The new edition has about a hundred fewer pages (320 versus 416), containing 96 pages of introductory material versus 120 in the older. The entire 130 pages of ballistic data found in the 3rd Edition have been dropped; those two reductions account almost exactly for the total page count difference. The older book has load data for 78 rifle and 23 handgun cartridges whereas the newer one has 99 rifle and 34 handgun rounds. In both books, some cartridges chambered in rifles as well as handguns are double-listed.
Added to the cartridge count in the 4th Edition are the Ruger Compact Magnums, Winchester and Remington Short Magnums and such newcomers as the 327 Federal. There are even cast bullet loads for many of the Ultra Magnums, plus Weatherby and STW rounds.
Physically, the book is in the handy 8½x11” format and the crisp and open graphics layout crafted by Lyman’s Elizabeth Friedman makes everything easy to read in fonts large enough even for old duffers. Illustrations of every bullet are offered, as are SAAMI drawings of each cartridge. Components used are fully detailed, with footnotes where substitutions occurred. Loads with potential of good accuracy are shown in bold type and suggestions for best powders are given. Overall editor is long-time Lyman casting cognoscenti Thomas J. Griffin.
Cheers and Jeers From the Peanut Gallery
Rather than offer only my own dubious opinions, I elected to monitor the comments of over a hundred shooters via several internet message boards for a period of six weeks. The comments were enlightening, and uncovered a few points I had not noticed. Overall, the community of casters seems to cheer the new edition. However, one jeer was that there are a large number of proofreading lapses in the text. One poster asked if the text contains so many errors, how can the load data be trusted? That’s a difficult point to reconcile. Regarding the data, many cartridges highly suited for cast bullets are absent. Among the missing are the 221 Fireball, 6.8 SPC, 30 TC, 30 Rem AR, 307 Win, 308 Marlin, 338 Marlin, 356 Win, 357 Maximum and several others.
Counter to the absent cartridges were objections to some that are present. The impression is that some rounds like the 56-60 Spencer, 40-65 Winchester and several Sharps cartridges are included mainly because Mike Venturino uses them. The observation – which I cannot dispute – is that no more than a couple hundred shooters anywhere shoot those cartridges and that the pages might have been better filled with more popular rounds.
It was also pointed out that data for the 41 Magnum contains no mild or mid-range loads, whereas data for the 45 Colt contains no heavy loads. Indeed, there is no data labeled “Ruger and T/C Only” as was common in the past and in other Lyman manuals. That’s something I did notice, being a 45 Colt fan. Many people hunt with the 45 Colt and cast bullets, usually with loads that are above original specifications. Data for such loads should have been included, in my opinion.
Inexplicably, the listing for the classic 30-30 – arguably the most popular cast-bullet rifle cartridge extant - contains data for only three moulds, none of them lighter than 150 or heavier than 173 grains. Other 30-caliber cartridges have data for numerous useful bullets from 115 grains up to 220. While I welcome the inclusion of a Lee mould among the three shown, the wildly popular 30-30 deserves much broader treatment.
The manual contains all current Lyman moulds, but not discontinued ones. While I understand space limitations, the fact is that moulds can last darn near forever. To claim that this book is “The only complete source for cast bullet data” is a bit overarching on that account.
Finally, there is widespread agreement that Chapter 18 on The Metallurgy of Cast Bullets by Dr Robert Block is – to be blunt - indecipherable. Home bullet casters are highly interested in lead and its alloys, but this 17-page PhD treatise is so far above most readers’ heads that it hardly ruffles hair. There may be legions of casters who can follow it (and more power to them) but this writer is excluded from their ranks. From the comments I read on the internet, I am certainly not alone. (Thank goodness!)
On the positive side, Lyman deserves kudos for including moulds by competing makers. This, as far as I know, is unprecedented. Many popular bullet styles aren’t offered by Lyman and to take the time and energy to provide data for those other products shows how deeply Lyman is committed to shooters and the use of cast bullets. Proponents of plumbous projectiles owe them applause.
Also laudable is the inclusion of a wide variety of powders. Cast bullets are amenable to both fast and slow-burning powders, and Lyman data reflects that. Popular powders such as the 4198s, Accurate 5744, Reloder-7, IMR 4759 and many more are included throughout. Loads reflect Start and Max charge levels and pressure readings are included with most loadings at both levels. Notably, every bullet shown has its ballistic coefficient and sectional density listed along with the alloy used in the testing.
In summary then, the Lyman 4th Edition offers bullet casters and shooters a much-needed and long-awaited supplement to their library of manuals. It may not be a single source of all things cast, but it definitely extends the spectrum of knowledge about cast bullet shooting. If you have the 3rd Edition on your shelf, the 4th Edition will continue your education and fill in a three-decade gap. If you shoot cast bullets, you need this book. Thanks, Lyman – and may the 5th Edition be already in work.
Copyright: Rocky Raab, 2011