Electronic Reloading Manuals?

[H.Callahan]

Does any of the reloading manual publishers produce them in an e-book format? I would like to get some copies of current manuals in electronic format, but am having problems locating any. Easy to find in print format, but I would like to have something that I could access electronically (yes, I know most powder manufacturers publish loads on-line, but I am looking for something like Lyman, Speer, Lee, etc.)

[wiljen]

I think not as it would make it far too easy to just get one copy and give it to everyone you knew. I suspect they take a dim view of that. Some of the older ones are on castpics.net though.

[H.Callahan]

Both Amazon and Barnes and Noble seem to be able to publish other books in e-book formats. Why not reloading manuals?

[LabGuy]

You might try RCBS:

RCBS.LOAD version 3.0 includes electronic versions of the
Speer® Reloading Manual #14, the RCBS® Cast Bullet Manual
and has been upgraded to access all but the most current
reloading manuals from other industry sources free of charge!
Access a collection of more than 450,000 load data. Build your
own reloading databases that can be analyzed like the industry
sources.

[btroj]

Economics guys. How many copies o a reloading manual would be purchased in electronic format? Not many compared to the latest, greatest fiction works.

If it was a viable business move they would do it.

Personally, I like paper for a manual. I don't mind getting pages in a boom oily, dirty, beast, but wouldn't want that on my iPad.

I also like having a book I can easily make notes in.

I just don't see a market for e-book reloading manuals.

[44Vaquero]

Digital formats are cheap and easy to produce it's a political/philosophical issue. These companies are all anti gun, anti hunting, anti second amendment and pro new world order.

Both Amazon and B&N retain the right to edit/remove/amend any book on your personal device each time you log onto their server. Call me crazy but I am going to keep my paper reloading manuals for now!

[hunter64]

I converted most of my manuals to pdf format and they are on my laptop and also my ipad. I keep the old laptop by my reloading press and it has all my loads and scanned pictures of targets that I have shot for reference. Of course I keep a paper copy in a binder but I love the fact that I have all the info I need and the Internet at my fingertips while I am reloading.

I also converted all my AGI Gunsmithing DVDs to .avi's and I can watch them and clean or repair at the same time, very handy.

[MtGun44]

Hodgdon's is online, not quite the same, but still pretty convenient and FREE, covers
IMR, Hodgdon and Winchester powders.

Bill

[r1kk1]

I use eBooks quite a bit for work. I can annotate, highlight, and some, depending on publisher, concatenate all my notes to print. I can search for anything within the eBook. PDF is great but very bulky, and Acrobat (not the reader) is very expensive to purchase to edit PDFs. I have some books in PDF that are way too big to fit on most smartphones and tablets. The eBooks I use at work are self updating.

It will be a matter of time before we see Speer, Hornady, Nosler, etc., use eBook format.

r1kk1

[H.Callahan]

Plus, it cuts down on clutter. I can have hundreds of reloading references on an SD card and have it backed up in various places. I can edit to my hearts content, I can print a page or pages if I need a hard copy of something, it is available anywhere I can connect electronically or carry a smartphone or tablet. I just can't see the downside to having them available electronically.