Highly recommended book

[knifeman85]

Being new here to the forum and the casting lifestyle..I ask for some advice from the current members here.I was directed to a book called "Lyman cast bullet handbook" I know many of you here have read this..IF you are new to boolit casting or you haven't read this all I can tell you is this has tons of info in it. I paid 25$ for mine..new and shipped..GOOD READ folks.

[mdi]

Pretty much my "lead bullet bible". I much prefer the 3rd Edition as it seems to be more beginner/new caster friendly and informative than the 4th Edition, unless you're into black powder cartridge shooting...

[MT Gianni]

I don't have a copy of #2 but would rate mine in favorite order as 3, 1, and 4. Great info in all of them.

[Marcduper]

I have a bunch of reloading manuals, but always go to the Lyman. I agree with MT, his order of preference is dead on.

Marc

[jmort]

Wish I had # 3. Only have #4 which I like as I am a fan of both Mike and Brian.

[rintinglen]

Much as I like Venturino's writing, the quality of the articles information is much better in the 3rd edition. The flaw in 3rd Edition is that many of the loads listed are for powders that have been discontinued, and of course there is no data for more recent powders Like Power Pistol, Clays, Varget, etc. Likewise, you'll not find data for your 357 Sig, 40 S&W, 454 Casull, nor any of the other gun-of-the-month cartridges. Still the information in the articles is much more in depth and varied than the 4th. I have all 4 and rate them 3--4--1--2 in order of usefulness. The 2nd Edition is a bit of an Oddball, in that for reasons obscured by the passage of time, all of the rifle loads are with pistol or shotgun powders! But it does have pictures of most of the Molds Lyman has made. Before I found CastPics, it was my main source of info on old Lyman boolit molds.

[Walter Laich]

My favorite too. After showing folks how to reload (and letting them do it) will recommend this book to them.
Don't lend mine out as I'm on my third copy since they never came back

[462]

"I don't have a copy of #2 but would rate mine in favorite order as 3, 1, and 4. Great info in all of them."

I agree with both statements.

Each has its unique offerings, and they are all well worth having. For instance, the 1st and 3rd list moulds that are no longer in production but are still very much in use, while the 4th has information for the newer powders.

[hardy]

Hi,Sounds to me that "rifle data only given using pistol or shotgun powders" would be particularly useful to many, given powder availability
nowadays.What goes around comes around,eh?Just my 2 cents worth....Cheers.Mike.

[Guesser]

The load data in #3 is a mirror reflection of that published in #2; as such I gave my #3 away to a budding boolit caster a couple years ago. My personal preference is Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook #1 as the best of the series; followed distantly by #4. Much can also be learned from the earlier Lyman Handloading books up till about #45; they had much of the same data and references as the CBHB#1. Load manual #46 was a new and different format and as such it also stands head and shoulders above 47, 48, and 49.

[ncmn]

Well I got my #4 ordered Monday and should be here tomorrow. Finally got around to ordering it and now I see this post and may have to look for #3 also? I have been casting for over a year now and just have not gotten around to.

[Scharfschuetze]

Another excellent read is: "From Ingot to Target" by Fryxell and Applegate.

You can get a PDF of it here:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?110212-From-Ingot-to-Target-A-Cast-Bullet-Guide-for-Handgunners

[2AMMD]

I started a long time ago...The Lyman #3 was the best reference I had and still is for cast boolits.
2AMMD

[MrWolf]

Based upon members comments I also purchased the Lyman #3 and #4 and downloaded the From Ingot to Target pdf. I also agree with the ranking as #3 seems easier for a beginner.

[trapper9260]

When I first started to cast the #3 was the one that I learn from and there was no such thing as the internet then .That is how i learn to cast.I have the #4 also.beside the #47,48,49