NVcurmudgeon
02-03-2006, 08:29 PM
WARNING-OPINION AHEAD (no proof offered, nor flames acknowledged.) This is regarding those loading manuals that I consider to be the majors. IMO, they would include manuals offered by ammunition makers, large jacketed bullet makers, and powder makers. Two other sources that should be added to my list are Lyman, and Ken Waters' "Pet Loads." Shotgun manuals, very specialized manuals such as how to paper patch cast bullets for European Scheutzen rifles, and electronic manuals will not be addressed. (I don't have room enough on my loading bench for a computer.)
Most of the majors do a pretty good job of publishing updated manuals at resonable intervals. My pet peeve in this area is that some manuals can become quite long in the tooth without their publishers trumpeting how old they are in their advertising. Along with this goes reprinting verbatim data that was poorly researched or outdated in the PREVIOUS edition. It is only after the purchaser buys his "new" manual that he discovers that it dates from President Reagan's first national campaign.
There are two of the oldest and largest of the loading publishers that commit at least one of the above irritations. Speer No. 13 was published in 1998, and much of it was a reprint of Speer No. 12. Particularly obnoxious to me was their data in No. 12 for the .35 Whelen. Velocities listed for the Whelen were lower than those for the .358 Winchester. I wrote to Mr. Jones of Speer and was told that Remington had not been forthcoming with "calibration ammo," IIRC, so Speer could not load to factory pressure standards. Fair enough, and Mr. Jones promised to send me the updated .35 Whelen data as soon as they had it. A year or two went by without my receiving the new data, so I wrote again. The second letter was ignored or lost in the mail. But not to worry! Exciting news from Lewiston! Speer No. 13 was being published! I rushed tight down to the gun shop for my copy of the latest and greatest. With trembling fingers I quickly turned to the .35 Whelen section to find........an exact reprint of the wimpy data from Speer No. 12. I am managing to curb my eagerness anticipating the arrival of Speer No. 14. If Speer is a little behind the times, Lyman's Cast Bullet Manual is nothing short of disgracefully out of date, having first seen the light of day in 1980. Lyman, however, has the saving grace of providing a gold mine of information, particularly for the beginning caster. Lyman also has some mythological information that should be culled from future editions of their CBH as mercilessly as I would remelt a wrinkled boolit. And it is high time for a new edition.
IMO, Speer is suffering from conglomerateitis. They used to be very responsive to customer letters forty years ago, before they became a mogul. Lyman, of course, is still debating whether to allow themselves to be dragged kicking and screaming into the twentieth century. Shhh! Don't let it become known in Connecticut that there is now a twentyfirst.
Most of the majors do a pretty good job of publishing updated manuals at resonable intervals. My pet peeve in this area is that some manuals can become quite long in the tooth without their publishers trumpeting how old they are in their advertising. Along with this goes reprinting verbatim data that was poorly researched or outdated in the PREVIOUS edition. It is only after the purchaser buys his "new" manual that he discovers that it dates from President Reagan's first national campaign.
There are two of the oldest and largest of the loading publishers that commit at least one of the above irritations. Speer No. 13 was published in 1998, and much of it was a reprint of Speer No. 12. Particularly obnoxious to me was their data in No. 12 for the .35 Whelen. Velocities listed for the Whelen were lower than those for the .358 Winchester. I wrote to Mr. Jones of Speer and was told that Remington had not been forthcoming with "calibration ammo," IIRC, so Speer could not load to factory pressure standards. Fair enough, and Mr. Jones promised to send me the updated .35 Whelen data as soon as they had it. A year or two went by without my receiving the new data, so I wrote again. The second letter was ignored or lost in the mail. But not to worry! Exciting news from Lewiston! Speer No. 13 was being published! I rushed tight down to the gun shop for my copy of the latest and greatest. With trembling fingers I quickly turned to the .35 Whelen section to find........an exact reprint of the wimpy data from Speer No. 12. I am managing to curb my eagerness anticipating the arrival of Speer No. 14. If Speer is a little behind the times, Lyman's Cast Bullet Manual is nothing short of disgracefully out of date, having first seen the light of day in 1980. Lyman, however, has the saving grace of providing a gold mine of information, particularly for the beginning caster. Lyman also has some mythological information that should be culled from future editions of their CBH as mercilessly as I would remelt a wrinkled boolit. And it is high time for a new edition.
IMO, Speer is suffering from conglomerateitis. They used to be very responsive to customer letters forty years ago, before they became a mogul. Lyman, of course, is still debating whether to allow themselves to be dragged kicking and screaming into the twentieth century. Shhh! Don't let it become known in Connecticut that there is now a twentyfirst.