Lyman cast bullet handbook 4th edition review.

[JCM45]

I have and use both the Lyman #3 and #4. They supplement each other nicely.

[Alferd Packer]

Being familiar with the books mentioned here ,the Lyman 1,2,3 , and 4 and owning them along with Speer, Hornady, Lee, and so forth as well as having access to the threads posted on this forum and others, I am excited when I see a newcomer posting his or her success and also trials and errors on here without the benefit of having read or seen the literature printed over the years concerning reloading, casting, sizing, the advisability of using starting loads before max loads are attempted.
But then I see loaders who started with max loads and have never used a starting load in their years of reloading and consider anyone using a start load to be a weakness.
Many starting loads are accurate, sweet shooting with little wear and tear on firearm, shell casings and the shooter.
Of the many loads available, the fun of reloading is always experimental .
After weighing, sizing, calibration, the question is : how does it shoot?
You may find that your favorite load is too heavy or too lite, ls too low , or just not accurate in your neighbor's gun.
Because, as the saying goes, every firearm is a law unto itself and mostly, no two shoot the same load the same way.
Many of the reloading questions are Custom Reloading questions regarding a gun that others may have in the same caliber, but since no two guns shoot the same load, the same way ( rarely) they cannot expect the same results.
Basically, the law of averages is at play here with out much expectation of repeatable results.
Even locking the gun down in a machinists vise is the closest comparable result, and most of the shooting is done freehand.
So I think, be careful out there and have fun, but each successive shot can spoil a good group so just have fun.⁷
Let your gun tell you whi load it likes best
.
Them that skim a book for knowledge usually cheat themselves out of the price they paid for writers to explain the questions that appear many places on the internet.
If you are in a hurry, your loading and shooting results will
reflect this.
Shoot some, read some, reload some, read some more.
I still have the original LEE loading handbook first edition, .98 cents that was for the hand hammer type LEE loading tools.
And before you ask, the loads listed were largely the same loads in the Lyman reloading manual.

The starting loads have usually always proved to be the most accurate loads for the firearm in that caliber.

LEE loaders still use a starting load recommended for their first loads.

[rintinglen]

Up until a couple of years ago, I recommended the 3rd edition over the fourth. The articles and information in the front of the book were far more informative, there were more boolits listed in calibers I used and I found it to be an excellent teaching resource.

However, as time passed and more and more of the powders listed were discontinued (Curse you, Hodgdon) eventually I had to change my mind and recommendation. 5 out of the 8 powders listed for the 44 special 200 grain boolit are no longer produced. Many of the other cartridges face similar problems, with a quarter or more of the suggested loads based on powders that are no longer available. And then, there is the problem of "new" powders that have come onto the market in the last 40 years.

At this point in time, I say buy the 4th: you'll need the fresher data, [but download and read the 3rd].