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Posted: 10/31/2009 7:49:39 PM EDT
Excited for when it comes in a week or so.  Once I finish reading that, I will need a reloading "cook book". I am looking at the Hornady and the Speer reloading books currently. I will eventually get both, but which would you recommend me getting (I'm a total noob)? This is what I want to be loading in case if one book is better at these loads over the other: 9mm .30-30 WIN .223/5.56 I was thinking about getting the Hornady since I like their ammo (lever-evolution, tap, critical defense, etc), but I don't know if that would be the best book for me since I am a beginner. What I am wanting is to make low cost practice ammo for 9mm, .30-30 WIN, and .223/5.56. I also want to make some really nice hunting loads for .30-30 WIN and .223/5.56 as well. I don't know if this info will help any, but I figured it couldn't hurt to disclose it. I want to end up loading 12ga in the future, but I need to get a shotshell reloading book for that. |
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Both of those are good choices. When you buy gunpowder, ask for the pamphlet published by the gunpowder maker. These usually have more data than available on line their web sites.
Keep your eyes open for used manuals as they are also valuable, or will be if you expand the range of cartridges you load, and most are two or three dollars. |
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Quoted: get several books as they all vary slightly and some won't have the bullet you're looking for. I plan on getting multiple books as many have told me to do. I am just wanting to know which one I should get first. Don't worry, I will get both eventually  ETA: Thread hijack question - I see that powder has a Hazmat fee as well as primers. Could I buy powder and primers on the same order at say midway and only have to pay for one Hazmat fee? I also saw that they ship powder 3 weeks after it is ordered. What is up with that? |
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Some will ship together depending on amounts ordered, three weeks out on powder not bad because of the volumes of orders and difficultly of getting enough product. Try to find a supplier with both on hand and save seperate hazmat fees. Seperate hazmat fees will eat all the savings that you might have saved buying in bulk. sdshooter.................. |
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get several books as they all vary slightly and some won't have the bullet you're looking for. I plan on getting multiple books as many have told me to do. I am just wanting to know which one I should get first. Don't worry, I will get both eventually
ETA: Thread hijack question - I see that powder has a Hazmat fee as well as primers. Could I buy powder and primers on the same order at say midway and only have to pay for one Hazmat fee? I also saw that they ship powder 3 weeks after it is ordered. What is up with that? Powder Valley is the only place they combine Hazmat charges for powder and primers that I'm aware of. I like Midway, but there are a lot of better places to buy powder. Check the links at the top of the page. Wideners, Midsouth, ect. Loading manuals, start with Hornady or Sierra, they both have a section about loading for gas operated rifles. Third choice Speer. What ever brand of bullets you are buying, get that manual first. |
| I have this^^^ for .223 but it's just a repeat of all the other manuals I have, so if you don't want to buy a bunch to start with there is allot of load data from each manufacture for that particular cartridge just not much useful tips and how to, just load data mainly. I have Hornady, Sierra, Lyman, Barnes, ABC's, Hodgon(just load data really), & Nosler complete manuals and am looking for a Speer manual now, all good books with lots of info. |
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I really like "The Complete Reloading Manual for _______" series. For about $5.00 you get all the load data from 12 or so manufacturers on a single cartridge. They make a good reference for me since I only load a few calibers anyway. +1 I have one of these books for every caliber I reload...makes a great reference when working up loads, along with having 3 or 4 manuals tabbed per the cailbers you need |
| I assume you're getting the latest edition of "The ABCs of Reloading." That's good. But hunt around for the 4th Edition-the last one written by Dean Grinnell. Aside from his very enjoyable writing style, you'll get some details and nuances about the basic processes and techniques that I have found to be very helpful. And Grinnell was able to provide plenty of history to go along with the technical stuff-making his writing more substantial. The guys who wrote the chapters in the current edition are good-not "gun magazine hack writers" by any means, but they just don't have Grinnell's style or experience. You'll be glad you got the old version of the book. |
Ok cool, it looks like the next book will be the Hornady once I read the ABCs. After the Hornady, I will get the Sierra and then the Speer. I will continue my collection, don't worry  Thanks for the links to some suppliers, I am already bookmarking some supplies (just bullets, brass, press, etc). Thanks again everyone for helping me out. This is the kind of stuff that makes ARFCOM completely worth $24 a year. |
| The lates speer manual sucks!!! They keep refering you to the pistol section, but they left it out. The only section for pistols is for Cowboy shooters. Not bad if your into cowboy pistol shooting but it does not help you load 45 ACP for an auto. I had a hell of a time setting up the bullet seater and finally ended up puting a factory load in and set the die for that, it worked. Np mpre crushed cases. I had reloaded 1000's of rifle rounds but never any pistol, new speer manual completly left that out. |
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Yeah, if you get the 3rd or 4th edition of ABC's, read what he wrote about .38Specials, a hot radiator and the dog. GAWD that is funny!!!   That and why you NEED an orange tabby cat for reloading. You just don't get that kind of pointer from current writers.
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I like the ABC's and Sierra manuals. The sheer amount of data can bewilder someone new to reloading, hence, the Sierra manuals offer load recomendations for both accuracy and hunting (combination of accuracy and velocity) as a good place to start component-wise. As far as online data is concerned, Hodgdon rules, they even list loads for some wildcat cartridges, interesting stuff.
http://www.hodgdon.com/ |
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i have the abcs of reloading, speer, and hornady. they are all great books for starting a library of reloading info but i would not stop there. i would continue to add to it. i am looking at lymans 49th for my next read. Lyman 49 is a great manual. A good read with lots of how too's. Has cast bullet and jacketed loading data, and the latest powders. |
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Yeah, if you get the 3rd or 4th edition of ABC's, read what he wrote about .38Specials, a hot radiator and the dog. GAWD that is funny!!! That and why you NEED an orange tabby cat for reloading. You just don't get that kind of pointer from current writers. Sounds like I'm going to have to reread my copy. It's been so long I don't remember those stories.
Dean was always one of my favorite writers. Knew his stuff, inside/out, and had a great way of saying it. |
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Lyman manual has great general knowledge section. Not very bullet specific, but good background on handloading. It kind of made everything come together for me.
The Lee website has some good videos about die setup too. Otherwise, I have the Hodgdon magazines for quick reference as all of my powders for rifles are from Hodgdon. |
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Powder Valley is the only place they combine Hazmat charges for powder and primers that I'm aware of. I like Midway, but there are a lot of better places to buy powder. Check the links at the top of the page. Wideners, Midsouth, ect. My last order from Wideners had both powder and primers. There was only one Hazmat charge and they were all in the same box. |
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Just curious - how many of you guys read the ABC's of any of the reloading manuals front to back like a novel? I didn't, I read the sections that pertained to the subject(s) I was interested in and skipped the rest. Was that a mistake? Not a mistake, but the more you read and understand, the more you know and that can only help in reloading. |
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Yeah, if you get the 3rd or 4th edition of ABC's, read what he wrote about .38Specials, a hot radiator and the dog. GAWD that is funny!!! That and why you NEED an orange tabby cat for reloading. You just don't get that kind of pointer from current writers. M. L. McPherson wrote the 3rd edition. Mac makes no mention of an orange tabby cat for reloading . It appears that technology has advanced beyond me, my reloading education is a bit lacking here, may have to track down a 4th edition.
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Just curious - how many of you guys read the ABC's of any of the reloading manuals front to back like a novel? I didn't, I read the sections that pertained to the subject(s) I was interested in and skipped the rest. Was that a mistake? I read every new reloading manual cover to cover. I have an older ABC's I've read several times. I've been reloading since 1977, and I still learn something, or get my memory refreshed with every read. |
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Powder Valley is the only place they combine Hazmat charges for powder and primers that I'm aware of. I like Midway, but there are a lot of better places to buy powder. Check the links at the top of the page. Wideners, Midsouth, ect. My last order from Wideners had both powder and primers. There was only one Hazmat charge and they were all in the same box. Good to know, thanks. |
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