What reloading books????

13 December 2004, 05:02

TBEAR99

ok i'm finally about to start reloading next month i'm wondering what is the better reloading book???? i currently have an old lyman reloading and a hornady fourth edithion two book set which covers most of my cals.It's missing the 303savage which i do plan on reloading any suggestions

13 December 2004, 05:13

vapodog

There's two books that I like a lot.....because I've always been able to duplicate their loads shown.

One is Hornady's and the other is Hodgden's hard cover book. The Hodgdon book also has loads for their competitors powders.....and of course one must be a trifle suspect as to the conservativism of the "competitor" loads.

As far as the .303 Savage.......if you know the right bullet diameter, I'd be tempted to use data for the .30-30 with same weight bullets or at least similar.....assuming the rifle is in good condition.......disclaimer: I didn't say to use it.....just that I might be tempted

13 December 2004, 05:14

carpetman

TBear99---Hold on to those old books,you can't have too many and ALWAYS cross reference. I like Lyman in that it has cast data and I do use cast as well as jacketed. I like the ballistic tables in Hornady. Sierra is also very good.

13 December 2004, 05:44

Ol` Joe

Quote:

The Hodgdon book also has loads for their competitors powders.....and of course one must be a trifle suspect as to the conservativism of the "competitor" loads.

Hodgdons book is the one I reach for quite often. I find it very informative and like the fact it covers multiple bullet styles and wgts.
I think though the "conservative" competitions loads are gathered from the competitions own data. Hodgdon doesn`t work up any data for other brands of powders.

13 December 2004, 07:32

F6Hawk

My local dealer (who is no longer into reloading, but used to shoot match and has kept all his books) advised me to get as many books as I can, and read every one of them about the caliber I wish to load. Of course, there will be differences, but one can make a more informed decision that way. Kind of like taking the average of all, and having the best (or safest) result.

And one book he mentioned, I THINK he called it a "Hatcher's Manual" (but don't quote me on that, I will ask him this week and see if he found it), but he could not find it that day... he said it was a WEALTH of information, and very old... something like circa 1920 or so. But he said it had tons of information on velocities, ballistics, and such.

Said their methods back then were things like a shooter aiming at a beach hundereds of yards away, and a spotter running over and putting a flag in place when the bullet impacted the sand. Gotta say, I prefer the more conventional methods of determining velocities & range!

At any rate, the more you have, the better, and while I WOULD include a new manual, to cover newer powders/bullets/processes, etc, certianly some of the old manuals have good material, too.

And if you have a question about a particular load, post it here, because most likely, someone has already "Been there, Done that", and are still around to wear the T-shirt.

HTH

F6

Links:

http://www.reloadbench.com/store/store_book.html

http://www.darkcanyon.net/referenceinformation.html

http://www.darkcanyon.net/handloading_safety.htm

http://www.nd.rifleshooting.com/bookstore8.html

http://www.cartridgecollectors.org/bibliography.htm

This last one has what *appears* to be every book ever published on the topic, and ISBN numbers to help you find them.

13 December 2004, 10:06

Clark

Quote:

ok i'm finally about to start reloading next month... the 303savage which i do plan on reloading any suggestions

You will find that 303 Savage brass very expensive.
The book says to make them from 220 Savagee brass, but some at this forrum has suggested the 303 Brit/30-40 Krag is a better starting point. I can't find the thread, with the search function now out of commission.

13 December 2004, 10:47

bartsche

Modern reloading by Richard Lee is one of the best to start with as he takes everyone else's data and compiles it into his Plajeristic masterpiece. Actually I think it services the reloader nicely though. It also has reloading data on .303 Savage.

In as much as Clark is right about the cost of the cases , if you can find them buy 50. In that caliber I doubt you will need more in a life time. If you get hooked on reloading and increased shooting you'll be going to something more contemporary in short order and you will only suffer the intial cost of the .303 S brass anyway.

I'm really not sure how you could SAFELY convert .303 or 30-40 brass into .303 Savage brass unless you have swaging dies and a hell of a strong press. Removing metal on a lath might not be too smart although I've done that going from 30-40 to 6.5 Carcano.

Anyway the Richard Lee is the manual to get.

roger

13 December 2004, 10:59

CMcDermott

The only new reloading manual that would have the 303 Savage in it is Lymans Cast Bullet Handbook, my third edition does have some data for the 303 Savage. If you try to use this data with jacketed bullets, you have to reduce the powder loads as jacketed bullets are much harder to engrave on the rifling which results in higher pressures from the same powder load. You probably should look at gunshows for old loading manuals to get data for the 303 Savage, the problem is that the powders may have been discontinued or changed slightly since the manual has been published. To find brass for this cartridge go to Quality Cartridge.