Hi everyone. I am new to the site and the reloading game. I was wondering about information in reloading manuals. I am going to load some .45 ACP with 185 grain hornady XTP's for my first ever batch. I will be using Hodgdon Universal. My Speer manual shows data for their own bullets and my Lee manual shows what I will call "generic" loads for styles and weights of bullets not really mentioning manufacturer. Speer recommends starting with 6.9 grains of powder while Lee says 6.8. The kicker is that Lee specifically has loads for the XTP, but doesn't mention Universal. I looked on Hodgdons web site and they 6.0 grains for a 185. I plan on getting several more manuals. I just really would like to know if 6.8 grains as specified is a safe load or start at 6.0 like hodgdon says. I really like the Lee manual because it's very informative. I would like to think I could rely on the simplicity of their data only having to worry about weight and bullet style, but the hornady manual will be my next purchase since I really favor their XTP's for my hanguns, especialy .44 Magnum. Also, why are some .44 bullets .429 and the XTP's .430, and what effect does that have on pressure. Thanks for the help in advance, and if I've overlooked this information in a previous post I apologize, Chris.

I would start with the Hodgdons website load since they are the only source that has the bullet and powder combination you are using. The Speer starting load is probably a very safe load too, but I'd start with Hodgdon anyway. Just be careful when you are using minimum loads to make sure the bullet makes it out of the barrel before you pull the trigger on another round. Working with minimum loads has its own sets of concerns that you need to watch for. If there isn't enough pressure the first bullet will stick in the barrel and the second round will cause a major problem. So, just start with 6.0 grains and if that works okay, gradually try warmer loads at .1 grain increments.

There can be significant pressure variances between 185 grain bullets between manufacturers, so as with any load, gradually work your way up. It seems the Hodgdon loads are on the conservative side compared to other manuals, but there could be a dozen variables that could influence the pressures they saw. The pressures you see will be unique (to some degree) on your pistol and will be different than the pistols the loading manuals used. So you will need to do some careful and gradual testing to see what works best in your pistol.

The diameter 0.429 vs 0.430 inches in bullet diameter is of no consequence.

By all means get the Hornady manual since it's quite good but Hodgdon publishes a yearly reloading magazine with a lot of data at a good price which I'd also recommend.

You've just run into an issue that perplexes many new handloaders; the variation in data form manula to manual. Remember that every test platform is diff. from manual to manual & diff. from your specific firearm. So I like to get data from three reliable sources & then avg. the starting & max. Then I pic the avg. middle data & start there. Work up or down in 0.1gr increments for handguns & load no more than 10rds w/ each charge wt. Use an OAL that is as long as your mag allows & feeds well in your pistol. A dummy round helps, & you can use your removed bbl. as a case gage.