as christmas nears, my girlfriend is already wanting to know what i would like for christmas. One thing i was thinking about was a new loading manual. I have an hornady manual, a speer manual and 3 sierra manuals (not the newest however). I load a lot of Nosler bullets, hornady bullets, and sierra bullets and primarily IMR and Hogdon powders. Many of the current powders aren't listed in these manuals that i have as of now and i have to resort to the manufacturer's website for information regarding loading of the powder. What new manual have you found to be the most comprehensive?

I enjoy the color photos in the Barnes manual but if I didn't have one and didn't use Barnes bullets, I'd wait for the new one, possibly by the next Christmas.

I've always liked the big book Lyman puts out. It covers a lot of ground, and Pb bullets too.

Hodgdon puts out a hard cover book that shows a lot of cartridges and a lot of bullets and IMR and Alliant powders as well as their own.

I like mine a lot.

My favourite manual is the Nosler. For me, they most often seem to list the combination of bullet (weight) and powder I happen to be looking for. I also like that they list the powder they happen to get the best results with, as well as what powder weight was most accurate for each powder. This may not apply to your rifle, but represents interesting pointers, IMHO.

Other manuals I commonly use: Hornady, Sierra, Vitavuori, Barnes and RWS.

- mike

I'm with vapodog on the hodgons manual, but just one isn't enough. If you glance throuhg 5 books you'll come up with different loads in each of them. The one caution is that sometimes speers book will be a bit on the hot side.

I have to admit that I refer to the latest version of the Nosler manual the most. (But, I shoot a lot of Nosler bullets.)

Having said that, the latest version from Sierra has more information in it. That is, it really covers more cartridges. If you are a single shot pistol shooter, the latest Sierra is a must, it has LOTS of good information.

Either one is a must have in my opinion. Both show lots of loads using the latest powders and bullets available.

Heck, tell her you want both.

PS: In my personal opinion the latest Barnes manual is a joke. It has so many errors in it that whoever proof read it should be tarred and feathered!

Richard Lee!!!! He copies everyone's loads. It really is a fair reloading manual. roger

I upgraded to a new Sierra Manual last year and it is loaded with plenty of data to make you happy. My old Sierra manual was twenty yrs old and kind of out of date for new calibers.
If that doesn't work go to stevespages. Steve's data is amazing.

I prefer the Nosler #5. Easy to read and lists the load density which I find useful, like to hit 85 to 90% case capacity. The one I reach for first and the most.

I too like the Nosler manual, in fact it's sitting on my coffee table right now. Great reading and load data.

IMHO Any one you beleive, and follow!
If you don't buy the loads in the manual because they are lawyered down or whatever. Then that is not a good manual for you.

muck

You really need to get a copy of A-squares Any Shot You Want. It isn't the source of the latest and greatest in powders and bullets, but everyone should have a copy.

I'd just stick the websites for updates on new powders and bullets, the print book's get out of date pretty quick, especially when you factor in the time to write and edit them, they're to an extend out of date when they hit the shelves.

Ken Waters' "Pet Loads" and supplements are my favorites. That guy must have lived at the rifle range and the reloading bench. He saved me a lot of time doing research and load testing. On nearly all ocassions I've simply looked up his favorite loads, duplicated them, and couldn't improve upon them.

But his work is starting to get a bit dated as some of the components he used are no longer available and there the powders and bullets available now that he never heard of.

Bottom line is there is no one book. You will end up with several books and consult all of them to get a good feel for a caliber.

"speer 13" with stickers of "Sponge Bob" pasted in on every page, make a wonderful "custom" load book.

well i already have several older manuals so i'm not looking for just one to do it all but rather i'm looking for a new manual that has new information regarding new powders and bullets of the calibers i'm shooting. I'm thinking about the newest nosler and hogdon manuals considering that is what i shoot the most. Thanks guys
Ruck

I believe you need several manuals tbecause of the variences between them. I use most of them especially the Nosler, Sierra, and Lyman. I would also recommend Sirra's Infinity Suite software, it has the easiest to use balistics progam I'e found. It only takes seconds to calcualte zero and point blank range for almost any bullet made.

brystar,
i agree with you in the sierra infinity suite software. I have a copy of it along with their reloading manual (not the newest manual but the next one).

If you can find them in your caliber the "Load Books" are great (but they may be a bit out of date). I have them in 30-06 and 243. Unfortunately there isn't one for 260, so I like the new Nosler and Speer and the Hodgdon annual.

I don't like the Lee manual. He doesn't state which brand of bullet, nor COL nor barrel length to get the posted velocity. He lists it all together. It's ok for a sanity check, but I'd not use it for my primary source.

Ruck,

Another idea might be a CD (or a few) with both reloading data, and exterior ballistics like Sierra makes, or something like "Load from a disk". I have used these more then my manuals.

Lee

I like the Speer Manual for it's step by step reloading instruction and easy to understand. It is not all that up to date but there will be a #14 soon.

Lee has the most extensive reload data I have seen. Lots of different powders and all the bullets.

I like the newest Nosler manual, #5 I think. I also like the latest Hornady edition, but I was a little disappointed that some of the newer cartridges were not included. I guess that they were not through testing them before it went to print. If Hodgdon has a newer one out, that may be a good one also.

I find the Lee books to be really close to the velocity figures that I chrono myself. Even though every bbl produces alittle different speed the Lee data has been close from my experience. Several of the other's I've looked at seem to have quite padded velocity figures.

Good Luck!

Reloader

Get at least 3 if you want to get a good average of what to really expect.

If you prefer a specific brand of bullet buy thier manual. Everybodys bearing length varies
as will you pressures when you switch bullets.

bearing length=friction and drag resulting in different chamber pressures.

Don

It's important to remember thet the reloading guides are just that, a guide and not a Bible. You have to load up to the maximum, I almost never get up to the max load with my 300H&H Winnie.

With that in mind, I use the somewhat bullet indistinct Lee loading guide..

Lee also does not list case type, primer, gun, and so on. So reloaders have to be careful with his data.

quote:

Originally posted by buckshot:
I've always liked the big book Lyman puts out. It covers a lot of ground, and Pb bullets too.

In addition, it has black powder loads for cartridges like the .45/70. etc., as well as data for a number of obsolete rounds such as the .50/70, .38/55, .32/40, etc.

Besides, Lyman has no powders or bullets to sell, so they seem to use a large variety of different brands of powders and bullets in their data.

Metallic Cartridge Reloading, a paperback book by M.L. McPherson, is 2/3s loading data from several different bullet and powder sources. The downside is the publishing date of 1996, a bit outdated. A used one can be bought pretty cheap.

Another good source is the Hodgdon Annual Manual. It includes some wildcat data as well as the newer cartridges on the market. The downside to this one is Hodgdon powder data only.

I use Speer then cross check with the Lee Manual and http://stevespages.com/.

ZM

Pet Loads by Ken Waters. Tops in my book. Bill T.