what's the verdict on the new barnes reloading manual, is it too screwed up to trust?

I recently found some more errors not previously acknowledged (including one glaring error among their corrections!) and emailed them about it. They offered to put me on a list for a reprint. I recommend that you write them and request the same. They claim that no errors are found in the load data. Given the amazing errors in other places, I find this hard to believe, but the bottom line with any manual is that its just a suggestion and maybe not even a good suggestion. I have found more than 8 gr reductions in load data for Weatherby cartridges after the data was pressure tested in the Speer manual. They only develop loads for one barrel and who's to say that its not a weird barrel? I always compare several sources and if something looks out of place I steer clear of it.

As with most things, the more info you have the better off you'll be. Cross-reference all load data with as many other sources as feasible.

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From my cold, dead hands!
Thanks Chuck!

Im have some diverging thoughts on this one. On one hand, there are so many problems with it that I think the best use of this manual will be starting fires in my fireplace next year.

On the other hand, I have to hand it to them for recognizing the problems and at least trying to correct the situation. This is unlike some other companies who won't even acknowledge their mistakes when I've pointed them out to them.

That's my take on it.

RSY

Harald & RSY, I agree 100% with your call. I too unfortunatley bought one of these books the other day.

I found many, many errors in it, to the point of not trusting the information at all. I have since gone out and bought 2 others to get information I need.

I called them and they said they were sending me correct information on the various calibers I pointed out as to not being correct. One in fact is the using of the xlc blue coated bullet in the 7mm mag. I won't use or trust this present day book.

I will call them back again and ask for my money back or at least a book with the correct information Geezzzzz.

For those that may not have this information yet, the corrections to Reloading Manual #3 that Barnes has posted on their web site can be found at:

http://www.barnesbullets.com/mancorr.html

-Bob F.

[This message has been edited by BFaucett (edited 03-08-2002).]

Hey, Barnes can't even put the information on line in the correct form either. Look at the information for the .338 mag and see if you can pull it up.....I sure can't.

Here is the complete exchange that I had with Barnes recently. I was rather rough with them (though not unfair) and they took it well.

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Guys, I don't know what to think...

The figure you provide as a CORRECTED .224 Wby Mag is wrong. A quick glance by anyone even passingly familiar with Weatherby will tell the tale. Where is the double radiused shoulder? That should have been a quick clue that something was fouled up. At least the
original was a Weatherby design! The replacement appears to be a unique creation, using a correct overall length but shoulder dimensions from I can only guess where.

What the heck is going on?!?!

You ask us to believe that you have conducted safe and thoughtful loading procedures with your bullets, yet this manual is so brimming
with stupid and glaring mistakes that leap off the page at you, I shudder to think what more furtive errors lurk. Am I to really believe that you guys can perform proper reloading procedures when you can't even get a cartridge drawing right? How do I know you were actually loading the said cartridge? Maybe it was really the 220 Swift! Who would know?

You haven't even tallied all the errors on your corrections page. Just a few additions...

Head size on .223 Rem is 0.378, not 0.366

Shoulder height on the .270 Win is 2.157, not 2.199 (same as 280 Rem) as you indicate

Neck diameter on the .338-06 can't very well be 0.339 (this is simply the .30-06 case)

The neck diameter on the .338 Scovill looks about right, but the shoulder is (again) just the .30-06! You guys are just making these dimensions up in your head! The .338-06 has a longer neck than the parent cartridge and the Scovill has a shorter neck than the .338-06 or
the .30-06.

The .338-.378 Wby figure is misleading, but at least it has the double radius indicated

[ You corrected the .348 Win from the No. 2 manual - Thank you! ]

.375 Scovill is (again) simply a .30-06 case

.454 Casull is a rimmed cartridge! I don't know what this is. 45 Win Mag maybe?

Guys, I really did not go through the book comparing your drawings with some other reference page by page. These are things that just stand out in a cursory pass through. They should have been caught by any editor who knows anything about firearms and reloading. Better still they should not have been possible in the first place.

I really like your bullets and I want to be able to load them in confidence that I'm not going to die! I know quite a lot about reloading. Newcomers won't see the potential
problems as quickly, if at all.

Hoping that this message is not just a waste of my time,

Harald

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Harald,

Let me say that I completely understand your frustration. Being one of the persons working on this manual, it is quite disheartening to see how many typos and mistakes made it into the final print. Only to discover that even
the corrections we have posted on our Web site were off too!

The .224 Weatherby Mag is not a SAAMI cartridge yet. Therefore, we found quite a few discrepancies in the drawings we worked off. However, I have the numbers we feel good about now and we'll be posting the correct illustration in our reprint and on our Web site very soon.

I know that you are right. There are several errors in our drawings. Let me assure you though, even with the many mistakes that we made in the layout of our manual, our data is very safe. We spent so much time working in our lab on this data and planning for the manual that it is really sad how quickly it could be questioned because of poor proofing. We learned an important lesson about planning ahead and leaving time for the layout proofing.

Right now we are triple checking everything in our manual for our reprint this summer. I would like to put your name on my list for a reprint. I'm sure you know that it is unhappy complaints like yours that are in the forefront of our minds as we try this again.

Take care and good shooting!

Kami

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Kami,

Thank you for the forthright reply.

Yes, I would like to be added to a list for a reprint.

I hope you are correct in your belief (for all concerned) that no errors found their way into the data itself.

Regards,

Harald