Which of the new reloading books are good and not brand specific? meaning only showing their bullets. I'd want at least loads for 375H&H, 06, ackley improved cartridges would be cool. 458 Lott and I don't suppose any of them have 416 Taylor.

Thanks dudes.

Red

Dago Red

Get on your search engine and look up used books. You can generally buy manuals in like new condition for about 1/3 to 1/2 the new price. P.O. Ackley had a manual saw one just a coulpe of months ago listed. Swift Aframe also has one that may have a couple of loads that would interest you.

Red,

Hogdon's manual is one of the better manuals that is not brand specific related to bullets. I'm not sure if the newest version has .416 Taylor and .458 Lott data. I know for certain that the A-Square manual has data for the .416 Taylor and .458 Lott. It uses Nosler, Sierra and A-Square bullets, but is short on data compared to many other manuals. The only manual I remember having any data for the AI cartridges is the Nosler 4 & 5 books.

Lyman is good for not being brand of bullet specific. I have the 47th edition (1992), no Ackleys, no Lott or Taylor. I think they've got a 48th by now, maybe they'd be in there.

They're all good in their own way. Bullet and powder companies that produce them are not very objective about products from other manufacturers, if they're even shown, so I agree with craigster. I don't shoot any calibers that are not listed in the Lyman 46th, or the SPEER #11 so I still use 'em. I am a firm believer that all load manuals should have pressure data rather than just listing a maximum load and hopefully Lyman is still doing that. Getting ahold of all of the powder manufacturers load booklets is also a good way to supplement your load manuals. Some powder companies no longer believe in supplying free data for their powders. I have a simple solution for that: I rarely buy their powders!

Generic bullet data by wgt is available from most of the powder manufactures on their web sites.

Your local newsstand should have the 2006 Hodgdon Annual Manual for about $7 or so. I like this 'magazine' style format (it lays open to my page nicely) and the amount of loads they cram in there, plus the price is right. A variety of bullet weights and brands are provided for each cartridge.

I like the Nosler book, not only because I load Nosler bullets but also because they present their bullets with VihtaVuori powders as well. I think the A-Square book is good as well, especially if you load big bores.

Nosler,Speer,Barnes, etc there all good and the loads listed are all safe in my rifles. On the other hand P.O. Ackley,A-Square, and Wildcat Cartrides have loads that make me wonder how many rifles were destroyed developing the published ballistics. It's best to start fairly low the the latter set of manuals and work up carefully.

The only two manuals you will find that are not brand specific are Lyman and Hodgdon.

quote:

Originally posted by waterrat:
Nosler,Speer,Barnes, etc there all good and the loads listed are all safe in my rifles. On the other hand P.O. Ackley,A-Square, and Wildcat Cartrides have loads that make me wonder how many rifles were destroyed developing the published ballistics. It's best to start fairly low the the latter set of manuals and work up carefully.

hey pardner

you gotta remember ackley wrote those books back in the '60's and powders have changed through the years. mant people don't take that into consideration. wouldn't he have a ball now with all the powders that have been developed, even the ones that have showed up since he passed away. i'll bet he is sitting in reloaders heaven with a big smile on his face right now.

If you havent already, you might want to checkout the COMPLETE RELOADING GUIDE by John Traister and Robert Traister. Published by Stoeger.
It does not have a tons of loads, but has quite a bit covering most cartridges(doesnt have the dang 300 savage though).

I like to use Speer because that is what I started with 30 years ago but I also like Serria and the balistics department with the 800 number. Hodogon's probably updates more often than the others.

my 2 pennies worth
Larry

Thanks guys, I have a Lyman book, not sure which one offhand but it has to be at least 10 years old. I usually go to that, and like the fact that they are a bit conservative. I have a Speer book, Nosler, but they are not the current ones. I will look at these and put them on my wish list for my upcoming birthday (wife wants a list) and will try to find the Hogdon magazine version.

I have found a speer and sierra helpful with load data when I called them.

Thanks guys.

Red

Dago Red ----- The books put out by the powder companys are not brand specific on bullets, but they are on powder, those put out by the bullet companys are on bullets but not powder. That said I really like the new Barnes, Nosler, Swift and particularly the A-Square books, the later even giving the lot number of the powder. Now going and finding that powder may be impossible, but at least the information is there. Good luck and good shooting.

The A-square manual has data for a lot of the big bore stuff including the 416 Taylor.