Help with the right reloading book

[generalquark]

Hi,
I am looking to purchase a reloading book, but there are alot of them out there and I am looking for specific things. I shoot oddball rounds like 5.7x28 and the 6.5 grendel so i am not really interested in all the data for all the different rounds. What I am looking for is a good basic understanding of how to reload, and specifically for making really high quality long range ammo. I want to make good quality 6.5 grendel ammo and not just sub-par ammo to save money. I have reloaded some already, but haven't really read much about it at all. I have pretty much just figured things out and have loaded 5.7x28mm, 9mm, 5.56, and 6.5 grendel. I like what i read in this section on the board, but am also looking for something in book form i can take with me to read on the road. Thanks for all your help!

 

[vman]

Re: Help with the right reloading book

Hey quark

Whilst i havnt really come across a reloading manual that is the holy grail of reloading resources, I can say that most of the big guys books are pretty good at nailing the basics and safety.

By this i mean the hornady, speer, sierra etc etc.

If however, you are after precision long range ammo, my personal preference is lots of research and talking to people with the experience.

I often find myself flicking thru Sinclair Catalogues and reading articles on accurateshooter.com. If you havnt looked at either i highly suggest to check them out they are some of the best sources of information on products out there that will assist you in your search for accuracy.

I find the basic reloading "kits" do just that... basic reloading

Its all of the extra things that you dont get in the kit, that to me seem to add to an increased accuracy of my rounds

Grab yourself any manual, perhaps Hornady, and read the crap out of it. Once you have done that flick thru a sinclair catalogue and look at items that may be of interest to your reloading endevours.

Once you have done all of that, check out Bryan Litz book about applied long range ballistics

 

[flyinlizard]

Re: Help with the right reloading book

+1 on the book by Brian Litz and then just visit all the websites you can find for info. www.longrangehunting.com has lots of good info too.

 

[Fuzzball]

Re: Help with the right reloading book

Virtually all our major reloading manuals have good info that isn't found in others so it's worth the time and price to read all of them. What that sorta says is that no one, or two, or three of them will tell us everything we may want to know but each of them tells enough to get us started safely and that's their goal. There are NO reloading manuals that provide the meticlous processes for precision loading for any discipline; that ISN'T their goal.

You would do well to get any manual(s) you can and read them for what they offer, you WILL learn things that way.

AFTER you have well developed basic reloading (and shooting) skills - and that will take awhile, it sure won't be done in a year - you could look for help in more advanced methods books. There aren't many but I have a few and would strongly suggest anyone pursuing accuracy get a copy of "Precision Shooting - Reloading Guide", Dave Brennan; it's excellant and the price is modest. (One of the least helpful books I have is the popular "Handloading for Competition", Zediker; I found it to be lots of chaff, little wheat.)

 

[Deisel]

Re: Help with the right reloading book

I would recommend Zediker's book as a good source of information for how to reload. Here is a link to his site http://www.zediker.com/books/handloading/hlmain.html

 

[generalquark]

Re: Help with the right reloading book

Thanks for your help guys. I will probably pick up the lee and hornady books and also that applied ballistics book as well.

 

[generalquark]

Re: Help with the right reloading book

deisel I read reviews on Zediker's book and it appears alot of people have trouble reading because of his writing style. Did you notice that at all?

 

[kraigWY]

Re: Help with the right reloading book

Get as many as you can, the more books, the more information.

Don't count out the Older Books as well, Sharp, Whelen, Mattern, Keith, to name a few. I think these guys went into more detail, good stuff left out of the newer manuals.

 

[Deisel]

Re: Help with the right reloading book

generalquark, I would agree his writing style is a little hard to read. However, there is a lot of good info there and to me it is well worth the effort to find the info. Just read it for about 1/2 hour at a time and take notes. When you are done you will have boiled it down to the useful info. Also note page numbers of the info, he skips around. I have not found any other manual that provides all the info he has.

 

[bubbapug1]

Re: Help with the right reloading book

any book BUT modern reloading by Lee...its a propaganda brochure.

I started with the ABC's of reloading, followed by Precision reloading...both solid books.

 

[bigwheeler]

Re: Help with the right reloading book

That's funny I have the lee book and found it as complete or more complete than
most others. I own very little in the way of lee products so it didn't work out to well
for them on the propaganda part. It has some formulas in it for powder/case capacity/bullet weight changing up that I haven't seen elsewhere.
That said it is not the right manual for an experienced loader looking to make benchrest accurate loads.

 

[vman]

Re: Help with the right reloading book

Quark, dont forget the ol sinclair catalogue.

If you havnt got one, jump on their site and order one they are for free.

They make excellent reading material and are one of the most informative guides as to whats on the market in relation to reloading tools.

With such a vast array of things available today, its nice to see them all categorized neatly and in a sense put up next to each other

 

[HotIce]

Re: Help with the right reloading book

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: kraigWY</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Get as many as you can, the more books, the more information.</div></div>
Precisely. You want to cross-reference as many info as you can.
You can find a lot of info even online, since many powder/bullets manufacturers have online reloading helpers nowadays.

 

[Powder_Burns]

Re: Help with the right reloading book

My gosh nobody mentioned the LYMAN manual and its easily the best one out there..

 

[Brasscow]

Re: Help with the right reloading book

I would also recommend Glen Zediker's book. Aside from that there is a ton a great information on the web right here in the reloading forum.

I have also really enjoyed many different articles at www.accurateshooter.com

Good luck with reloading. It sure is fun. I am learning new things all the time.

 

[lhensler]

Re: Help with the right reloading book

I too beleive the more books you have the better you will understand the process. With good knowledge as descibed in the many different manuals you will see things a little bit different in each manual and put it all together yourself. Best advice is after reading the manuals find someone as mentioned before that has experience who can help you. A good teacher is better than any amount of books. You just need to be familiar with what is happening. If you do it all by yourself you are in for a lifetime of learning and experimenting. Why not pick someones's brain who has been down that road many times?
LBH

 

[polish handgunner]

Re: Help with the right reloading book

It is a good idea to pick up a few reloading manuals. Each one has some ideas not found in others.

 

[Boosted3s]

Re: Help with the right reloading book

I like the sierra book, I also buy that hornady magazine they come out with once a year. Both have good starting info.

 

[Fuzzball]

Re: Help with the right reloading book

"I read reviews on Zediker's book and it appears alot of people have trouble reading because of his writing style. Did you notice that at all?"

Zediker is the rare college professor who shoots. That's good. But, he's still a college professor and those guys do love to hear themselves talk. That is reflected in how many pages you have to read to find the occasional kernel of useful data. His book IS HONESTLY TITLED "Handloading for Competition". If you aren't pretty deep into (gas gun) match shooting a lot of it won't apply to you at all.

Mr. Diesel is correct in that about a half hour of reading Zedieker's book was about all I could take without losing track of what I think he was trying to get too. And you do need to take notes, or at least use a highlighter a lot, to find and focus on the trully useful parts.

On the other hand, the "Precision Shooting Reloading Guide" comes in eight chapters covering the broad spectrum of precision handloading. Each chapter addresses a specific set of needs and is authored by a highly qualified shooter/reloader who speaks clearly and to the point on the topic. There's VERY little fluff in it! In fact, at least for me, it has 3-4 times more usable info on fewer pages than anything else available today. If I had used a highlighter in it as I did with Zediker's book, many of the pages would be almost solid yellow!

 

[chops_are_in]

Re: Help with the right reloading book

I have to give another 1+ for Zediker's book - Handloading for Competition.

Shakespeare he is not, but he does a great job of discussing the different aspects of competition handloading. He studies each topic at a deep enough level that you can make your own informed decisions about where you want to draw the line in your loading methodology. There's a great big slider between casual/volume handloading and benchrest handloading. We fall somewhere in the middle. The book really helped me focus on testing and evaluating loading procedures and brass preparation steps to see what made a difference in my handload development. I developed a much better understanding of procedures that were nowhere near worth the effort for what I was trying to accomplish.

Anyway, it does deserve a place in the library.

Chops

 

[SnkBit]

Re: Help with the right reloading book

I'm disappointed that no one mentioned the new stickies in the reloading section. I found a lot of good info in them.

 

[terrance250]

Re: Help with the right reloading book

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Powder Burns</div><div class="ubbcode-body">My gosh nobody mentioned the LYMAN manual and its easily the best one out there.. </div></div>

I agree completely. I have Speer, Hornady, Nosler, & a Sierra manuals as well as all the major powder manufactures data & usually end up going to the Lyman book.

As was mentioned above, the more data at your disposal for cross referencing, the better. But if I was to only have one manual, it would be the Lyman.

 

[Fuzzball]

Re: Help with the right reloading book

Terry, your book suggestions are certainly valid for noobs through moderate reloader skills but NONE of the common "reloading manuals" provide any in-depth or advanced reloading info.

 

[generalquark]

Re: Help with the right reloading book

Thanks for all the suggestions guys.

 

[Fisky]

Re: Help with the right reloading book

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: SnkBit</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I'm disappointed that no one mentioned the new stickies in the reloading section. I found a lot of good info in them. </div></div>

I haven't been at the reloading bit very long, but I found them stickies to be very helpful and informative as well.

"The ABC's of Reloading" is a good book too. I don't remember if it has a chapter dedicated to long range precision reloading, but it has a plethora of good info on the basic processes of reloading.

 

[samnev]

Re: Help with the right reloading book

The Sierra & Lyman are my main reloading manual. Also a call to Sierra has quite often been very helpful. Their techs are always eager to help.