Reloading data manual

Looking for an updated reloading data manual. Any recommendations as to your preference. I know there are several available. I have an old Speer manual from the early 70's currently. I am sure there have been some changes / updates over the last 50 yrs.

Midway sell little books for individual calibers. Some actually feature 2 calibers. The have the data for most bullets and a various powders

Resumed reloading for rifles 2 years ago. Got a Lyman 50th, Hornady book, Lee book and use other references like the Hodgdon annual manual. Something useful (like load data suggestions) in all of them, but the really good stuff in none of them. Good stuff found on forums and youtube.

Hodgdon actually has an online reloading data guide for their powders. Accurate has a free downloadable guide for their powders as well.

The Lee manual is probably the most comprehensive... A lot of the data is just reprinted from Hodgdon and others.

Mike

if you already reload the powder manufacturers website can get you a LOT of data that is current

if you don't reload or haven't reloaded in a bunch of years Lee Modern reloading has a very good guide and recipes

if you are all about cast bullets then Lyman is a good manual

If you’re gonna load lead bullets, the Lyman manual is the best!

Thank you for all your input. I haven't loaded for several years but did it a lot in my younger years. Rifle, pistol and shotshell. I gave much of my loading press,dies and other data equipment to my then brother in law. I was very busy on the road trapping for many years and busy with the lure business when I came home.

One consideration even for powder with the same designation: If you are loading with old powder that is still good use the old manual data. If its a new can of powder use new data. Powder performance has changed over time.

Good point. I do have powder from years gone by, It has been stored fairly well. Certainly will have to run some loads and see how it works.

Nosler puts together a heck of a manual. Beautiful to look at an read. I get every edition. I love the little blurbs on the different cartridges. Data is for Nosler bullets, but data can be extrapolated if your running other brands.

Hodgdon's annual magazine manual is always current with new powders, cartridges and bullets, has some good articles and doesn't break the bank.

Lyman is my go to plus the online versions of the different powder manufactures. Lymand, because they have data for all powder and bullet makes mixed in together with some data for cast bullets.

Smokeless Powder stays good for decades. There have been some improvements made though. There are powders now that burn at almost exactly the same rate producing the same pressure when its a 100 degree summer day or 14 below in February.

Web sites:
Hogdon (and Winchester and IMR) - https://www.hodgdonreloading.com/reloading-data-center

Nosler - https://www.nosler.com/load-data/caliber-and-cartridge-data.html

Speer - https://www.speer.com/reloading/rifle-data.html

Alliant - https://www.alliantpowder.com/reloa.../reloaders/RecipeList.aspx&gtypeid=2

Ramshot - https://ramshot.com/load-data/

Depending on the cartridge and the powder I have I usually go to one or more of these sites.

I'd say Nosler and Lyman would be the two I would choose from. Probably lean toward Nosler as they have some data on copper and guilded bullets if you ever load any. The new manuals will be tamed down from the old manuals. The old manuals will give hotter loads for the same cartridge and bullet. Look up and print a copy of VENTIVURI's (probably spelled wrong.) powder burn rate chart. It gives a side by side comparison of the different powders burn rate so moving up or down from faster to slower burning powders is much easier. You will find that powders from different manufactures have the same burn rate. I wish it was available when I started out as it could have saved me a lot of time and powder. Brush up on pressure signs and get you a lighted magnifying glass for inspecting fired cases.

Or you can always just type in each caliber and brand of bullet and get it for free .
Then write it down in a notebook for later reference .
Our buy one reloading manual for each brand of bullet that you may shoot .
I have quite the collection of reloading manuals including a Ken Waters favorite loads manual that I enjoy reading .

I have quite a few, none newer than probably fifteen years old. Lee Modern Reloading is a good read and a pretty comprehensive manual. The single caliber booklets from Midway are great. As everyone says you can look up loads online nowadays, just use common sense, some people post loads that aren't safe in a lot of rifles. Lyman has a cast bullet specific manual that is pretty in depth for cast bullets, of course they only list Lyman bullets but you can usually safely use the loads with other brands of molds that are casting the same grain bullets.

dang i feel like the lone ranger here, i use a sierra load book and shoot mostly their bullets.

Cotton I been shooting sierra boat tails for more than 40 years in my old 270. Been shooting those barnes tsx in my 300 win mag lately. Pretty pricey but sure do work good. Got a weak spot for nosler partitions also. Been shooting 150 grain hornady round nose as 30-30 medicine for more than 40 years too.

I have shot Sierra bullets since I started reloading in the late 60's.

I use a Hornady book. I mainly load Hornady SST's for hunting purposes.

Speer, Nosler and Barnes have free load data on their website. The powder companies also have free online data as well

You're not alone. I have their 5th edition manual and reference it a lot. I'd like the 6th edition to get some info on some of their newer pistol bullets... But I don't wanna shell out $55 for it. Back when the "pandemic" buying scare was in full swing you couldn't get any of the Sierra manuals... I emailed them and asked about load info for 190 gr MatchKings in 300 Win Mag... They were kind enough to send me ALL the load data for 300 Win Mag from 110 to 240 grain. Good folks.

Berger makes nice bullets but I would like my $30 back that I spent on their manual.

Mike