Relaodimg manuals

[lock n' load]

I bought a single press setup from a coworker which included several reloading manuals. The "newest" manual of the bunch is a Hornady 7th edition which appears to  have been published back in 2010. I have some questions about reloading manuals.. My first question is even though it's an older edition, as for loading 9mm, .45 ACP and .223 ammo, does the data change much with newer editions? Should I buy the latest edition of their reloading manual? I know there are many different manufacturers that publish their own manuals. Is one brand better than the other? Thanks.

[Quavodus]

Sometimes things will change with burning rates of powders. But, no older than it is, I wouldn't think there would be a serious problem . Always work up to a max load. If you want you could buy another new manual. I've got 2 or 3 Speer, a couple Hornady and 3 Lyman.

[Grunt67]

I have the Hornady 10th Ed.  I agree with Quovadus, you should be ok with what you have.

[Alleycat72]

I use quickload exclusively. 

[krunchnik]

I have used the same recipe's for 40 years now and have had zero problem's with any loads-

 

[Omega]

I always start my loads about the middle of the range, and I work up (or down) from there.  You could always cross reference your loads on the powder or/and bullet  manufacturers website to make sure you are within the recommended range.  As @krunchnikstated, my loads never change unless the rifle does, for my handguns I just load a middle of the range load and adjust my sights or POA to make sure I can hit my target.

[Grunt67]

2 hours ago, Omega said:

I always start my loads about the middle of the range, and I work up (or down) from there.  You could always cross reference your loads on the powder or/and bullet  manufacturers website to make sure you are within the recommended range.  As @krunchnikstated, my loads never change unless the rifle does, for my handguns I just load a middle of the range load and adjust my sights or POA to make sure I can hit my target.

I do pretty much the same. Start in the middle, then work for best accuracy. I'm not interested in blazing speed.

[gregintenn]

I have several reloading manuals, but my usual go-to is a well worn Sierra manual that has to be at least 30 years old.

The manuals don't really go out of date, but you do miss out on load data for newer powders and bullets if you rely on the old books.

If you're old school like me, it won't really make much difference.

[xsubsailor]

 It's always wise to have at least two manuals (or more) to compare data. I ran across a conflict on a 45 Colt load once, the starting load in one manual was very close to the max load in another. I checked the powder manufacture's site to see which one was correct, or a least close.

 The biggest mistake I made when I started reloading was using one manual, Speer I think.  It didn't have any data for cast bullets, so me being the bright individual I was at the time, and pre-internet, I figured a 200 gr bullet was a 200 gr bullet regardless of being cast or jacketed.  WRONG

 I didn't blow anything up or lose any appendages but it was lesson learned.  

[Omega]

59 minutes ago, xsubsailor said:

 It's always wise to have at least two manuals (or more) to compare data. I ran across a conflict on a 45 Colt load once, the starting load in one manual was very close to the max load in another. I checked the powder manufacture's site to see which one was correct, or a least close.

 The biggest mistake I made when I started reloading was using one manual, Speer I think.  It didn't have any data for cast bullets, so me being the bright individual I was at the time, and pre-internet, I figured a 200 gr bullet was a 200 gr bullet regardless of being cast or jacketed.  WRONG

 I didn't blow anything up or lose any appendages but it was lesson learned.  

Back in the day (pre-internet), and still if no data in Lyman #4, I will do the same exact thing.  I take the same process, start in the middle with a load for the same weight, and profile, of the cast bullet and work the load up or down as necessary.  What issues did you run into?  The only issue I had was case bulge (figured out the mouth flaring pretty fast), which is still an issue with some loads.  Most times the load is close to jacketed or plated, with only hardness to worry about once it leaves the barrel.  Now, with so many resources, you almost never have to take chances like that anymore, but some resources I'd trust more than others, like castboolits.

[gregintenn]

I have a bunch of little booklets they used to sell on ebay that consist of loading data from a bunch of different manuals, specific to one caliber.

I also have a shotgun loading manual, a cast bullet manual, and several old books like the Pet Loads set by Ken Waters.

For a newby, The ABCs of reloading is a great reference for answering basic questions and describing what you’ll need and how to safely reload. I have this one as well.

These are all handy from time to time.

[Grunt67]

I did a little research some time ago. Found that taking the same bullet, you find a wide range of recommendations from different brand manuals.

I've always used the manual to match the bullet, brand wise.