Reloading Books

      Manuals are published by many different reloading equipment and reloading component manufacturers and are each focused on their particular brands. Also available are caliber specific reloading manuals that compile all of the information from other reloading manuals, but only for one caliber. The single caliber type of reloading manual is considerably cheaper for obvious reasons.

      The primary function of the reloading manual is to list a number of different safe loads for many different cartridges. The information is most often presented in a chart form showing what amount of which powder was used to create a certain velocity with a certain weight bullet. The powders are typically listed from fastest burning (smallest charges) at top down to the slowest burning (largest charges) at the bottom. Separate charts are used for different weight bullets, and separate chapters are for different calibers.

      There is an extensive amount of research and testing that goes into producing this load information and ensuring that every load in the reloading manual is within SAAMI pressures for that certain cartridge and bullet combination. It is absolutely critical to start your load development process at least 10% below maximum loads as listed in a reloading manual, and preferably from an average of max charges as listed in several manuals. From there a reloader should stay within the load data listed. All of that research was done to keep you safe, ignoring it is foolhardy. Always watch for pressure signs if you are shooting max or near max loads. If you ever see any of these pressure signs stop shooting that load immediately.

      Most reloading manuals will give you some information on reloading, the basic do’s and dont’s and that type of information. Some of the better reloading manuals will also give some information on ballistics and what happens when the bullet goes off as well as a bit of info on what makes guns accurate. Since most reloading manuals are published by reloading equipment and component companies they also typically have sections detailing that company’s products.

      All reloaders should have at least one reloading manual, preferably more than one. Personally I like to use the manual put out by the manufacturer of the bullet I am using, and the powder company’s web based information. I figure that since that company makes the bullet, they ought to know the most about them; likewise for the powder company. Most bullet manufacturer’s manuals will have a large number of different powders to select from and will give recommendations based on what they saw that shot the best. The powder manufacturer’s reloading information is typically more generic and list minimum and maximum loads for a certain bullet weight. Most powder manufacturer’s reloading data can be found for free on the company’s website, but I advise you to look up the information yourself instead of taking someone's word for it. Numbers have a way of getting jumbled around on the internet.

      One of the best reloading manuals I own is the Lyman 49th edition. It has over 100 pages of information on reloading, details on the components, etc… This reloading book is very informative and definitely one of my top resources.

      I strongly advise staying within the load data in your reloading manual(s). The companies that put out this information spend lots of time and money measuring pressures for the different loads. Charging some powders to low can create very dangerous secondary pressure spikes, and going to high can create far too much pressure overall. The cartridge overall length (C.O.L. or O.A.L. depending on the author) is a good bit more variable and is in fact one of the best ways to tune the accuracy of your load as you will see in this article about load development. Adjusting the C.O.L. can change the pressures, so make sure you watch for pressure signs when doing so.

      Reloading books provide us with essential data and helpful information. It is in your best interests to purchase one or more reloading manuals, but the other books are certainly worth looking at as well.