Best Loading Manuals

[BRL]

I need a new reloading manual. I would like one, or a separate one, that talks/has loads for lead/cast. What manuals would everone rank in the top 3?

[TNrifleman]

Lyman, Hodgdon, Lee

[Nobade]

I like the Accurate Powder book. It has lots of cast loads as well as jacketed, with good drawings and descriptions of the cartridges. I also use the Laser Cast book some, and the RCBS book. The Lyman book is sometimes useful.

[menotomyhunter]

I have found the Speer #13 to be most realistic for 6mm Remington, 7X57(7mm Mauser), .308Win and .30-06 Springfield. However, work up your loads from their "starting load" recommendations. Don't ever be foolish by going to their max loads immediately. That is a dangerous practice that can have serious consequences. Good luck and have fun!

Regards,
menotomyhunter

[Glanceblamm]

I have found the Speer #13 to be most realistic for 6mm Remington, 7X57(7mm Mauser), .308Win and .30-06 Springfield. However, work up your loads from their "starting load" recommendations. Don't ever be foolish by going to their max loads immediately. That is a dangerous practice that can have serious consequences. Good luck and have fun

Good Advice
Some manuals, (like my Lyman) call for more powder & list lower velocitys in some rifle & pistol calibers than my Sierra or Hornady do.
22gr of 2400 in a .45 Colt
I guess that it is do-able but I sure would be going slow past the 20gr mark.

[beemanbeme]

Top of the line (imo) is Lyman followed by Speer. Sierra and Hornady are good books.

[Ranger J]

I probably use my Lee manual the most.  While I like it a lot there are a couple of things that could be done to improve it.  1. Tell from what kind of gun and the length of barrel the velocities listed were from.  2.  When they give the suggested loads for a given weight bullet, stick to the same list of powders regardless of whether the bullet is jacketed or hard cast.  It seems that every time I look at a new load it will give the load in a jacketed bullet, say for Red Dot and then on the hard cast bullets for the same weight go to an entirely different line of powders.  Gets to be real aggravating.  Still this is the manual I use most.
RJ

[goodconcretecolor]

I like the Lee and Lyman manuals as general references and recommend the manual published by the manufacturer of the bullets you plan to use. I use mostly Hornady and their two volume manual is excellent(though a bit pricey).

[R.W.Dale]

 I'm going to be the odd man out but Metallic Cartrige Reloading has just about every load from all the manuals in one book

http://ec3.images-amazon.com/images/P/0873491807.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V1056502775_.jpg

[Gregory]

Lyman

They use  jacketed bullets and powders from many different manufactures.  Published velocities are realistic.

[DWTim]

I feel your pain. There are more cast lead bullets out there than I can shake a stick at. It'd be nice to have a manual that has more lead bullet recipes than expensive specialty copper jacket ones.

One thing you shouldn't overlook is the wealth of free information that bullet and powder manufacturers offer on their websites. I note that Accurate doesn't get their fair shake in a lot of books. However, they have all the popular loads listed for free on their website. I'm also thankful for this because they are one of the few that publishes information about the 375 Supermag. I've also printed off recipes from Winchester, Speer, and Alliant. However, I use Speer #13 as a baseline for determining load safety, since some of the magnum handgun loads are a bit ridiculous (pressure-wise).

[PaulS]

Hodgdon and Lyman are the only two that I have that list many loads for cast lead bullets. The Speer #13 (or any before) offer loads developed for their swaged lead and cast bullets only. I have some real old manuals that offer loads for cast bullets but they have been out of print since just before / after I got started reloading 34 or so years ago. Lyman and Hodgdon both have good data on hard cast lead bullets for pistols and rifles. They are the best in this case.

[BRL]

Seems that a few of the same keep coming up. Thanks for everyone's input.

[BRL]

Just picked up the Speer book today since I like to use their Gold Dot in my .44 mag. I'll probably get one more book with a lot of cast loads and rely on those two for a while.

Thanks again.