Beginning reloading, 308 WIN reloading manual recommendations

[schuetzen]

I want to start reloading.  I am mainly interested in 308 WIN.  Which one (or two) reloading manuals would be the best to start with for 308 WIN?

[cwlongshot]

Regardless of caliber or firearm, I always recommend the LYMAN MANUEL.

The sell equipment, not bullets powder or primers, so they use others supplies. To my mind making them a bit less biased. 

CW

[southernutah]

I use the powder and bullet manufacture manuals as a start. you can see here for most powder    http://data.hodgdon.com/main_menu.asp

[necchi]

"I want to start reloading."

 Ok, The local library, check out 1 book on re-loading and read it cover to cover, a really good one is the "ABC's of Reloading" by Bill Chevalier, (it might sound like a lame title but the info covers a wide range from novice to pro), then find another and read that one cover to cover.
 You should focus on the basic principles and saftey protochol that the reloader needs to know. On the top of this forum is are stikies that have basic componant info. If you jump into 308 specific literature, you'll be overwhelmed with data you may not understand.
 Load info for a specific cartridge (like 308) is found all over the place, Bullet makers manuals, Powder makers recomendations, alot can be found on line. The 308 is a great all around cartridge, a hunter, a long range gun, a benchrest gun, you can do alot of stuff with that gun.
 The Lyman manual is alright, I got it because of many recomendations, but it is my least looked at book.!!

[Dand]

The Lyman is a stand-by but I also like Speer, and Ken Water's Pet Loads. I have about 15 books and just discovered I probably need the Swift book too. Whenever I pick a new load I tend to consult several books.  I also get the Hodgdon Powder annual.

Necchi's advice about reading a few books cover to cover is good. Get the basics down in your head very clearly.

The 308 is so popular there is tons of info.  While I don't load it (yet) from what I read, it is a very forgiving cartridge and many reasonable loads will produce great accuracy in most any rifle. Not at all tricky or touchy.

For the pet loads you might find Wolfe Publishing online and may be able to get one of the supplements or old issues of Hand Loader Magazine that has just the 308 load info. - data as well as very informative commentary on loading techniques and component selection.

Be careful, follow the basic safety rules for reloading and you will have a lot of fun.

[the jigger]

Most all of the supply houses carry "Loadbooks" which are caliber specific.
They have data from the major bullet companies and powder companies.
I have a Loadbook for every cartridge I load.
I also have Sierra's and Speer's manuals.
I don't know whether one is better than another; I do know that one should get something
and read it very carefully before starting to reload.
GOOD LUCK and GOOD SHOOTING!!!

[mdi]

In MHO, I would suggest you start your reloading library with the ABCs of Reloading, Lyman's 49th Edition Reloading Handbook, and Lee's Modern Reloading. The after those are read and understood, get one or two from bullet manufacturers (whchever bullets you're using) and one or two from powder manufacturers (which ever powder you're using). If you get into casting lead boolits, get Lyman's Cast Bullet Handbook. These books will cover just about all a new reloader will need to know to get started safely. I have several manuals and I compare loads between two or three just to make sure I've got good info. for the cartridge/bullet/powder I'm loading.

BTW, Amazon.com has all these books...

[schuetzen]

Thanks for all the suggestions (and keep them flowing).

This leads to another question:  Are reloading manuals usually? always? going to refer to a specific mfg and model of bullet or can one use the data for other mfg's of similar design/weight bullets, for example 150 gr FMJBT made by different mfg's?

[necchi]

It's specific and shouldn't be cross referanced. It's part of that book learnin stuff.
 A bullets curve,(called ogive) varies by maker, thus putting the bearing surface of the bullet in a different position with different makers. The amount of bearing surface of the bullet is directly related to the pressure created by a given powder charge. Change how much the bullet contacts the barrel, and you change pressure. And the pressure is a major factor in keeping things safe.
 Here's a link with pictures to kinda give ya an idea that even same weight FMJ have different curves;
http://www.uslink.net/~tom1/calcbc/calcbc.htm

That can be a dickens, I have to makers load books, Nosler and Sierra. But I'm lucky two local sporting goods shops have their books open to the public, I can walk in and ask to look at Hornady, Barnes, etc,,,

[schuetzen]

I can see that I do indeed have a lot of reading to do.  Interesting stuff.

[cwlongshot]

Thanks for all the suggestions (and keep them flowing).

This leads to another question:  Are reloading manuals usually? always? going to refer to a specific mfg and model of bullet or can one use the data for other mfg's of similar design/weight bullets, for example 150 gr FMJBT made by different mfg's?

I agree with Necchi and feel he is spot on correct. Change anything in a recipe and you need to drop the powder charge and work back up. Now starting loads for MOST same weight bullets will be very close. The big difference is the homogeneous bullets. By and large these are totally different in the powder charges as they tend to be longer OAL and as necchi mentioned have a longer bearing surface and more resistance traveling down the bore making them harder to move in said barrel thusly creating higher pressures.  Phew that was a mouth full! 

What I will add to my first post is this:

 Get the generic manual. As I mentioned I like to recommend the LYMAN as they do not make bullets, powder or primers. Read it and begin loading. As you find a bullet, powder or primer you like, but that manufacturers manual. Read it and load more. as you go you will find that sooner or later you will have most all the available manuals in print. This is helpful to cross reference loads as misprints happen. This can be your double check.

Also so not discount older manuals too. Sometimes available at cut rate prices as they are old. Is the data bad, HECK NO!!! BUT you definitely will see discrepancies in that data compared to modern loads. 
Case in point, my favorite 30-30 load is with Win 748 powder. My load is many grains above what is listed in about all current manuals. Is my load unsafe? HECK NO, not in my guns it isn't!

Load carefully, without distractions and when you have enough stress free time to donate to it. Rushing or loading with distractions are two things that can and will cause problems.

CW

[Flash]

When I learned to reload, I had the same questions and I'm sure many folks here did too. The advice on using specific load date for a given bullet is right on the money. There is tons of load data here on the net from powder companies and Steve's Reloading Pages.
 http://stevespages.com/page8a.htm
You'll find by comparing different load data from different suppliers, all are going to be within a certain window for a specific powder on a specific weight bullet for the caliber you choose. I lean towards the lighter loads of reputable data publishers and then go from there. As mentioned, the bearing surface will be different on a bullet that's a boat tail as opposed to one that's not and the ojive, which is the frontal profile or the area which starts the nose is different too. Just remember, no question is a dumb one if you truely need the answer so ask plenty of them. Congratulations on the decision to reload, you're going to like it.

[schuetzen]

Looking at some example data from http://data.hodgdon.com on the 308 ...

As a newbie, I had not   been expecting that min/max powder loads for 110 gr bullets would be less than min/max loads for heaver bullets, i.e. 200gr.  I see now that the physics is more complicated than just the weight of the bullets.

[necchi]

"  I see now that the physics is more complicated than just the weight of the bullets"

Oh Ya ! 
 They're using some really complicated stuff ( for an avaerage guy ) nowadays to create these new high tech bullets. Machining capabilities have advanced a LONG way's since the German's introduced the "spire" point in WW1.
 You start getting into G7 areodynamics an high end Balistic co-efficients stuff and it quite literally IS Rocket Science !