Reloading manuals?????

[436]

The .223 data shot with a Ruger mini-14 is what I'm interested in. Those old books used actual rifles for their data and #10 was the first one to use the mimi-14 if I recall. Thanks
John

Yes, it says Mini 14, with 20" barrel if there's a particular load I'll get it to you, the load data.

 

[436]

The .223 data shot with a Ruger mini-14 is what I'm interested in. Those old books used actual rifles for their data and #10 was the first one to use the mimi-14 if I recall. Thanks
John

John,
Give me the bullets weights and I'll photo the pages for you.

 

[MagnumManiac]

Yes! However, I like to cross-reference them with bullet and powder manufacturers' recommendations.

Yep, this is exactly what I do.
I never err on the side of caution either, if a max is max in one book and not the other, I test up to that max.
I have load data for the 338WM using RE19 from the Speer #13 manual with a 225g pill with 78g as max….it was, and still is, perfectly safe over the Pressure Trace that I even asked Alliant if they agreed and could they test it, which they wouldn't test but did say it should be perfectly fine.
Not a single reference in any other manual, including Alliant's own published data agrees with this!
Have been pulled up on it several times, so the pressure trace gets hooked up and they go silent…..

Cheers.

 

[sheephearder]

John,
Give me the bullets weights and I'll photo the pages for you.

Sierra 52 gr hpbt and H335. Thank you very much.
John

 

[Kansaswoodguy]

The complete Sierra manual can be d/l to your phone / tablet. Fast & and easy to look up loads by cartridge. Under $10 annually IIRC.

I'm old I still like paper books

 

[WildRose]

The FUNDAMENTALS are crucial to reloading!

The front part of most manuals teaches these, and in my opinion are CRUCIAL to the learning curve. Hornady and Nosler are pretty good examples.

Have your person you plan to teach sit down and read the front part of the manual so he has a good understanding, knows nomenclature, understands the tools necessary, how to use those tools and execute the practice.

Once the person reads these and puts them into practice, my opinion is to slowly introduce them to upgraded techniques from an experienced hand loader.

There is SOOOOOO much information out there, it will become confusing to a beginner....

But, again.... The FUNDAMENTALS FIRST!

Just like learning any new subject!

Quite true. In my opinion though the manuals are woefully not giving enough emphasis to uniforming your brass be it once fired factory brass or new brass.

I hate to think how much time, money, and effort I wasted trying to get the perfect load out of brass that was not uniformed because nobody, and none of the reloading books I ever read put any serious emphasis on it.

 

[436]

Sierra 52 gr hpbt and H335. Thank you very much.
John

John,
Here you go, good luck.

 

[sheephearder]

Thank you very much. It was a long time(40+ years) ago when I loaded for it. I know it's not long range but I still have about 1200 of the Sierra bullets and have not tried them in my bolt action because it shoots a ragged hole at 100 yds with 50gr Noslers. Prairie dogs are in danger at 250+ at the ranch. Thanks again
John

 

[436]

Thank you very much. It was a long time(40+ years) ago when I loaded for it. I know it's not long range but I still have about 1200 of the Sierra bullets and have not tried them in my bolt action because it shoots a ragged hole at 100 yds with 50gr Noslers. Prairie dogs are in danger at 250+ at the ranch. Thanks again
John

John,
Glad I could help, they should work great in a bolt rifle as well as your semi, have fun. Cheers

 

[choprzrul]

I look at a load manual as a snapshot in time that is applicable to the components available at the time. If I want to load some old Sierras over RL22 bought during the Clinton panic and use some of the rat-holed Winchester primer stash that I found the other day.....I'll dig out an old period-correct manual for reference/sanity check.

I really like old manuals. In particular, used manuals that have someone's notes in it. Fun stuff.....

 

[436]

There was a time when guys would take 3 or 5 manuals, find the same cartridge, bullet weight, and powder, then add them together then divide by 3 or 5 however many books they used to get pretty close to the best load with the best velocity, yeah it works, we didn't have the internet and computers then. I personally found some very good loads that way for the common cartridges.

 

[WildRose]

John,
Glad I could help, they should work great in a bolt rifle as well as your semi, have fun. Cheers

Caution: Typically higher pressure loads are used in semi auto platforms that may or may not be safe in a bolt action.

 

[WYOHTF]

Yes! However, I like to cross-reference them with bullet and powder manufacturers' recommendations.

This is probably my biggest thing, looking for a test barrel length, twist and actual rifle or test barrel.
Some of the things I load for aren't in modern books, and IMR ???? Isn't the same road yesteryear.
I only own one SAAMI center fire chamber as far as rifles go. The internet isn't a bad place but the books, even the old ones; help sift the wheat from the chaff

 

[sheephearder]

Caution: Typically higher pressure loads are used in semi auto platforms that may or may not be safe in a bolt action.

I was aware of that when I changed to a bolt action, but my Ruger M77 stainless doesn't show any high pressure with 28.2 gr H335 under a 50gr Nosler BT. I now remember the most accurate load in my mini-14 was 26.8 gr H335 under the 52 gr Sierra bthp. Thanks for the caution! I was very fortunate to have a very experienced reloader teach and guide me back in the late70's and 80's.