A book recommendation for more info on reloading

[gasbag]

Hello,

I started reloading about 3 months ago. I have reloaded 45, 40 and 9mm without blowing myself up, so far.
I have been using a Lyman book and sticking to it religiously and have reloaded about 1000 rounds total of all 3 and it is getting interesting and surprisingly a bit of fun.

I am now, for the 45, using a 230 gr. FMJRN bullet and 5.2 gr. of W231 which works fine for me and my wife.
Nothing fancy, just a nice moderate load that is fun to shoot for both of us.
I am using the same load for my 40's 165 gr. with the same results.

What I am looking for is a book that will go more in to explaining the reasons for using different grained bullets, help on fine tuning loads, reason for using different powders etc.
For the 45 I can find 230, 200, 185 and 165 gr. bullets and I have no idea why I would choose one over the other. I am using 230 gr. because it was the one I was most familiar with.
The variety of powders out there is also quiet daunting for a beginner and I would like a good knowledge base to work from.

I am not trying to become Mr. Wizard of reloading. I am just looking for a good book that will help me learn the why's and wherefore's of doing things and maybe make shooting a bit more fun and interesting.
I started reloading because my wife discovered she loves to shoot and now our usage has doubled. I created a monster but she absolutely loves it. :mrgreen:

Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
gasbag

 

[temmi]

I tend to use the books produced by the bullet company (Horn, Nosler, Speer).

I recomend everyone do the same... the bullet can and will change everything.

What brand bullets do you use?

Snake

 

[Kanook]

I've been reloading since the early 90's and have found that there is no "ONE" book for reloading.

I have 8 manuals and a "LOT" of copies from friends books and magazines. One manual will say this is best and the next manual will disagree. Go with what works best for you, and don't be afraid to try different powders to get there.

 

[Cheesewhiz]

Mr. Gas, You probably would want to look at getting a hold of articles and books that are type specific at some point. I mostly reload 9mm and after that mostly for semiauto pistols and then it's handguns. So I will collect stuff that fits those categories. John Taffin, Pat Sweeney and some others have a lot of info out there for me. I do find looking back at my Lyman and Hornady manuals I glean something in the forward sections I may have glossed over when looking at them the first few times.

 

[Rclark]

I can't think of 'one' source that has 'everything'. Bits and pieces are 'everywhere'. Just start building your library and read, read, read. I have lots of manuals, magazine articles, on-line information that I've ran into is printed and in my 3 ring binders..... With 9mm and .45ACP, .40 you are kind of limited in range of what you can use. When you get into revolver cartridges like .357/.38, .44Mag (or special), .45 Colt, etc.... You have a much more 'room' to play as you don't have to worry about enough force to cycle the slide, or to much and beating up the slide ... besides worrying about the unsupported part of the cartridge.... In revolvers, you can go from bullets almost sticking in the barrel speeds to fire-breathing loads (within the pressure limits of the cartridge of course).

I can recommend joining the alternate Ruger forum to get access to Iowegan's library : http://rugerforum.net/ There is some great pdfs on lead bullets and powder usage and other great information... You do have to post there a few times before you get access to the information.

 

[gasbag]

Thanks for the responses.
Like I said I am using the Lyman reloading manual at present.
I also have some material from Dillon I have been using.
I just purchased 3 small books specific to the calibers I am loading.
The bullets I am using are from Everglades Ammo in Florida.
They look good, their weights and dimensions are accurate (I checked) and free shipping.

Everything is working very well right now. I am just wanting to learn a bit more and hopefully
be able to improve things in the future and I am looking for explanations on how and why to do that and not just a recipe book of directions.
Most of the books I have seen are just basically a recipe book. Add this and this, put it together and go shoot it.
I guess maybe I am looking for a book that doesn't just say "Do this and this and this will happen."
I am looking for a book that says "Do this and this and this is why this will happen."
If that made sense. Naahhhh, not with my brain will that ever happen. :roll:

I will be perusing the book stores and gun shops as I always am and hopefully find something.
Everyone have a good day.

 

[Cheesewhiz]

This is one of the books I recommend, I can supply articles or at least some links for more specific stuff.

http://www.amazon.com/Reloading-Handgunners-Patrick-Sweeney/dp/144021770X/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1351889083&sr=1-8&keywords=patrick+sweeney#_

There's stuff in there for .44's and .45 Colts, in case you should want to throw out your 9mm's and the .40's and .45ACP like RClark recommends. :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[M'BOGO]

Everything is working very well right now. I am just wanting to learn a bit more and hopefully
be able to improve things in the future and I am looking for explanations on how and why to do that and not just a recipe book of directions.
Most of the books I have seen are just basically a recipe book. Add this and this, put it together and go shoot it.
I guess maybe I am looking for a book that doesn't just say "Do this and this and this will happen."
I am looking for a book that says "Do this and this and this is why this will happen."
If that made sense. Naahhhh, not with my brain will that ever happen. :roll:

Don't take this as me thinking I know what I'm talking about, or consider myself an expert, or good. Not trying to be preachy either, just don't know where you are at.

The recipes are pressure tested with the listed components, to be safe, and to allow proper functioning of the action in magazine fed, self loading firearms.

The reason for the recipes, is relatively simple. When things get mixed and matched, the pressures can go ape in a hurry. With small cases, fast powders, and small charges of powder, 35,000 psi 6 to 18 inches from your face, a 10% variation in powder charge matters. With many powders in the cartridges you mention, 3/10 of a grain separates a warm load from a max load, per some of my references. Two slugs of the same weight, can have drastically different pressure characteristics, because of differences in jackets, and the core alloy. Cases have different capacities, which affect pressures. Different primers have different characteristics, and burn rates.

Add to this, some powders do unpredictable things when the circumstances change. They might not react well to light loads (see H-110/Win 296), or get really spiky above a certain range (noted by John Linbaugh in his article about the .45 Colt, with Unique).

The new Handloader Magazine was in the mail box today, an article by Terry Wieland, Chamber Pressure Revelations, looks to be very good, and on the path you are looking for. Handloader Magazine isn't perfect, but can have some good information in it, on average, three issues a year have something really good, in my eyes. But I'm still learning.

 

[Arctos]

Here are a couple older but excellent and fairly comprehensive references:

Principles and Practice of Loading Ammunition by Earl Naramore

Complete Guide to Handloading by Philip Sharpe (http://castpics.net/subsite2/ClassicWorks/complete_guide_to_handloading - sharpe - 1937.pdf)

 

[gasbag]

The reason for the recipes, is relatively simple. When things get mixed and matched, the pressures can go ape in a hurry. With small cases, fast powders, and small charges of powder, 35,000 psi 6 to 18 inches from your face, a 10% variation in powder charge matters. With many powders in the cartridges you mention, 3/10 of a grain separates a warm load from a max load, per some of my references. Two slugs of the same weight, can have drastically different pressure characteristics, because of differences in jackets, and the core alloy. Cases have different capacities, which affect pressures. Different primers have different characteristics, and burn rates.

The new Handloader Magazine was in the mail box today, an article by Terry Wieland, Chamber Pressure Revelations, looks to be very good, and on the path you are looking for. Handloader Magazine isn't perfect, but can have some good information in it, on average, three issues a year have something really good, in my eyes. But I'm still learning.

I understand the need for the "recipe" format. I stick to the ones I have religiously.
I started at the minimum recommended load for each and moved up if necessary to where the pistol functions well and still keep recoil down to make it more comfortable. I am a recreational shooter. I have no interest in hitting mach 3 or formulating some magically accurate cartridge.

What I meant by the "recipe" statement was that loads are listed out with no explanation except to minimum or maximum loads.
I would like to find a book that helps me understand why things happen. Why choose one grain of bullet over another, why one type bullet is more accurate, why one certain powder load makes it more accurate, why one brand of powder works better.
Reloading has become more fun and interesting than I thought it would and I am just snooping around for additional information.
And you think you are learning? I checked the date on my first box of reloads. It says Sept. 20th.
I received the machine the last week of August so it took me a month of reading and becoming acquainted with it to get going. I am a newbie to the 10th degree. I am newbie cubed. :mrgreen:

Thanks for the mention of the Handloader Magazine. I did not know it existed and I am going to check in to it.

 

[M'BOGO]

Handloader Magazine is published by Wolfe Publishing, they have good distrabution, found it a Wally World in rural Missouri originally, most good mag stands that sell gun rags carry it these days.

As for the why's, that's a good question. Everything seems to be a rule unto itself, or else there would only need to be one load for each, and it would be accurate :roll: .

The hunt is part of the fun though, unless you are looking for 10MM brass in tall grass. That is not fun...

 

[Cherokee]

Your guns will tell you what they like. No book can tell you what will work in your guns. The data the manuals give is only the combinations they tried in their test vehicle (gun or barrel). The various powders listed are what they tested and give the users options, and indicate the burn rates that will work. Finding what works or satisfies you is part of the fun.

 

[TexasFats]

Handloader Magazine is published by Wolfe Publishing, they have good distrabution, found it a Wally World in rural Missouri originally, most good mag stands that sell gun rags carry it these days.

As for the why's, that's a good question. Everything seems to be a rule unto itself, or else there would only need to be one load for each, and it would be accurate :roll: .

The hunt is part of the fun though, unless you are looking for 10MM brass in tall grass. That is not fun...

I second this motion. Also, they have back issues on DVD.

Several new and classic books on reloading are out there. I would suggest that manuals from bullet makers are one of the best sources. Sierra's manual has a lot of good informations in it. One word of caution: Never transfer load data from one bullet maker's product to bullets from another company. There are so many variables of length of bearing area, jacket hardness, etc, that you can get into dangerous pressures really quickly.