Well it's that time of the year(reloading) again for me. Got some cases out yesterday and resized about 650, 22-250's and then strated to think- my Lyman reloading book is #47 ( old) my Hornady books are old- so are my loads- been using 38gr of H380 for yrs in my 2-250's and ditto my 300, 45/70,06, 243,and 270 loads so my question is- should i buy a new guide? look at new powders- i use R19-300,R7-45/70,IMR 4350-06,etc- if there are new ones out there I might look at developing new loads.
I have quite a bit to do so am going to get all cases prepped this week i hope.

If your loads are accurate, and work for you then why change them?

cheers

The Lyman #47 and the #48 are identical except for the new calibres, some old calibres and of course the new powders. The values are the same in most cases...Like Skip said...If the wheel isn't broken...Why change? Unless you want to experiment with some of the new powders or calibres. Instead of a new Lyman. May I suggest a different manual for diversity??? Of your choice of course....

I agree, if it aint broke use it. I'm using loads that I have worked up years ago, the only thing that I do is to check new lots of powder/primers with a few prior to loading up a batch to ensure that they are still within limits and are shooting close to the same. New manuals are a good idea especially if you are going to load a new powder or cartridge.

Thanks guys- i guess i just get bored in winter and when I lived in AK my gunny had a nic eshop where we played all the time with new loads ,bullets,etc- I'm pretty happy with the present loads for all my cal except maybe the .270 and got a new idea from buddy last night --140gr Accubond with 54gr of H4831--going to look it up and then maybe give it a try. I'm not really interested in changing cal as mine have worked on all NA game for 30 yrs. Just testing the waters--Think I'll look at the Nosler or some other books- the #47 lyman has stood me well.

I don't currently load for the .270, I have in the past. I think that you may be assisted by the article that I have included on the site (OCW) Optimal Charge Weight. This is the method that I have gone to in developing a new load. It cuts down on time and effort along with the cutting down the quantity of components needed in developing a new load. It has saved me a lot of time , trouble and cost. Believe me it works very well. If you use it let me know what you think of it.

I still use #47 too , what ?? 1982 , is falling apart , finally had to put in a binder .. But it's the only manual I use , cept for Hornady .. Plenty of info out there for the new powders and bullets without giving an arm and leg for a new book ..
Jack

Howdy Hodgdon has there reloding data on line at www.hodgdon.com witch is real nice. I have recently switched to some of there extreme powders Varget for the 308 and Benchmark for the 223 and am very impresed with the accuracy of it.
Joe

shrpshtrjoe wrote:

Howdy Hodgdon has there reloding data on line at www.hodgdon.com witch is real nice. I have recently switched to some of there extreme powders Varget for the 308 and Benchmark for the 223 and am very impresed with the accuracy of it. Joe

I have alot of hodgdon data that goes back to around '86 ... from 86 till around 2000 the data was the same but in 2000 they reduced ALOT of caliber max loads across the board. I emailed them about it and they just gave an excuse about in their retesting things had changed.

I asked why it was the same for the previous 14 years but then suddenly and dramatically changes ... but they didnt comment anymore. IMO I think the reduced things due to legal reasons and giving a larger margin of error.


-DallanC

Projects for this year:

.30-30
Quit buying Winchester 170g Power points (bought two more boxes yesterday) and find loads that shoot as well. Would like to get good loads for 130, 150 and 170g Speers.

.308 Win
Finalize loads for 168g A-MAX. If you've seen the groups I posted for the 0.5g incremental work-up loads, you know this shouldn't be too hard.

Develop loads for :
168g Speer Match BTHP
165g Barnes MRX
165g North Fork
165g TSX (first attempts were disappointing)

Projects ::
Settle on and finalize for the 375 H@H , 235 Speers , 270 Hornady RN's , 260 Partitions , 300 solids

Settle on and finalize loads for the 30-338 , 9" twist so probably be 180 Partions
A few more experiments with the 50-140 and 32-40
and a few more as yet undetermined ..
Jack

Humm,

I feel like starting to reload.

I wonder if its possible by the end of the year so I can offset the cost of shooting my FN49.

Dimitri

Depends on several things , one you wont really " save" much , you'll just shoot more for less money , if that makes sense .. Also semiautos can be persnickety with what you feed them , it is a semi auto right ..
I do it cause most of the firearms I shoot fall inot one of two categories :
1) there is no factory ammunition
2) the factory loads are too much or too little for my needs

Also its just plain relaxing ..
Jack

Jack,

The FN49 is semi-automatic. And I do realize I'm gonna be shoting more not really saving money in the end but its all good.

My main reason for wanting to load is because some factory loadings can hurt it I've read so I wanna reproduce original military loadings execpt with acceptable hunting rounds and no corrosive primers.

Dimitri

yeah you most definetly need to get away from corrosive primers .. they can be really funny ( semi autos ) about the feeding ... may have to tinker a bit with powder charges on the low end to operate properly and reliably , and on the top end they can be funky too ..
Dont let that discourage you though , it is a good learning experience , and a lot of satisfaction in little groups or game taken with something you built ..
Jack