Thread: Recommended Reloading Reading

Originally Posted by zimmer

Just did the arithmetic and I've been handloading (as distinct from reloading) now for 54 years. And yes, I do feel my age at times.
I'm happy to say after all this time there are still learning opportunities for me and that includes off this forum.

I was lucky, I had a close mate who got me going and taught me the essentials. He sold me my first gear, a Lyman 310 set in 308W and a balance scale with an oil damper. The oil always wanted to climb out of its pot and run down the sides in so doing attract heaps of dust.

There just wasn't many shooters handloading back then so I was lucky with my mate. Tail end of the 303 days. I was told I was a mad youngster for having the 308. "They'll never catch on. SAKO, where in the hell is that made?"

Powder of the day for my 308 was Nobels #2 which was very good in the 308. Reloading charts were available for it. I also used milsurp recovered 4895 from 30-06 ammo. I reused the 30-06 projectiles in my 308 but first hollow pointed them. Otherwise, Speer was the fodder of the day. Cases were Norma Re or repurposed 30-06 milsurp. 308 brass was very difficult to source back then.

As far as manuals and reading, my first, and only manual until recently, was Speers' #7.
It has a range of good articles covering Components, Step by Step Handloading (vg), Handloading For Hunting, Reloading For Varmint Rifles and a few others covering Old Times (the firearms :-) ), Internal Ballistics, Rifling Twists and so on.
The article penned by the Speer Staff on Step By Step is very good. The syle of writing has obviously aged.

The authors are all long gone - Dan Cotterman, Bruce Hodgdon, Jack O'Connor, Bob Parker, Major Nonte, Homer Powley and so on. Some of them also wrote in magazines of the day. All well known in their time.

Very early on I had my first experience of a chronograph. Apparently the first one in NZ. There were 2 screens composed of zig zagged conductive tape. You had to get your bullet through both screens and hope you cut the tape in each screen. Breaking the first screen started a high-speed counter, breaking the second screen stopped it. The distance between them was accurately set. The tape need changing after every shot. The velocity was determined by reading off lights and then converting their pattern to velocity off a chart.

The owner of the Chronograph had also developed a 17 CF wildcat. He formed the projectiles using spent Eley 22 rf brass. So, 17's are not exactly new.

So yeah, a manual with good how to but a mentor more so. My only fear would be because so many are doing it now is to get a good mentor. After all it's your face behind the bolt

Greetings @zimmer,
I was a bit behind you. It was 1980 after I subscribed to Handloader that I started recording my handloads and started seriously investigating different types of loads not offered by the manufacturers. Previous reloading was for .303 initially and then .308 from the late 70's. I was lucky to get my chronograph in 1990 which opened up a whole new rabbit hole, more of a warren really. The next handloading project is to develop loads for two rifles for F Class shooting next season. Keeps me out of the saloons I suppose.
Regards Grandpamac.