Reloading Books

[Mike in Oregon]

What's the best book/manual that might cover a vast majority of the newer varmint-oriented wildcat cartridges?

 

[Fast14riot]

Lyman manual has always been good for the general SAAMI stuff.

 

[ISS]

Berger's book.

 

[lawman29]

Sierra, but for wildcats our forum....

 

[Leo_B]

I have manuals from Hornady, Speer, Sierra, Hodgdon, Lyman, and Lee. I'm still in the studying/learning mode and not actually reloading yet. And I'm extra boring interested in the .32(7) S&W-L, H&R MAG and Federal Mag plus the .22 Hornet. Of my 6 I mostly only use Hodgdon and Lee for serious research/study and Hornady ONLY because I own it in Kindle version so it is in color on my iPad and easy for quick lookups. The Lyman is close behind the other two but the most unwieldy of those I turn to. The Sierra is great but there's about 11 pounds of printed pages in a 10 pound capacity binder so again very unwieldy. The Speer is good I guess but just doesn't speak to me. Good luck finding just the one that works best for you.

 

[GLShooter]

None of the newest ones do wildcats. Those from 30-40 years ago touched on some. FB has some Wildcat boards that can be helpful with application of your own common sense.

Quickload is a good place to dry lab loads and play what if.

 

[Doom]

Wildcats don't have pressure specifications as a standard so any published load data would need to be viewed as suspect. The reloader assumes all responsibility for producing a safe load. Kinda where the name came from.

 

[Murray Brook]

I like the Lyman one as they have no bias toward powder, bullets or components in general.

 

[Leo_B]

Yes, the Lyman may be the best. I've got to look for it in a Kindle version.

 

[358WCF]

What's the best book/manual that might cover a vast majority of the newer varmint-oriented wildcat cartridges?

A single source for wildcats? Maybe one of the computer simulations... Quikload or Gordon's.

If the power goes out, Powley's has always worked well for start loads.

An NRA Shooting Sports Journal | Cardboard Computers: Classic Mechanical Devices Used To Aid Shooters

Compute and shoot—slipsticks for the shootist. Competitors should know the advantages and disadvantages of simple-to-use and inexpensive cardboard sliding-scale devices.

www.ssusa.org

 

[RabbitSlayer]

People still use books? I keep a hornady manual handy for quick reference or to look up trim length etc. There is so much free online though I can't justify the price of a book.

 

[Tommie]

What's the best book/manual that might cover a vast majority of the newer varmint-oriented wildcat cartridges?

If you can find a copy of the Ramshot manual, several small caliber wildcats are listed (with pressures measured). Past that, hit up Hodgdon’s site as they bought Ramshot and have the data listed.

 

[pertnear]

I have many older reloading manuals but I broke down & got a subscription to LoadData. I think they have some data on the more popular wildcats besides collecting constant updates on old & new cartridges. Many articles available also available online.

 

[jds holler]

There is 80,000 of us on this forum, and it would be a very obscure and rare wildcat that hasn't been seen, known, or done by at least a few of us. Out of the 80,000, I'd guess that there are at least a couple dozen that are fairly intelligent.

If you know the basic fundamentals concerning pressure values and causation, and a grasp of appropriate powders for various calibers and case capacity, you can extrapolate safe starting points to get rolling. BUT-- ALWAYS try to find actual proven data from books and reliable sources if possible. jd

 

[pertnear]

There is 80,000 of us on this forum, and it would be a very obscure and rare wildcat that hasn't been seen, known, or done by at least a few of us. Out of the 80,000, I'd guess that there are at least a couple dozen that are fairly intelligent.

If you know the basic fundamentals concerning pressure values and causation, and a grasp of appropriate powders for various calibers and case capacity, you can extrapolate safe starting points to get rolling. BUT-- ALWAYS try to find actual proven data from books and reliable sources if possible. jd

With the new radar chronographs, shooters are now able to get information that use to only be available from ammo manufacturers. I wouldn't be surprised if a user pressure monitor is not the next gadget put in handloader's hands.

BTW: When I was a teenager (60 yrs ago), I actually tried to build a ballistic pendulum!! LOL

 

[Mike in Oregon]

Alrighty, glad I asked. I have several of the books mentioned. As to the wildcats, I guess I'll just rely on the board. Thanks guys!

 

[jds holler]

I meant to mention above that ANYONE these days should consider a chronograph as near-essential for load development. The cost of a basic one is simply too affordable to pass on these days. jd

 

[Mike in Oregon]

I meant to mention above that ANYONE these days should consider a chronograph as near-essential for load development. The cost of a basic one is simply too affordable to pass on these days. jd

Absolutely, it's on my grocery list!

 

[Oso]

"Cartridges of the World" and "Wildcat Cartridges" are the standards that catalog many historic wildcat cartridges. But these books are difficult to find in print and are costly. We lost a lot of information when the Saubier website went offline.

There is another site that provides a brief overview of many cartridges and schematics for each. Unfortunately, this doesn’t include any load data, but is nice for comparing different cartridges.
https://municion.org/buscador/

 

[1911nut]

I found this useful:

Load Data

sierrabullets.com