The one that got me started

[Daddymac]

I'm sure this has been kicked around in the past, just thought I would see where it lands.

Got started loading back in the early 80's this is the manual that came with a very slightly used RCBS RS press I purchased from my brother, wish I knew how many hours I have spent with this book open on the bench, then again maybe not.

 

[joshb]

I think my first one was a six or seven from the ‘70s. Haven’t blown a gun up yet!

 

[ChesterS]

Thats the one I started with. The binding is broke, still reference it.

 

[Daddymac]

Thats the one I stared with. The binding is broke, still reference it.

I started loading .270 Winchester and the .270 pages are falling out of this manual I went to them so much.

 

[ShootDots]

I started loading a .300 Weatherby Magnum somewhere around 1973-1974. I started with the Hornady loading manual. In that issue they actually went step-by-step on how to set up the dies>>>everything from A-Z! And much to my amazement it actually fired and did NOT blow up! To my recollection, the rifle shot well for my experience! That started me down this very expensive, sometimes very frustrating BUT always satisfying road!

 

[358WCF]

Lyman #45 came with the used RCBS press I got from the guy I worked next to for 10 years. It's still on the shelf but doesn't get used much these days.

 

[Coonman300]

That’s the same book I started with. My dad gave me an RCBS kit around 79-80. The book is in pieces but I still use it. Great info- thanks for posting that!

 

[Homerange]

Lyman #45 came with the used RCBS press I got from the guy I worked next to for 10 years. It's still on the shelf but doesn't get used much these days.

View attachment 1244791

Same here sometime in the later 70's and brought their Shot shell reloading manual at the same time.
We only had a 308 Lee Target handloader in them days until many years later getting a Lee Oring press and later a RCBS RC IV.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

Me too, early 80’s!

 

[Big Mc]

I'm sure this has been kicked around in the past, just thought I would see where it lands.
View attachment 1244775
Got started loading back in the early 80's this is the manual that came with a very slightly used RCBS RS press I purchased from my brother, wish I knew how many hours I have spent with this book open on the bench, then again maybe not.

I started with No 9 back in the 70,s.Like you many dollars later I am still at it. Make sure you pass it on. Just my two cents Tommy Mc

 

[Hoot]

Remember when the Hornady book came in two volumes? Before that, I bought those thin, paperback, caliber specific books, also back in the early 80's.

Hoot

 

[jds holler]

Here's mine. 1974. First book was Speer #8.




Been a lot of bullets down the barrels since then. jd

 

[Kracken McGraw]

Some good History lessons in the manual too!

 

[wagonman]

my old speer #10 was my first manual on reloading for my hunting rifles and handguns like some of yours the binding is in poor shape. still reference it at times

 

[wagonman]

Some good History lessons in the manual too!View attachment 1244819

learned how to form and load 30 herrett from my #10

 

[Kermit in Va.]

The old Lyman was my first...
still go back and check it out qjite ofteno
Ive found several loads in it that was the.best out of all
that I tried.

 

[ShootDots]

Here's mine. 1974. First book was Speer #8.

View attachment 1244817

View attachment 1244818
Been a lot of bullets down the barrels since then. jd

I remember those Lee "hand-load" kits! I had three of them: 1.) .270 Win.; 2.) 6mmRem and believe it or not one in 45 Long Colt! I never did use the "scoops"! Always used (back then) an Ohaus 10/10 scale..

 

[Kittitas George]

I started reloading just after high school. My friend's dad helped me, a pound of surplus 4895 was $1.00, Sierra 150 grain, 308 bullets were $4.00 and primers were $0.89. Six dollars for a hundred rounds, Floyd says " find some cheap stuff to just shoot". A few years later with some different friends we went partners on a press, scale and measure and 50 lbs. of 4831 powder. Then I started buying and using my own set up, that was about 1965, I still have the #6 Speer manual. I had to show a friend that my 22-250 load of 36 1/2 gr. of 4895 wasn't to 'hot'. With the old powders that was the 'standard' load. He was very impressed with the accuracy in his Dakota rifle. Floyd and I duck hunted a lot thru the '70s and 80s, couldn't find a better man to share a duck blind, most knowledgeable man I ever met. Wonderful memories.

 

[justinp61]

My brother started loading shotshells in the mid 70's with Lee hand loaders. He came up with one for a 12 gauge and later I bought one for my .410. That progressed to a Pacific Dl155 then a Dl266 and finally a 366. I still have it and two others.

In the late 70's I bought a Lee hand loader for my 30-06. I killed a lot of groundhogs with those rounds. In the late 80's I got a 44 magnum as a gift and borrowed a Dillon RL550B, quiet a loader. Eventually I was given a Lee 1000, if you pay a little attention to it you can put out a lot of ammo. I load for the 44, 40 S&W and a 38 special.

The 30-06 hasn't been shot much in the last 11 years since I had shoulder surgery but I do shoot a 260 Remington along with a 22-250. All the loading for them is done on a RCBS Rockchucker.

About 15 years ago a co worker and I were talking and we got on the subject of guns and I mentioned I had a .44 magnum. He said "I've got something to give you". The next day he brought me a very used and abused Lee handloader. I don't know what was used on it but the heads of all the punches are mushroomed. When I had mine all those years ago I used a wood mallet.

Lots of good memories.

 

[Kurz]

Collecting reloading manuals is not just collecting to own. It's having the availability to compare the older data to new data. But the best part of having lots of these manuals is the historic material and articles written by some very knowledgeable people. Descriptions of wildcats and less familiar cartridges and bullets are hard to find find except in reloading manuals. Historic timelines of cartridge development, powder development and an increasing awareness of what becomes available and some that simply disappear.

Reloading manuals have kept me deeply interested and occupied for decades. I buy them at the used bookstores and swap meets but I have to carry a list with me now to avoid duplication.