Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Getting started reloading rifle/handgun

you can also ask questions on this 24 hr. campfire you will get some good answers , is there a Cabelas close to you they could be helpful too ? good luck and enjoy reloading,Pete53

I still like the Speer manual that came with my RCBS kit. I have most all the manuals and they are all good. I like books, but I am a dinosaur. YouTube has videos from many of these companies as well as other reliable sources as well. These video tutorials are easy to follow. Load data is posted online by many of the powder and bullet companies as well. Be wary of some guy's super pet loads. Stick to "official" sources, especially at first.

I just got the Speer manual #15. I was impressed with their efforts The first 100 pages are well laid out, and great for people who are new to reloading, as well as those who have a few years of it under the belts. The reloading recipe area is improved. The first few pages of each cartridge have technical, historical and ballistics notes, as well as safety considerations. Well worth the money IMO.

Facebook is a good place to go for hints/tips/load recipes.

Bwahahahaha!!! I'll bet I've seen more erroneous BS in that regard on FB in the last year than I have seen over the last 30 years everywhere else. There's a lot of dumb people out there.

I'll second the Lyman manual(s), and Dear John Barsness' writings as being a doggoned good place to start. Gotta grab a copy of that new Speer manual myself.

Don't ignore the writings of some of the fathers/trailblazers of 20th century handloading writing: Narramore, Sharpe, Ness, etc., and all those old salts who wrote for the gun rags in the 50's-80's. Some of the info is dated or incomplete by our standards but the basics remain the same, and makes for good bedtime reading if nothing else.

Ain't that the truth!!

With ammo shortages a lot of people have taken up reloading. Read some of the questions about products on Midway USA and it will frighten you.

I've always said to people who want to start is to FIRST get a good guide and read it.

Then read it again.

Then go buy equipment and components.

What has already been said is the truth. Remember, anything published has to be accurate and safe as they have a reputation and some level of responsibility. Keyboard warriors don't. I have found Lyman to be a solid reference. In my opinion, get several. I personally like the books more as I can use sticky pads to make notes or write in the book. I also have notebooks and word docs for this, but it is nice to have notes right in the book. Online info from powder manufacturers websites is the only stuff I take as accurate. I look at other info with a grain of salt and check it to powder websites or books to make sure it is correct. Finding the powder you want is difficult for me right now, so having multiple books to check multiple bullet designs and powders is important as I am reloading what I can find more so than what I want. Watching youtube videos can show the processes as well, again, just check against books or something to make sure what they are showing is proper. Most important is to be safe and enjoy.