Home Forums Reloading Handgun Reloading Don't Trust Handload Books

When I handload I always check 2 handloading books to see if they coincide. But the real source of truth is the on line load data from the powder manufacturers.

The on line data is easy to change if a mistake is made. They make revisions to books but they never recall books.



These 2 books show how much the data can vary. (357 Magnum)
Hornady says you can't get over 1250 feet/sec unless you use Power Pro 300-MP.
Nosler has lots of options that go over 1400 feet/sec.
Look at some of the powders that are in both books. With 2400 Nosler says you should start off with 11.3 grains to propel a 158 grain bullet to a speed of 1480 feet/sec.
Hornady says that same charge would only propel the bullet just under 1050 feet/sec.
And Hornady says the MAX you should go is 14.3 grains of 2400 and that would only propel the bullet to 1200 feet/sec.
The Nosler book on the left used a gun with a 8.3 inch barrel. Hornady on the right used a 8" barrel.

My chronograph shows speeds closer to the Hornady Book.

some thoughts.
first, load data books and websites are like recipes. They are a starting point
second, every hand loader should have a chronograph and use it.
third, The hand loader should be able to know and recognize pressure signs.
forth, check a new load's performance before just jumping in and loading a couple hundred.

Especially Ackleys books!!!

Started 5 grains lower on a 30-284 load he shows in one of his loading manuals and stuck the gun!!! Sunuvabitch!

P.O. wasn’t a timid man! 😉 memtb

Trust but verify???

I can't remember where I heard that :-)

One book to say a certain charge will propel a bullet 1050 ft/sec and another book say the same charge will propel the same bullet 1480 ft/sec. That's insane! A rifle and pistol don't make that much difference.

Did Nosler really test those loads? I thought I saw somewhere that they calculated the speeds with a ballistic calculator.

I also looked up Alliant Powder's load data on the Web. It looks to me like the Nosler book is wildly inaccurate.

Good thoughts!

Yes, it can make that much difference. I load .357 in both a 4" revolver and a carbine lever action. With 158 grainers, I can see right at a 500 fps increase. Slower powders such as H110 will do that.

The guns are almost the same length.
The Nosler book used a gun with a 8.3 inch barrel. Hornady on the right used a 8" barrel.

For different length barrels it's interesting to check out http://ballisticsbytheinch.com/357mag.html

They say an 18 inch barrel (1719 ft/sec) will propel a bullet 9.5% faster than a 8 inch barrel (1570 ft/sec)

All these speeds on Ballisticsbytheinch.com are fast (like the Nosler book). Whereas my chronograph speeds are slower (similar to the Hornady book). But we can't do a good comparison since I am handloading and Ballisticsbytheinch.com is using factory ammo without any knowledge of the powders being used.
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What we can compare is the 2 books when they use the same powders such as 2400, H110 and Winchester 296. All 3 of these powders are much faster in the Nosler book.

This exactly. I don’t really give a damn about published speed. I just care about charge. Give 5 cooks the same recipe and you will get 5 different results.

I've always thought Nosler's published velocities were sometimes a little optimistic. I don't know if they are using vented barrels or actual revolvers to obtain revolver round velocities, either.

Case capacity, chamber dimensions, throat length, and the minor differences in bore diameter are some of the things that can affect velocity/pressure. I tend to pay attention to the velocity of a load, one that is unusually fast for the components being used will probably be a little higher in pressure.

Noseler in my experience is overly optimistic with the velocities they claim

I can tell you that very rarely have any of my loads hit the speeds that the books say. Once in a blue moon but not often. Most are on the high side as far as speeds go. I would rather hit slow than miss fast and pay more attention to group size and pressure signs than speed.

Well I guess that makes two of us