Midway had the 10th Edition of their reloading book on sale for <$18, so I picked it up with another order (of really weird FPFB 180 grain bullets).
The book is nice with color pictures which describe how a cartridge acts in the chamber. Except- the garish colors made it hard to figure out what it was talking about. I was surprised that they really pushed neck sizing- which I do- but thought it had fallen out of favor.
As expected, their loads were all about Hornaday bullets- but that's ok, they are one of the most prolific bullet makers.
What really surprised me was how low some of their loads are- to the point that I'm not trusting them.
Example: .223 with H335 and 55gr FMJBT.
This is a very common combination and from reading others, I have a recipe that is very accurate (and I'm happy to say used in my last three gun match to good effect).
My recipe is 25.2 grains of H335. Seems to be near the top of most loads but that's often where accuracy is best.
Except: Hornaday says max load is 23 grains, while my Lee book says 25.3. That's a significant difference (10% over max from one book to the other).
I did some reading, and apparently older editions had the max load higher- maybe it is their test barrel- but the Hodgdon site also says a 24" barrel, and they match the Lee at 25.3.
Now I'm really doubting other loads they may recommend...
On the upside, I like that for every cartridge there's a history section which makes for good reading. I like having multiple books, and maybe it would be a good 'first' for anyone, but you definitely want more than this one.
The book is nice with color pictures which describe how a cartridge acts in the chamber. Except- the garish colors made it hard to figure out what it was talking about. I was surprised that they really pushed neck sizing- which I do- but thought it had fallen out of favor.
As expected, their loads were all about Hornaday bullets- but that's ok, they are one of the most prolific bullet makers.
What really surprised me was how low some of their loads are- to the point that I'm not trusting them.
Example: .223 with H335 and 55gr FMJBT.
This is a very common combination and from reading others, I have a recipe that is very accurate (and I'm happy to say used in my last three gun match to good effect).
My recipe is 25.2 grains of H335. Seems to be near the top of most loads but that's often where accuracy is best.
Except: Hornaday says max load is 23 grains, while my Lee book says 25.3. That's a significant difference (10% over max from one book to the other).
I did some reading, and apparently older editions had the max load higher- maybe it is their test barrel- but the Hodgdon site also says a 24" barrel, and they match the Lee at 25.3.
Now I'm really doubting other loads they may recommend...
On the upside, I like that for every cartridge there's a history section which makes for good reading. I like having multiple books, and maybe it would be a good 'first' for anyone, but you definitely want more than this one.