Need advice on reloading book and powder

[spanky]

I am looking for a bit of guidance regarding a reloading book and what powder to buy. I am just getting my lee classic turret press setup. I have no reloading knowledge. I know that I should get a book and read read read but which one? ABC's of reloading? Hornady book? Does it matter?

I am going to be reloading 45acp, what is a decent all around powder? I have seen powder sold in different incremements from 1 pound up to 8 pounds. Ballpark figure, how many rounds can you reload with a pound of powder? I know that depends on how much you load each round to, but can anyone give me a rough estimate. I'm just trying to see if my first powder purchase should be small or if I just go for the big one.

any advice would be great. Thanks for taking the time to read....

Spanky

 

[robin303]

Well this is a fun hobby and I suggest you get more than 1 book.
1. Loadbooks USA "45 ACP" Reloading Manual - MidwayUSA
2. Lyman "Pistol and Revolver: Reloading Handbook: Third Edition" Reloading Manual - MidwayUSA
As for powder I would look up your round and find a powder that is in all your books and the web. What ever you do is find a powder that fills up the case in which you know for sure you have or don't have a double charge. I use 5 different powders and I suggest maybe 3 powders to start with and they are Power Pistol, Bullseye, snd 700X.
Alliant Powder - Reloader's Guide
http://data.hodgdon.com/main_menu.asp

Oh yes I have the Lee press and if you got their scale toss it and get this: Dillon's 'Eliminator' Scale: Powder Scales

 

[Texasjack]

The Lyman Reloading Handbook (49th ed.) is worth every penny. It has the most information of any of the loading books and it's very easy to follow.
All of the powder companies have downloadable manuals on their web sites. That's the best way to get specific load information. (Powder formulations DO change from time to time!)

The .45 is a great round that performs well with a wide variety of powders: Unique, Bullseye, Win 231, PowerPistol, Tightgroup, Longshot. I've tried all of these and they work great. Most people don't like Unique anymore because it burns dirty, though I understand the new version is much cleaner. I talked to Hodgdon and asked what powder they recommend. They said Tightgroup. I tried it, but didn't find it to be particularly accurate. Main reason is that a very small change in the amount of powder results in a large change in velocity. Bullseye is ALWAYS a good choice as a general reloading powder. Works in .38, .45, etc.

A pound of powder weighs 7,000 grains. Therefore, if you use 7 grains in each cartridge, you can load 1,000 cartridges from one pound. (example: 5 grains of Bullseye matches a factory load).

Powder performance may vary according to your gun and according to the bullet you select. (e.g., 230 gr. vs 200 grain) I'd recommend that you try a couple of powders and see how they perform.

KEEP GOOD RECORDS as you reload and shoot! You want to be able to duplicate the good loads and avoid ones that underperform.

 

[GJW1911]

The "ABC's of reloading" is a good read about general reloading knowledge excellent for a beginner. I started with this book, the Lyman reloading manual and the Nosler reloading manual.
In the 45acp I use either Titegroup or W231 depending on the bullet I use, mainly lead or plated bullets. Titegroup has worked well for me with Oregon trail 230gr LRN bullets and Rainier 185 gr PHP, it also goes a long way.

 

[dobarker]

Hornady reloading manuals have a very informative section on learning how to reload.
Nosler manuals are lacking any great information other than load data, sierra manuals are about the same way.
Hornady just does a good job teaching what a good crimp is, how to properly chamfer and prepare the case, what decent primer seating "feel" is, and all kinds of other goodies. I learned with the 1st and 3rd edition manuals from hornady.

hornady handbook of cartridge reloading book : Supplies at GunBroker.com

As far as powders go, If you're going to try to reload for any other pistols with the same powder, look over a few different manuals to see which powders are able to be used between the two and test them out.

It may sound a little under powered for the .45acp but i've been using winchester 231 and accurate No.2 for a ruger p90 .45 auto and a smith and wesson .38 spl.

A really good place for bookoo loading data is the IMR/Winchester website, they have a reloading data center that i've come to use more than my manuals.