Quote:
Originally Posted by aigel
Thanks Jeff. I'll have a couple of books on the way here before I get any deeper than a press! If you buy an edition or two back, they are a lot cheaper than the latest and certainly will have the info I need. I will keep you guys posted!
G
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I would not recommend buying "an edition or two back".
There was a time when the bullet and powder companies developed their loads by testing in the staff's personal rifles, or borrowed rifles, etc. They established maximum loads through evaluation of case head expansion, sticky extraction, or whatnot. Some of the bigger labs made use of dedicated test barrels fitted with copper (or lead, for lower pressure loads) crusher pressure measuring equipment, at least in in calibers for which they had it available. This equipment was expensive to buy and expensive to use, so most didn't. Data, as a result, was all over the map. This was not as long ago as one might think - an edition or two gets us back into this era.
Nowadays, most bullet and powder companies use piezo electric transducers fixed to the outside of either dedicated pressure test barrels, or personal firearms. The data produced is far more accurate - and far safer to use - than the old data. Some old "traditional" loads were found to be developing dangerous pressures. Some were found to be well under the pressures we all assumed they generated. Many published charges were reduced, many were increased. The bottom line is, we can now measure pressures far more accurately and reliably than before, so the data is much better.
Bottom line - don't use old manuals, even just an edition or two old.