Reloading data on the internet is nice, but not as handy as a manual you can reference and make notes in right at your loading bench.
With the internet all it is today; you might wonder why anyone would want a printed loading manual. After all, Hodgdon lists a ton of searchable loading data in the Reloading Data Center on its website (hodgdonreloading.com). One reason is some folks like an easy-to-reference manual they can use on the reloading bench or that they can compare side by side with data in other manuals. Another reason is the “2024 Hodgdon Annual Manual Reloading” contains some very technical articles unavailable anywhere else.
For example, maybe you’ve been wondering how much velocity your 6.5 Creedmoor, .223 Rem. or .45 ACP might lose if you were to use a gun with a shorter barrel. Comparisons like these are often made between rifles or pistols with different barrel lengths. The problem with this method is that each barrel is its own entity. I recently tested two different rifles in 6.5 Creedmoor. One had a 20-inch barrel and the other had a 16-inch barrel. The velocities from the 16-inch barrel were on average only 50 fps slower than those from the 20-inch barrel. This is way out of sync with the conventional wisdom of 25 to 50 fps velocity loss for each inch a barrel is shortened. But, in the “2024 Hodgdon Annual Manual Reloading,” the test results from single barrels shortened an inch at a time are shown. This is more practical than comparing different guns with different barrel lengths.
There’s also an article that deals specifically with handloading subsonic ammunition. I don’t think you would be far off the mark in stating that throughout the last decade, one of the largest growing areas of the firearm industry is suppressed shooting. Many who get a suppressor ultimately become interested in not just suppressing supersonic fire, but they also want to shoot even quieter subsonic ammunition. This article deals with loading subsonic ammunition for eight popular rifle and handgun cartridges with a variety of different powders.
There’s also an article on Hodgdon’s new Perfect Pattern and High Gun shotgun powders, and the company’s new Grand powder for large-capacity-rifle cartridges. There’s another article on budget bullet loads for the 9 mm. Maybe the most interesting article—one that’s very relevant considering that you sometimes cannot find the primer you want—deals with different primers in the .308 Win. as they relate to pressure, extreme spread and standard-velocity deviation.
Of course, the heart of any reloading manual is the data. In the “2024 Hodgdon Annual Manual Reloading” you’ll find load data for 29 handgun cartridges, from the .22 TCM to the .500 S&W Mag. Included are data for the relatively new 30 Super Carry and even the old 9 mm Makarov. There’s also data for 72 rifle cartridges from the .17 Hornet to the .50 BMG. And, of course, there are hundreds of loads for the 23/4-inch, 12-gauge shotgun. In total, the manual contains more than 6,000 individual loads.
One of things I really like about the way the load data in the “2024 Hodgdon Annual Manual Reloading” is presented is that rifle and pistol data are shown with starting and maximum loads, but more importantly, chamber pressures are listed for both. Now, chamber pressure is not something the average handloader can measure at home, but this gives you a glimpse of how pressure can increase, how it varies from cartridge to cartridge, bullet to bullet, powder to powder and how unpredictable it can be. It is a perfect illustration of why you should follow and not exceed—or get creative with—load data.
Hodgdon’s online reloading data is easy to access, but for me I find that the way the loads are assembled in the printed manual makes them much easier to compare, powder for powder and bullet for bullet. The manual also lists the test-barrel length, rifling-twist rate and cartridge-case trim length for every load shown.
There are some other good data in the book as well, such as a burn-rate chart that lists 164 different powders. A burn-rate chart is not a powder- substitution chart, but since powders can be hard to find, your favorite might not be available. This current and up-to-date burn-rate chart can give you clues as to what other powders might fit your needs. Then, you can simply look for load data for that powder, for your cartridge, with your desired bullet weight.
Another chapter details the particulars of all the powders from Accurate, Hodgdon, IMR, Winchester and Ramshot. Here you’ll find information about the powder type and the cartridges for which it is best suited. Another thing I like about this manual is how it addresses the popularity of the .45-70 Gov’t and the varying power levels of loads you can assemble for it. There are .45-70 Gov’t loads for more modern rifles that turn that cartridge into a beast, but you’re risking life and limb if you put one of those loads in an old trapdoor rifle.
I counted the reloading manuals on my shelf, and found 23 different volumes, including past issues of the “Hodgdon Annual Manual Reloading.” Like I said, I don’t believe you can have too much information when it comes to crafting your own ammunition. Over the years, I’ve found a few mistakes in manuals. It’s one reason that anytime I’m putting together a new load, I try to corroborate the data in one manual with the same or at least very similar data in another.
