Old Serria Loading Manual

Maxx424

I was given a third edition Serria loading manual from 1980. I'm thinking that there may have been some changes to some powders (One of the "dots" may have changed?) Should I keep or just toss as being out of date?

bpost

Reference material for a shooter is GOLD. Never think it is useless. Many loads have changed over the years but some are stable through decades. That manual may have a load for a caliber you will get some day. It is not a bad idea to compare the loads from the 1980's to what we see listed now.

Maxx424

Thanks - I was hesitant to toss it. I'll keep it.

armilite

Also calibers come and go and someday you may find a rifle that no longer has factory made ammo for it, and all you may able to do is handload for it. Powders also change and what is the hot seller today may not be the hot seller tomorrow. Years from now you may come across a deal on powder but none of the current loading manuals list it. Again this is where that old load data could come in handy. You should never toss out any books or data that contain loading information regardless of age.

XXCross

On occasion I still refer to loading manuals that date to before WW-II. There is always some one looking for identification of powders or primers that they are unfamiliar with due to age. (theirs or the subject mater) There are still quantities of powder floating around that are no longer listed in the current manuals due to their scarcity..keep the reference material !

Maxx424

Thanks again for the wise advice.

jonk

For most powders, the recipe doesn't change. I believe Alliant still has a lot of their first line of Bullseye from the early 1900s as a quality control sample. That, 4895, and a lot of others just haven't changed, excepting slight lot to lot variance. A start load for a caliber from 1980 is fine with today's powders. As I say, slight batch variance means you should ALWAYS approach the max listed load in ANY manual with caution, especially if not using the exact brass, bullet, and primer called for in the load. But as a start point, I have manuals going back to the 70s and some from the mid 2000s, and they've all served me well.

Add to that armilite said- I had a can of Win 785 powder I picked up cheap, unopened, and in fine shape at a gunshow for $10. No data as it is a discontinued powder. I looked in one of my old manuals from 1978, there it was. A slow powder, 60 gr with a 150 gr bullet in a 30-06 was the max. But it worked quite well for me, and while I won't ever see more of it (well I doubt it) it was well worth having and shot great from my 1917 Enfield. So yes, having some old manuals around is fine. I always buy them if I see them at a good price on the table at a show.

sandwarrior

I have a number of calibers that I load for that aren't in many books. For a while the only loads I could find in a book for the 6-.284 was my 1973 Hornady. Sierra finally has it in their latest book but not in the previous two. As noted other loads come and go. Someday I'll be looking back in the books I have now for loads for the WSSM's.

My advice is to keep that book and read it. See what they said twenty-nine years ago versus what we find today. If nothing else, it kind of explains why myths perpetuate themselves. Still it's a great reference.

richarda

Please note that you may see in some manuals & elsewhere warnings to 'never use old data, always use only the most recent manuals, etc'. This is not without reason in some cases (recent Speer manuals now recommend, after extensive testing, AGAINST using LP Magnum primers in .44 Magnum except for W-W 296 & H-110 powders; this is contrary to almost everyone's previous info), but is mostly just the usual caution of anyone in the business of working with propellants.

As stated in above posts, this is no help to those with cartridges and powders not mentioned in current manuals.

Rocky Raab

I have at least a dozen different kinds of long-discontinued powders on hand. I'd have been lost unless I had a shelf of old load manuals. If nothing else, they make for interesting reading of an evening.

When I come across an obsolete powder, I'll dig back until I find the most recent book that lists it and call that "current" info. That data was likely published while the powder was still available, or within a year or so after it went away. The testing techniques used at that time might not be as good as we have today, but I never load those old powders to maximum anyway.

Some of those old powders were jewels. My favorite heavy 45 Colt load uses W630, for example. Reloder 12 was superb in the 223 and 30-30. Alcan 120 makes my Makarov into a real thumper, and Brigadier 4065 simply shines in my 7-30 Waters.

chiefr

Keep it. I have several old manuals. Cartridges do become obsolete.

ClarkM

I have ~50 manuals, and don't use them anymore.
I make up my own loads.

After I am done, I usually wind up pretty close to the Sierra Rifle manual.

My handguns loads are nothing like the Sierra loads.

Tailgunner1954

quote:Originally posted by ClarkM
I have ~50 manuals, and don't use them anymore.
I make up my own loads.

After I am done, I usually wind up pretty close to the Sierra Rifle manual.

My handguns loads are nothing like the Sierra loads.

Hey Clark, welcome to gunbroker.

ENBLOC

A friend gave me a keg of AL-8 and I still have some Herters 101! I like to look up the old stuff too!

guntech59

quote:Originally posted by ClarkM
I have ~50 manuals, and don't use them anymore.
I make up my own loads.

After I am done, I usually wind up pretty close to the Sierra Rifle manual.

My handguns loads are nothing like the Sierra loads.


Are you the "destruction test" Clark from ...I can't remember the name of the forum.....If so, I really loved reading your posts.