Hmmm....
If you have just one source of bullets (brandwise) then I would suggest getting the bullet manufacturers manual (Sierra, Speer, Hornady, etc) that matches your bullet brand. That manual will list many different powders to use with their bullets, and will give specific O.A.L. for the ogive/bullet nose profile so that it won't contact the rifling.
If you will be trying out several different brands and weights of bullets it seems to me that the Lyman Reloading manual combined with the powder manufacturers free data is the best combination. Lyman publishes a vast combination of bullet weights and profiles by many different bullet makers, and then gives a lot of powder choices for a given weight bullet. For instance, you might have to fine tune the the .223 Remington 55-gr .224" FMJ bullet and powder data from Lyman if you have a different brand that isn't a flat base bullet but is instead a boat tail, but Lyman gets you really close and within safe limits every time.
Lyman also lists a lot of cast lead bullet reloading data which none of the other major manuals ever mention.
Sierra Reloading manual has Service Rifle load data for the .223/5.56 semi-auto AR-15, and also bolt gun data in a separate section that is higher for stronger guns. If you have Sierra bullets in mind that is a good first choice.
My first choice for beginners:
Lyman, absolutely.
Second choice:
Sierra
Third Choice:
Hornady
And free data from all the powder makers is always worth compiling and cross-comparing against whatever bound book you buy.
If it were me, I'd buy the Lyman Reloading manual and let me give you a link to the .223 Remington and .308 Winchester load data FREE from Sierra.
Statistics: Posted by nitesite — Sat Oct 13, 2012 10:34 pm