Where can you go to find reputable (and safe) reloading data?
I think learning to reload your own ammunition is kind of like learning to play the Ukelele.
If by chance you make an impetuous mid-life decision to follow in the footsteps of the great Don Ho, then you can’t just order sheet music and start. You need to find a way to learn the process of playing the Ukelele (while looking blissful and content) before sheet music will be of any value. It’s exactly the same with reloading, although I’m not sure that Hawaiians ever reloaded ammo while playing the Ukelele.
To get started reloading, you need to get load data (sheet music) that is published by a reputable source. For example, one of the companies that provides reloading powder, Hodgdon, freely provides all sorts of safe and well-tested load recipes for Hodgdon, IMR and Winchester powders. But before that load recipe data means much, you need to learn the process and science of reloading.
Helping folks learn the process is exactly what the Hodgdon folks are doing now. They’ve published tons of reloading recipe data for years, but now they’ve launched a series of videos to help teach people the art and science of safely making their own ammunition. They key word here is “safely.” Even lowly handgun cartridges operate at extremely high pressure, usually in the neighborhood of 20,000 to 35,000 pounds per square inch. Rifles can easily double those figures. There’s a lot of energy being released when we pull a trigger, so extreme caution in both the process and the load data recipes is in order.
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