Bullet question

**Tele** · April 6th, 2014, 08:40 PM

My lyman manual has a chart for 150 grain jacketed sp bullets, they list hornady. Now do I have to stick to hornady? also do I have to stick to 150 grain sp? Could I use the same suggested load with a 150 grain fmj-bt?

I understand different brands will change the affects of the info because of what lyman actually tested, but would it be dangerous to do so?

**Delkal** · April 6th, 2014, 08:56 PM

Generally you can interchange bullets of the same weight (and fp vs fmj) but you MUST start low and carefully work up. There are many variables, seating depth can be just as/even more important than bullet manufacturer.

Also......do a lot of reading about pressure signs and be very conservative. You don't always need a max load.

Its always a good idea to check a load with multiple sources. You will find that there can be a difference in powder charges, sometimes even for the same bullet. Printed reloading books are the best but online sources can be used (but be careful and do a lot of reality checks)

**Twoboxer** · April 6th, 2014, 09:40 PM

Originally Posted by Tele

My lyman manual has a chart for 150 grain jacketed sp bullets, they list hornady. Now do I have to stick to hornady? also do I have to stick to 150 grain sp? Could I use the same suggested load with a 150 grain fmj-bt?

I understand different brands will change the affects of the info because of what lyman actually tested, but would it be dangerous to do so?

You got some good advice, but don't forget powder manufacturer's have data on line. Check there and you may find your exact bullet/powder combo. Even a load using a different powder can be useful to compare/xref - it can give you an idea if any major adjustment is required (and what direction to go) using the powder you have.

You can also call the manufacturer(s) involved and ask them.

**Tele** · April 6th, 2014, 09:53 PM

I was looking for the exact bullet in the manual and theyr all out of stock

so I figured with the way things are today more than likely I will not be able to readily find exact matches to the manual.

How about primers? Lyman calls for Winchester 9 1/2 primers for 308. I'm guessing if they are all sold out ( which they are not) if I switch to a Winchester brand or whatever is available I would have to look up the correct charge correct?

**noylj** · April 6th, 2014, 11:33 PM

If reloading data only applied to the specific bullet, reloading never would have become big.
Any jacketed lead based bullet of a given weight can be loaded using the same data. However, any data in any manual is ONLY for that bullet, with the ogive and meplat the manufacturer used at that time (and don't think they don't change without telling anyone!) and the specific lot numbers of components used and the specific gun used.
This is why there are STARTING loads.
However, one manual't starting load can, and frequently is, over the max load in another manual. Thus, for best practice, one should check at least two sources and start with the lowest starting charge.
The next issue for using data from a manual is that the COL (Cartridge Overall Length) in the manual is the LOWEST/SHORTEST COL that the data applies to. I have never found myself getting all that close to the COL in most manuals, but some seem to take the manual's COL as gospel.
Learn how to determine the COL that is best for your gun(s) and specific bullet, but, for now, be sore not to go below the COL in the manual with further reducing the starting load.
Currently, and someone will correct me, there are four "classes" of bullets that have their own reloading data:
1) jacketed bullets (and those plated bullets with plating as thick as jacketed bullets, such as Gold Dots)
2) cast/swaged lead and almost all plated bullets
3) frangible bullets
4) All-copper monolithic bullets

**Trucker76** · April 6th, 2014, 11:52 PM

I ran into this problem when I started with cast bullets. The important parts are is the bullet lead or jacketed...do not use a load for jacketed with lead, it will be too hot. And a lead load with jacketed bullet will be too light. Also as someone mentioned seating depth is more important than OAL. Say you have 2 different 158gr bullets, but one is a round nose and one is a swc. Generally the swc bullet will be longer than the round nose. If you seat them to the same to the same listed minimum oal for the round nose the swc will be seated deeper causing higher pressure in the case. Also when testing your load fire one shot at a time and make sure you check the spent brass for pressure signs and that the bullet actually exited the barrel. I never heard of a load so light the bullet hung in the barrel but I wouldn't want to be the first guy missing fingers because of it.

I learned when I started loading there is a lot of sales crap in those reloading manuals. They only want you to use their bullets and primers and tell you if you mix bullets and primers from other companies you could rip ahole in reality and get sucked into another dimension where peoples knees are on the back of their legs and chaos rules (speer I'm talking to you). Take it with a grain of salt.

**dk99358** · April 7th, 2014, 07:27 PM

It was mentioned but bears repeating: The data for a monolithic bullet (Barnes TSX for example) is NOT the same as the data for a similar weight cup and core bullet (Speer Hot Cor for example).

In general, you can safely swap back and forth between standard Remington, Hornady, Nosler, Speer and Sierra bullets unless your load is a hot rod top end load. Then you should back off and work up again. The same goes for standard primers IMO. I don't sub magnum primers for standard without starting over.

Some will disagree but that is what has worked for me for over 35 years. That said, I can think of only 2 of my loads that are 'top end', I seem to get the best accuracy when my charge is 2/3 of the difference between start and max. If the the start is 45 and max is 51, I often find the best accuracy at about 49.

FWIW,

Dale