Over the years knowledge

To a certain extent, I have to agree w/Wil and here's why: using a reference manual (hard copy book) takes time and effort. An internet search is virtually instantaneous. We tend to get lazy when we get info that quickly without fully understanding all aspects of it.

I'm glad I learned my reloading in the 1970's, with two books: my Lyman manual that came with my Spartan press set and "The ABC's of Reloading", by Dean Grenell. Kind of funny with all the references I have, via the internet or the many volumes/books, I always seem to drop back to the originals.
 
Still learning. And still capable of embarrassing myself. Hopefully it will be a long time before any of that changes. ;)
 
Great topic, thanks for posting it. It prompted me to check my stats, I was a little shocked to learn that I've been a member for eight years. I must read 100 posts for every one I make, that's the sure sign of a great place for learning. I have learned a great deal here.
 
I'm glad I learned my reloading in the 1970's, with two books: my Lyman manual that came with my Spartan press set and "The ABC's of Reloading", by Dean Grenell. Kind of funny with all the references I have, via the internet or the many volumes/books, I always seem to drop back to the originals.
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Spotfreakin ON, dude! :D

Some might consider it a character flaw, but (I'm old, and I feel entitled to some) every time I see a thread asking for a load for something (especially something common), my first thought is, "cheapskate! BUY A BOOK!" :D

Then, I take a breath, and go on and see if I can help answer their question.

I started with a Spartan press too! about 73 or so. Have worn out probably 3 copies of that manual over the years, and always look in the old book sections at the show, and buy good condition copies when I find them. Also have several generations of Speer, Hornady, Sierra, and other manuals. And the ABCs, and Gun Digest annuals. Also have stacks of American Rifleman, Guns & Ammo, Shooting Times, etc from the 60-70s-80s, kind of tapered off after that, still read them all, just didn't find much worth keeping. ;)

the internet is a wonderful thing, it must be true! I read it on the Internet!
 
Dayam near identical to me 44 Amp. Just tell me you didn't start with a .30-30 for your first loads!

Yep, that was the first I loaded for, next came a .270. Then came a 30-30 Contender and lots more different 30-30's. Then casting for the 30-30, then after that it was a blur!

An uncle of mine gave me several older Lyman manuals, with one (IIRC) going back to right after WWII, but I only rarely even looked at those. He wouldn't give or sell me any loading equipment, even though he hadn't even shot a gun a years. But he did sell my wife firearms through the years, for gifts to me, at way less than market price!
 
Another comment to newbies to our hobby: take with a grain of salt what us old pharts say and preach. Learn for yourself, without taking shortcuts.

There is no better experience than working up loads yourself, trying different powder/bullet/primer/case combo's, following time tested methods publicized by the component or firearm makers. After learning the basics, you'll have enough experience to separate the wheat from the chaff.
 
Some might consider it a character flaw, but (I'm old, and I feel entitled to some) every time I see a thread asking for a load for something (especially something common), my first thought is, "cheapskate! BUY A BOOK!"
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I have lots of books & reading materials. My place is ram-jam full of bookcases. Because of that I now get huge amounts of reading material on DVD. My Enfield file alone is over 2.5Gb of storage, most of it as text files or .PDF's which are compact. I had a friend asked for a copy so I burnt one & mailed it to him. He's still a bit mad at me because of the amount of ink & paper he used printing the whole thing to hard copy!:eek:

I like the fact I can search a .TXT, .DOC or .PDF for something specific but obscure.
 
The older I get, the smaller the print in those old books seem to get.
The nice thing about these new fangled electronic gizmos is how the text fonts and sizes can be made so much easier to see.
 
Tony, I started with the .308 Win. so there!:p Next came the .22-250, and the .38/.357 and .45ACP. (Dad would not shoot ANYONE's reloads, but would let ME shoot Mine in his pistols ;))

I'm somewhere over 30 different rifle and pistol rounds now, and while the Spartan press is gone, I still use my original Lyman dies, and they still work great.

Wogpotter, I do agree the search function of the computer is a wonderful thing. On the other hand, the promised information superhighway is, for me, more often the information swamp, complete with a simple straight path seeming to disappear into its trackless depths.

One of the things that still keeps me hooked on books is the fact that when I want, or need to, I can (still) read them by lantern light, candle light, firelight, etc., in places where there is no plug in, and I don't need batteries, either.

yes, dinosaur, mostly, caveman for a few things (fire is known, but electricity is still high tech, and digital is in the realm of the gods... ;))

Will be extinct, soon enough,
 
Haha... Fantastic thread.

ALL of those who have dispareged the magazines are also mostly a pile of
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Its a trust issue.
Magazines are floated by add money, which of course makes its way into the writers pocket in most cases.
Its not smart to bite the hand that feeds you...

There may be plenty of blowhard or questionable opinion-based info here, but at least its not swayed by financial motivation.
 
Yeah to the last couple of dozen posts!

And to those of us that claim lack of time, all we have to do is shut that dayam computer off!

Great thread and hope it goes on and expands!
 
Wogpotter, I do agree the search function of the computer is a wonderful thing. On the other hand, the promised information superhighway is, for me, more often the information swamp, complete with a simple straight path seeming to disappear into its trackless depths.
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I hear you on that.
Most of my electronic reading materials are .PDF of published books from back before everyone was a self acknowledged "Egg Spurt" though. There is a massive amount of "old, obsolete" manuals digitized & out of copyright. Some of mine go back to the 1930's & are incredibly concise & detailed by most modern standards.
 
I once suggested to the NRA that they take all the old issues of 'The American Rifleman', all the way back to issue #1 and put them on a CD or DVD set.

They said they'd consider it.

The only two magazines I know of that have done that are 'National Geographic' and 'Mad'.

I'd personally love to toss all the old issues I have to get back some shelf space and like folks before me have said it could be searched, indexed and organized at electronic speeds. And yep, I'd take advantage of that increasing the type size option too.
 
^ Huge + to the idea of American Rifleman on CD/DVD, or even online as complete monthly PDF's with the whole lot of them being searchable. :)
 
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