I agree that the Speer manual is probably the best I've seen for explaining the handloading process. The Hornady manual is good in that respect too.

BUT,

First of all, I don't use Speer bullets, so very little of the data in the Speer manual is relevant to the bullets I prefer to use (Nosler BT's in my rifle and Hornady XTP's in my pistols). The Speer recipies also seem to be on the light side compared to other manuals I have or have seen. This is a perticular problem with the .454 Casull data in the Speer manual. The Speer loads are just downright LAME, coming nowhere near the potential of the .454 Casull cartridge. Since I didn't buy a .454 Casull to shoot granny loads (if I want less power, I shoot .45 Colt), the Speer data was worthless.

I MUCH prefer the Hornady manual over the Speer manual, for both the load data AND the ballistics data (Hornady's manual Vol. II contains somewhere near 1,000 pages of ballistics and other reference information). I also like the Nosler manual a great deal.

Other places to look for data include manufacturer websites (Hodgdon has a bunch of data on their site, but not nearly a complete reference with all bullets combos). Nosler and Alliant also publish limited data on their websites, and Hornady used to have varmint rifle data on theirs before they revamped their site a couple months ago.

Another place to get data is at www.reloadersnest.com . There are hundreds of published loads on that site, but I'd be careful which ones you use and some of the data may not be safe for your gun. Always start 10-15% below max and work up, no exceptions.

Good luck,

Mike