“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
- Mark Twain
I think I've developed a sort of hierarchy for load data:
1. Powder manufacturers' recent load data.
2. Bullet manufacturers' reloading manuals.
3. Third party loading manuals, e.g. Lyman.
4. Internet, magazine articles, recipes of friends.
Once, only once, did I build a load by extrapolating from another caliber. I needed a midrange load for 44 magnum, 240 grains at 1000 fps or so, with AA#5 powder. Halfway between 44 mag and 44 spl. I did not find such a midrange load in any source. All 44 data is either 44 spl at around 750 fps, or duplicates factory magnum loads.
I did see a similar load in AA's data for .45 Colt, in the standard pressure section. .45 Colt has a similar sized case to .44 magnum, and the bullet is 250 grains vs. 240. Close enough. And I would not have done this except these are very low pressure loads in a 629, nowhere near SAAMI spec for magnum loads. Plenty of room for safety. Load worked out excellently.
New reloaders should never do this. I could because I knew what I was doing, and why.
Last edited by Uni-Vibe; 03-18-21 at 01:37.
Thanks for the answer. At this stage, I am still looking at what I may need, I want to first calculate the cost of purchasing everything I need at this stage, and after that I will make a decision whether it is worth doing it now or is it better to monitor prices and wait for them to decrease over time.
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