Hornady- Solid, quick read in terms of the reloading process. Typically great powder selections. Lower starting velocities thst can get you a reduced recoil load, but I’ve found some of their staring loads to be very accurate. Good velocity data so you can check yourself as you increase powder charge. Available as a book, app, or Kindle version. I use it a ton because it’s always on my phone as a kindle version. Load charges seem to be a touch conservative. A great choice for a beginner because Hornady bullets are easy to come by and you can cut your teeth on book loads. Lots of cartridges, and the ones they no longer punish in the manual are free on their website.
Nosler- My favorite layout, with their accuracy loads easy to identify, and their velocity data easy to work with. Data is available for free online, but the book version has cartridge profiles that are fun to read. I used their data to make a load for a 7mm REM Mag with 175 partitions that was excellent. I haven’t loaded many Nosler bullets overall, so I can’t vouch for much beyond that.
Swift- This is a cool book in general. The illustrations and cartridge profiles are fun to flip through. It’s a good coffee table book! Does justice to Africa hunting and Africa cartridges. Has ballistics charts for given velocities. The reloading process is basic and is very plain in what you need to worry about and what you don’t need to worry about. Powder selection is not as extensive.
Lyman- When you are ready for more of this nitty gritty of the reloading process, this is the one for you. I’ve heard it said that when you can read and understand the Lyman manual, you are ready to hand load. Good data for accuracy loads. Good velocity data. Sometimes uses specific bullets (300 Grain Swift A Frame) and sometimes generic (150 grain flat base SP). I reference it a lot when it comes to case and cartridge dimensions. I followed their reloading process summary religiously until I was very confident in understanding the process.
Barnes- Free and easy to find online in PDF format. The books are good but have not been updated in a while. I’ve shot a lot of Barnes and their data has got me to accurate, fast loads very quickly. Their suggested OAL usually shoots well. I print the PDF of load data for every rifle I shoot, and my hunting 30-06 load that shoots so, so good came from their data, H4350 max load minus 1/2 grain (after working up of course, 2 separate 100 yard 3-shot groups pictured below)
Bonus-Lee: Their dies always come with pretty comprehensive load data that I have used to build loads when I couldn’t find data for a given powder elsewhere.
Bonus- Hodgdon website: Fantastic for matching powder you have on hand (or have seen in the store) with a cartridge/ bullet combination. This has been my only published source for some loads I have made. As you may know, the following manufacturers are under their umbrella: Hodgdon, Accurate, IMR, Winchester, Ramshot
I’m happy to answer any questions you might have. There are many here with more experience than me. But I have been able to use relatively inexpensive equipment to make some pretty awesome loads, which makes reloading very satisfying
To give more direct advice, and since you shoot a lot of Hornady, I’d say definitely get the hornady manual and read it cover to cover. Replicate some book loads using their process. Then when you have the basics figured out, grab the Lyman manual and dig in deep. But all of the above manuals are great. I have less experience with Sierra and Speer.
