Today I am reviewing a new book that just arrived from Wolfe Publishing. It is called Propellant Profiles, Sixth Edition. It is a reprint of all the powder reviews from all the years of Handloader Magazine. This book was last printed around 2008. The 2nd - 5th editions are available on Amazon. But the prices range from $30 for the 2nd edition to $167 for the 4th edition and up to over $700 for the 5th edition So I feel lucky I was able to purchase this newest 6th edition for $52.95 including shipping. Each powder review is faithfully reprinted in its entirety from Handloader Magazine. This includes reprinting multiple reviews for most of the popular powders. If they reviewed a powder in 1998 and reviewed it again in 2014, they reprinted both articles so you can read about their initial findings and then read what they have learned all those years later. A few powders have 3 or more reviews. It includes most of the powders from the big powder manufacturers and also reviews from Alcan, Norma and a few black powders.
The biggest thing for me in this book is that each article is very well written by some of my favorite firearms authors. Each article contains physical properties of the powder, basic (not exact) burn rate, other powders that are close in burn rate along with facts and personal opinions of their findings while working with the powder. They describe which cartridges they worked with and which cartridges the powder should work well with. They also include some basic reloading data. If it were not for the articles on Titegroup I would not have discovered the versatility and the consistency of this powder many years ago. Downsides of this book is that not all of the discontinued powders are included. Also, some new powders have not been included. For instance only one of the new Enduron powders was included. One other downside of this book is it does not include detailed findings of their load data tests.
Overall, I think this book is a good addition to a reloader's bench if used for the purpose in which it was published and that is to assist in choosing a powder for a particular application.