re: Ammo reloading questions

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All of the equipment is RCBS. I also have all the dies of what I shoot as he did the reloading years ago. I did find his notebook with details of all the different loads he was using.

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RCBC=good stuff. Regarding personal load data, I have a 3 prong binder (the kind you buy at the start of the school year for $0.20 apiece) for every gun I load for. I started this when Nosler Ballistic Tips were just hitting the market so my folders are color coded by the color of the NBT for that gun. For example, all 30 calibers (308 Win, 300/221, 30 Alaskan Bower, etc) loads are in green binders while all 22 calibers (223 Rem, 22 Nosler, 221 Fireball, etc) loads are in red binders.

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Next question, all powder was stored in ammo cans as well as the primers. Is there any concern with them going bad? Everything has the date he bought it written on top. All of the powder was bought between 1995-2001.

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Powders and primers should be ok as long as they're not stored in extreme temperature or exposed to wet (primers and powders) or high humidity (powders). I store mine in a closet that has an air/heat vent. Be sure your powder containers are well sealed and don't have any holes. In 35 years of loading, I've only lost 2 cans of powder, one to corrosion in the inside metal container (IMR doesn't use metal cans anymore) and one to a small hole in a plastic Vihtavuori container.

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I also found several reloading manuals, Nosler #2, Lyman 45 edition, Hornady vol 2, speer vol 2, and Game Loads and Practical Ballistics by Bob Hagel. Should I also buy a more recent manual?

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Congrats on the Bob Hagel book. I always enjoyed his writings. Those books should be fine for "how to" instructions, but you need more recent data for the recipes. You can find lots of good online data (Barnes, Hodgdon, Nosler and Sierra). I frequently buy new books, but I like books. You can save a few $$s if you want by using online data. BTW, Sierra also has a great phone app.

Enjoy your new hobby and keep us updated.