I’ll add since it’s more my arena (as opposed to precision) that if you’re a person who wants to be proficient with firearms for self defense, one needs to train. I’m not a natural at anything so I need to train A LOT. Which means higher volume of rounds. If you can crank out high volume blasting Ammo, you can train the (hardest part for me) recoil management of defensive style shooting for MUCH cheaper. Even though with higher volume loading, you absolutely may only have a marginal increase in accuracy, rarely you can get significant improvements, as your still tuning a load to your specific gun or guns. At that point, if you aren’t able to get cheap components and value your time, sometimes factory blasting Ammo is cheaper/better alternative. However, in times when there’s panic and thusly increased prices/decreased availability, one can save themselves money at worst, be able to maintain a proficiency and keep training when there’s nothing available at best. Cons are that the typical setups for higher volume won’t get you the same results as trying to load match Ammo for longer distance. One could argue that vice versa is also true, as you can’t get the volume with more precision minded setups. It also depends on what you shoot. If we’re talking 9mm, in the year or two pre-current panic, one would need to shoot A LOT for it to be worth while. Now if you have a setup that can run both, and you also shoot a LOT of 556, it’s a little easier to justify. Throw in high volume of a cartridge like 300 blk where the commercial cost per round is so expensive and one can acquire components for 25-50% the cost (that 50-75% savings), now you’re really talking. If you don’t shoot thousands of rounds of each caliber per year, it ain’t worth getting high volume setups. If you don’t shoot matches or simply enjoy shooting very accurately at distance, then precise loading isn’t worth it. Hunting is another one. Most guys who hunt shoot a box of Ammo a year If that. If you shoot your hunting load a lot to train more, given the price of quality/best hunting, one might secondarily save there. All that being said, RAD’s response absolutely holds true for precision, and to a lesser extent for volume/blasting/training Ammo.
Absolutely. Handloading is tailored to your exact rifle. Factory ammo is made under one rifle with a certain barrel length and twist to put out a “general” idea how how fast a cartridge is moving and how accurate that cartridge will be with certain barrel lengths. Beside having the ammo just made with one specific rifle and long test barrels, you also have to think how mass produced the ammo is and how much variation their is among the ammo being used. However, if you plan on shooting a couple hundred yards no biggie at all. Run factory ammo. If you want to really understand your rifle, you must understand the ammo being used behind it too. If you can replicate low SD and ES with your own ammo, you know exactly what your ammo is going to be doing in different temperatures, how fast the bullet is REALLY moving-and not just a general number that loaded ammo boxes put on the side-so that you can calculate in ballistic calculators on where you are actually going to be hitting down range with your handloads. Moreover, expensive rounds can be made for a third of the price most of the time too. Always have a stock pile of ammo ready to be made, panic buying hits and you have a fat stash of ammo. Etc. many benefits. Cons: cost of startup and making return on investment. Best part? Seeing your hard work producing single digit SD and ES’s.
I’ll add since it’s more my arena (as opposed to precision) that if you’re a person who wants to be proficient with firearms for self defense, one needs to train. I’m not a natural at anything so I need to train A LOT. Which means higher volume of rounds. If you can crank out high volume blasting Ammo, you can train the (hardest part for me) recoil management of defensive style shooting for MUCH cheaper. Even though with higher volume loading, you absolutely may only have a marginal increase in accuracy, rarely you can get significant improvements, as your still tuning a load to your specific gun or guns. At that point, if you aren’t able to get cheap components and value your time, sometimes factory blasting Ammo is cheaper/better alternative. However, in times when there’s panic and thusly increased prices/decreased availability, one can save themselves money at worst, be able to maintain a proficiency and keep training when there’s nothing available at best. Cons are that the typical setups for higher volume won’t get you the same results as trying to load match Ammo for longer distance. One could argue that vice versa is also true, as you can’t get the volume with more precision minded setups. It also depends on what you shoot. If we’re talking 9mm, in the year or two pre-current panic, one would need to shoot A LOT for it to be worth while. Now if you have a setup that can run both, and you also shoot a LOT of 556, it’s a little easier to justify. Throw in high volume of a cartridge like 300 blk where the commercial cost per round is so expensive and one can acquire components for 25-50% the cost (that 50-75% savings), now you’re really talking. If you don’t shoot thousands of rounds of each caliber per year, it ain’t worth getting high volume setups. If you don’t shoot matches or simply enjoy shooting very accurately at distance, then precise loading isn’t worth it. Hunting is another one. Most guys who hunt shoot a box of Ammo a year If that. If you shoot your hunting load a lot to train more, given the price of quality/best hunting, one might secondarily save there. All that being said, RAD’s response absolutely holds true for precision, and to a lesser extent for volume/blasting/training Ammo.
Absolutely. Handloading is tailored to your exact rifle. Factory ammo is made under one rifle with a certain barrel length and twist to put out a “general” idea how how fast a cartridge is moving and how accurate that cartridge will be with certain barrel lengths. Beside having the ammo just made with one specific rifle and long test barrels, you also have to think how mass produced the ammo is and how much variation their is among the ammo being used. However, if you plan on shooting a couple hundred yards no biggie at all. Run factory ammo. If you want to really understand your rifle, you must understand the ammo being used behind it too. If you can replicate low SD and ES with your own ammo, you know exactly what your ammo is going to be doing in different temperatures, how fast the bullet is REALLY moving-and not just a general number that loaded ammo boxes put on the side-so that you can calculate in ballistic calculators on where you are actually going to be hitting down range with your handloads. Moreover, expensive rounds can be made for a third of the price most of the time too. Always have a stock pile of ammo ready to be made, panic buying hits and you have a fat stash of ammo. Etc. many benefits. Cons: cost of startup and making return on investment. Best part? Seeing your hard work producing single digit SD and ES’s.