THIS FACT IS INESCAPABLE: A FACTORY CARTRIDGE IS JUST ONE combination of four components—primer, case, propellant, and projectile. In handloads, you can vary all four. However, today’s factory ammo is so good, I’m no longer sure I can beat it—and definitely not all the time! This gives me a wonderful excuse to be a lazy handloader. But that’s nothing new.
As a teenager, I was taught handloading by a serious benchrest competitor, which included then-known techniques for maximum accuracy. In terms of raw accuracy, benchrest is probably the most demanding shooting sport. I love tight groups, but I’m not a benchrester. Today, there are new tricks (and tools), but I don’t always use them. I want good, reliable ammo, but I rarely pursue the tedious search for maximum accuracy.
The…