Should you handload your own ammo?

I know most of you reading this do not hand load your own ammo. Let me attempt to convince you that you should. These are my reasons.

First is always economy. It doesn't matter what cartridge you want to load, once you have the empty cartridge case, that you will throw or give away if you don't reload it, you will be able to load it for at least a 50 percent savings. If you cast your own bullets (primarily for handgun cartridges) the savings is approximately 90 percent.

I have saved ammo components all my life. I am still loading and shooting powder I bought 30 years ago. You can imagine what I paid for the powder at that time. Who knows what components or factory ammo will cost 10 or 20 years from now or if they will be available. You can buy components at today's prices and use them 10 or 20 years from now when the prices may be even more outrageous than they are now.

Second. Once you have all the equipment you need to load one cartridge, all you need to load the next cartridge is a set of dies (cost $36) and a shell holder (cost $10). You might not need the shell holder because many cartridges use the same one.

Third. If you stockpiled the components you will never run out of ammo. No matter what the emergency, as long as you have the components, you will be able to load more as you need it. None of the components have a shelf life!!!

Fourth. You can "custom fit" the load for your specific firearm. All firearms are an entity to themselves. I have had the experience of a load shooting absolutely horribly. When I changed the powder or the bullet I got amazing improvement in the performance. This would be very expensive and time consuming if you had to buy several boxes of different ammo to test.

Fifth. You can "custom load" a cartridge for a specific purpose. I recently went on a hunt for an Alaskan coastal brown bear. I didn't want to buy a .375 and have little or no use for it after the hunt, so I loaded a special load for my .338 Win Mag and all went perfectly. This allows a rifle or handgun to fill more than one purpose.

Sixth. The lower cost of hand loads allows me to practice more. The more I practice the better shot I become and remaining competent requires constant practice. No one who ever had to use a firearm in self defense ever said, "I practiced too much for that fight."

I recently read an article where the author mentioned having enough firearms to share with neighbors in the event of a dire emergency. I'm not sure I would be willing to do that, but I could certainly provide ammo under such a situation.

Seven. Much of what I have learned about shooting has been because of my interest in hand loading the ammo. The details about accuracy, barrels, bullet performance, free floating a barrel, glass bedding and action, rifling rate of twist and many more aspects of shooting originated from my interest in loading. Hand loading has made me a much better and knowledgeable shooter.

Eight. Hand loading is safe, economical, purposeful, educational and fun. The more of yourself you put into a project, the more "ownership" you have of the end product. There are some events when failure simply is not an option. Failure carries with it a price I cannot pay.

Hand loading my own ammo has better equipped me to handle any emergency I will ever face.