RELOADING AMMO: A Case of Combustion

Reloading your own ammunition has many benefits, not least of which is a sense of self-sufficiency and satisfaction in putting meals on the dinner table with ammunition you loaded by hand. On a more practical level, reloading your ammunition will increase the accuracy of your firearm and give you the ability to create ammunition for multiple uses, such as hunting and recreational shooting. In the process of reloading ammunition, you’ll also increase your knowledge of firearms. Plus, it’ll make firing your weapon more sustainable, as you’ll be recycling brass cases and cartridge packaging. Finally, you’ll cut the amount of money you spend on ammunition by one-half to one-third, no small amount when it comes to ammunition.

I began reloading when I got my first traditional muzzleloader rifle in the early 1980s. With a muzzleloader, every shot is loaded by hand. (For more information, see my article “When the Smoke Clears,” November/December 2017.) I started reloading modern centerfire rifle and handgun cartridges when my father-in-law gave my son and me an