handloader magazine, anybody get it?

[troy_mclure]

I've been occasionally picking up copies when i find them cheap, or they have a cartridge im interested in.

is it worth subscribing to?

[Stargazer]

I had subscribed to it a while back and I got my free CD in the mail. I noticed after a couple of months I never actually got the magazine itself. So I emailed to check my subscription status and they said they had had a computer "glitch" that messed with their subscriptions and I may have fallen into that group so two of the past copies of the magazine were sent out. Maybe it will actually show up in a day or so.

[jmortimer]

I get online subscription to Handloader, Rifle, and Successful Hunter plus Load Data all for about $5.00 per month - worth every penny and I just print out articles I need.

[alfack]

IMO, it is one of the very few gun mags worth reading. I had ordered a subscription too and it took a long time for me to get my first one. Remember that it is a bi-monthly mag though. So a years worth is 6 issues.

[jmortimer]

Another good thing about the online subscription is that you get immediaqte access - no waiting.

[WESHOOT2]

Yes (except, it seems like EACH issue covers something specific I've recently covered with someone. Weird......).

[Kevin Rohrer]

I have all the issues from #1. Although its quality has gone downhill over the past 10-years, it's still worth reading.

If you want to read a magazine with *excellent* reloading articles, join the Varmint Hunters' Association. You will get their magazine 4-times a year. Get the back issues if you can. The articles I read in it are those I used to see in Handloader.

[AlaskaMike]

I agree with a lot of what others have said--unlike most other gun rags, most of the content is actually relevant to my interests. Every other gun magazine seems to recycle the same tired stuff dealing with the latest 1911, AR15 or "tacticool" gear. I know that the mall ninjas drool all over that stuff and I'm sure it sells great, but I have no interest in it.

[ForneyRider]

Good stuff. Although, I think they have covered 7x57 pretty over the past few years.

I'd like to see more magnum rifle stuff and maybe some more gunsmithing and gun review stuff.

You can get handloader mag and 2 other subscriptions (Rifle, Successful Hunter) all together online. I did that last year.

Venturino is my favorite, but all the other guys like Barsness, Petty, etc. are awesome too.

[Para Cassatt]

I haven't been without Handloader since I first discovered it. I just noticed that Barsness was back in #267 and hope he sticks around as he, Brian Pearce, Dave Scovill and Stan Trzoniec are some of my favorite writers.

[Nomadicone]

One of the few magazines I save the old issue of. Every couple years I go back and reread articles I had forgotten about. Of course that could say something about getting old and memory too.

[langenc]

Call em and ask for the 3 months free offer. It was on the net probably starting in Jan/Feb. I since subscribed.

[temmi]

I have subscribed for the last 5 years... or more.

I also have an "online" subscription… so I guess you can see I think it is worth it.

[Stargazer]

I got the envelope that "use" to hold the two issues they were sending to me. I guess someone at the Post Office is enjoying them now. They are going to start my subscription over and maybe I will get those issues.

[Uncle Buck]

I pick it up when I know I will be stuck in the car waiting for Auntie Buck. I like the reviews on different powders and some of the casting molds (Although I do not cast yet) and I like the advertisements.

I do not care for the gun reviews, When I decide to purchase another gun, I will do my own research. (Besides, it seems if they print it, they are going to gush over it anyway, and any complaints they have will be minor.)

[Peter M. Eick]

Yes it is worth it and also spring for the DVD set. Well worth every penny I paid for it.

[hammie]

I have kept every copy of handloader after I discovered it 25 years ago. Now, I have pared my gun magazines down to 3 subscriptions: 1 & 2) "handloader" and its sister magazine, "rifle", and 3) "gun tests". "Gun tests" accepts no advertising and is the only magazine I've found that gives an honest evaluation of firearms.

[graham82]

Hammie--- one plus for Gun Test. I have also enjoyed my online subscription of Handloader, Rifle, and Hunter for the last two years. I bought my first Handloader magazine at an airport while waiting for a flight. I liked it so much that when I got back home, I ordered my online subscription.

[bassfishindoc]

Handloading is a great magazine, and even better when paired with Rifle IMHO. By pairing them, you get a magazine every month and you get a range of topics. They also give a military discount if any out there are interested. Another rag I enjoy is Precision Shooting magazine, might be worth looking into.

[Loader9]

I like the articles in the mag and enjoy reading it. But I'm no longer a subscriber. It seems that I'm not the only one with problems with their circulation dept. I'll get like the first 3 issues of the subscription and then nothing. It's always a computer glitch that never goes away. I guess that's one way to make money- sell the product and then not deliver. I'm glad to see some of you aren't having the problem though.

[GWS]

I almost always have one to read...unless in my once-over in the magazine store doesn't find anything to interest me. But that's rare. I've never subscribed, but have enjoyed it most of my 40 reloading years. The online offer a couple of you do sounds interesting....

On AR15.com some guy posted a poll on gun magazines recently. Handloader won a landslide....not surprising...since all the rest have the attitude that a magazine is advertising with filler (the articles) to help advertisers out. I enjoy the powder articles, but lately they spend most of the content on casting, which I don't do. Still, I read 'em...one of them might make me try it some day. Who knows?

One statement above I really agree with...The information within their pages was a lot more detailed and useful the early years, but I keep reading them hoping I get some more. In my formative reloading years the mag made me a better reloader, no doubt about it.