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Old July 26, 2007, 02:53 PM   #1
314EPW
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handloader magazine?

Any comments on this mag?I would hate to have it have nothing but ads on buying better equipment!Can't afford stealing money from my small house account!Hardly anything in it already.Give your opinions on reloading mags please.
thanks
Ed
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Old July 26, 2007, 03:27 PM   #2
Trapper L
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Yeah, it's full of ads but it's also full of info you won't find any place else. It's also not for the beginner reloader as most of the info is on an elevated level. If you've been loading a couple of years, it's the best out there for info and data. FWIW, it's the only mag I take.
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Old July 26, 2007, 03:31 PM   #3
Trajan
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I don't subscribe to it, but I buy it from the newstand occasionally... if it has an article I'm interested in. For example, I bought the current issue since it had a big article on loading & shooting the 6.5 x 55 swede.

I like the mag.
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Old July 26, 2007, 03:43 PM   #4
Don H
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In my opinion, Handloader magazine has degenerated through the years. I no longer subscribe and hardly ever glance at it on the magazine racks.
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Old July 26, 2007, 05:33 PM   #5
FatWhiteMan
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Quote:
I don't subscribe to it, but I buy it from the newstand occasionally... if it has an article I'm interested in. For example, I bought the current issue since it had a big article on loading & shooting the 6.5 x 55 swede.
Yep, me too. I don't subscribe but I had to have the swede article.
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Old July 26, 2007, 07:54 PM   #6
Rimrod
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Once in awhile they will have an article on some uncommon cartridge that you just happen to have, but don't hold your breath. If you look hard enough there are places to find it anyway. Other than that it's like reading a reloading manual with advertisements.
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Old July 26, 2007, 08:09 PM   #7
wild willy
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I have subscribed to it for over thirty years thinking about dropping it not near the magazine it once was
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Old July 26, 2007, 08:56 PM   #8
BigJakeJ1s
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I subscribe to the electronic versions (full pdf of the entire magazine) of all three (handloader, rifle, and successful hunter), at quite a discount over hard copy. And I can save a years worth of all three (they're typically 10-20MB ea issue) on a cdrom easy. IIRC, all three electronically are less than one hard copy.

Andy
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Old July 26, 2007, 10:16 PM   #9
Linear Thinker
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I subscribe, and have all issues since #2. #1 is expensive!
A great magazine, with info you won't find anywhere else.

While the other gun rags have chewing tobacco, erectile disfunction medication and 4x4 truck ads, Handloader advertising usually stays on subject. I don't mind the ads, they are not offensive.

Yes, it has gone downhill in the last ~10 years, with articles on .900 Barsness and other oddball cartridges

Still, I read it cover to cover every month.
LT
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Old July 27, 2007, 01:42 PM   #10
FM12
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There are some pretty good articles, but some are oddball claiber oriented, as stated before. Still, pretty goodreading...if you're a novice, might want to buy one-at-a- time at the book store.
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Old July 27, 2007, 06:15 PM   #11
Evil Dog
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I've found that most magazines are more than willing to send a sample copy on request... gives me a much better idea if I would want to subscribe. So far there are very few that go beyond the sample issue stage for me.
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Old July 28, 2007, 07:17 AM   #12
Peter M. Eick
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I subscribe, but I also agree that it is not the magazine that it was in the 70's. The key issue is that none of the magazines are as good as they were back in the 60/70's as the technical sophistication has dropped a lot.

If you go back and read say Ken Water's write ups on a cartridge (pet loads for example) and then read a current write up on a cartridge like in the last issue, you can see the difference. In the older magazine you got detailed descriptions of the powders tried, why they did or did not work and what was the learning's at each step of the way. Basically it was like sitting down with another reloader and reviewing their notes over a cup of coffee.

Today you get the "me and joe went hunting" stories and "this didn't blow up in my gun so its ok" and then the one paragraph on "shoot this powder and bullet" part of the article.

I swear at times that some of the writers forget they are writing to fellow reloaders and think they are writing for "field and stream".

Now if they would go back to the Ken Water's style detailed analysis of the cartridge, the powder, the primers and give us the notes we need to help out with our reloading I would be very pleased.

But they won't because that won't sell to most folks. Thus I brace myself for another one of Brian's "me and joe went hunting" and by the way we reloaded also articles.
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Old July 28, 2007, 06:31 PM   #13
buckster
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H/L Mag

I considered it the other day at Cabela's, but it didn't have data on any of the powders I was using.
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Old July 28, 2007, 06:44 PM   #14
The Tourist
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"some uncommon cartridge that you just happen to have"

Yes, I do that myself.

However, my cartridges have standardized over the years. If anything, my reloading varies as to the depth of bullet placement for overall length. And even that is pretty standard now.

I have always thought that their articles/opinions better served the varminting community.
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Old July 29, 2007, 12:30 AM   #15
jhansman
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FWIW, I just picked up my first copy. I read enough magazines that I can pretty much tell on the first issue if I am going to buy a second. I gave it away today at the range. Not bad, but not exceptional.
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