I just came back from my second trip to the range shooting my own loads after starting reloading a couple of weeks ago. I was shooting .38 S&W, and .38 Spcls. There may have been some observer effect involved but it seemed like I shot more accurately than before. Maybe I found some magic bullets (pun intended). Are hand loads generally more accurate than factory loads?

Handloads can be more accurate than most commercial loads, but if you are shooting a revolver offhand, I doubt if you would see much difference. The difference is most likely to be noticeable with rifles at longer ranges.

Handloads give you the ability to match the load to the gun.
If you're shooting a revolver and casting bullets to match bore and throats, you can tailor loads that factory ammo simply can't match.

Jim

Finding the right load for your gun can certainly improve over factory ammo. At least as important is range time for your trigger finger and wrists. The more, the more better!

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Some collect art; I shoot it!

Some days,I shoot like a champ and some days I shoot like a chimp!how you feel on a particular day is as if not more important than the load you use.

Hand loaded ammo does have the potential to be more accurate as factory ammo comes off of an automated assembly line. With hand loads, you can trim, uniform primer pockets, check for case neck concentricity and segregate cases based on internal capacity. You can also select bullets that are uniform in diameter, length, and weight. Then you can put together each round, individually, and be certain to get each primer seated exactly the same, each bullet is seated to the exact same depth and each crimp is identical. Much of this is really not productive with handgun ammo, but for precision rifle, it is very important. Can hand loaded handgun ammo be more accurate than factory ammo? Yes, at least some times.

I know from experience and years of tweaking hunting ammo for my Dan Wesson 15-2 that you can gain a lot in accuracy from loading your own ammunition. My best whitetail load for that .357 out of a 6" barrel would consistently produce 2½" groups at 85 yards from a rest. I wanted to stay with 158 gr XTPs because of previous deer kills with the factory round but accuracy was not as good as I wanted.

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They certainly can be, especially matching bullets to bore size. Even more so with rifles.

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

Reloads can shoot better than factory ammo.........

but you can also improve your accuracy with a trigger job, which I don't have on my M49, to maybe help reduce flyers.

Finding the correct FPS for the bullet in a weapon, is important.
This picture has been posted before...........

My 49 no dash is my EDC, it does fantastic with DEWC just below 650fps and Speer Short Barrel 135 Gold Dot +P factory. So this gun has 2 sweet spots!

Ivan

A lot depends on the components you use. For example with the .38 S&W the bore is usually around .361”. .358 bullets perform badly and will tumble, but a 148 gn HBWC will expand to fill the bore.

And in 9mm seating depth can make a difference as can crimp.

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View from down under

I lucked out on a Lyman 4 cavity mold a few years years ago that drops a perfect .361 158 grain swc.

My handload have undergone a lot of improvements over my 40 + years of reloading and casting my own bullets. These days I shoot coated bullets from a variety of vendors. I've played a lot and found what size bullet fits my barrels the best and what powders work best.

I can get 1 inch groups from my revolvers all day long with my handloads. This just isn't possible with any factory ammo.

Even just changing your OAL will affect accuracy.

Keep reloading and you will get more and more accuracy from your firearm.