Editing Handloading (section)

=== Improved ballistic performance ===
There are three aspects to [[ballistics]]: [[internal ballistics]], [[external ballistics]], and [[terminal ballistics]]. Internal ballistics refers to things that happen inside the firearm during and after firing, but before the bullet leaves the muzzle. The handloading process can realize increased accuracy and precision through improved consistency of manufacture, by selecting the optimal bullet weight and design, and tailoring bullet velocity to the purpose. Each cartridge reloaded can have each component carefully matched to the rest of the cartridges in the batch. Brass cases can be matched by volume, weight, and concentricity, bullets by weight and design, powder charges by weight, type, case filling (amount of total usable case capacity filled by charge), and packing scheme (characteristics of granule packing).<ref name=rrc/>

Handloading is a fundamental prerequisite for success where the most extreme accuracy is demanded, such as in rifle [[benchrest shooting]],<ref>{{cite journal |title=Reloading Techniques for Match-Grade Loads |journal=Shooting Sports USA |date=August 2018 |author=Stanton L. Wormley Jr. |url=https://www.ssusa.org/articles/2018/8/29/reloading-techniques-for-match-grade-loads }}</ref> but can only be done consistently accurately following load development to determine what cartridge components work best with a specific rifle.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Load Development Methods |website=LoadDevelopment.com |date=October 2020 |author=A.J. Deysel |url=https://www.loaddevelopment.com/load-development-methods/ }}</ref>

Customized performance is a common goal of handloaders.  [[Hunter]]s may desire cartridges with specialized bullets with specific [[terminal ballistics|terminal performance]].  [[Shooting sports|Target shooters]] often experiment extensively with component combinations in an effort to achieve the best and most consistent bullet [[external ballistics|trajectories]], often using cartridge cases that have been [[Fire forming|fire formed]] in order to best fit the [[chamber (firearms)|chamber]] of a specific firearm.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Reloading 101 part II: starter kits |journal=Guns Magazine |date=September 2008 |author=John Taffin |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQY/is_9_54/ai_n27963825/pg_1?tag=artBody;col1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090203181439/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQY/is_9_54/ai_n27963825/pg_1?tag=artBody%3Bcol1 |archive-date=2009-02-03 }}</ref>  Shotgun shooters can make specialty rounds unavailable through commercial inventories at any price.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Five Reasons to Handload Shotshells |journal=American Rifleman |date=April 2017 |author=Aaron Carter |url=https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/5-reasons-to-handload-shotshells }}</ref>  Some handloaders even customize cartridges and shotshells to reduce recoil for shooters who might otherwise avoid shooting sports because of the high recoil of certain firearms.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Gunpowder Selection for Controlling Recoil |journal=Shooting Sports USA |date=June 2017 |author=Brad Miller, Ph.D. |url=https://www.ssusa.org/articles/2017/6/19/gunpowder-selection-for-controlling-recoil }}</ref>  Some handloaders make [[overpressure ammunition|increased-power ammunition]] (i.e. "hot loads") if higher [[muzzle velocities]] (hence flatter trajectories) are desired.