Handloader's Digests?

[Woodtroll]

Hello, folks!

Does anyone know if the Handloader's Digests were published past issue 18? I haven't seen any new ones in several years, and a web search didn't turn up anything past 18. I always found something interesting in each one, and would to see them discontinued completely.

Thanks! Regan

[Dale53]

Regan;
A trip thru Google seems to show that the 18th Edition is the latest one (1st published in 2003).

Haven't heard anything further.

Dale53

[alamogunr]

I've got a complete set of Handloader's Digests and #18 is the least useful of all of them. I have almost decided that if another one is published, I will skip it. This site and one or two others satisfies most of my needs.
John

[floodgate]

I agree; HLD No. 18 is just about worthless as a reference, though there were a few good articles. I was asked to review it for one of the single-shot magazines, and finally got back to the Editor and told him it was not worth my time or his money. They even gutted the shell-holder charts, as compared to previous issues (of which I also have a complete set).

floodgate

[Charley]

IMO, Handloader's Digest has gone the way of Gun Digest. What was once an excellent resource is now a stiffcover, thcker version of Guns and Ammo. The 2007 Gun Digest had about 7 articles in it, the rest was shiney colored pictures and the so called "catalog". Not worth my money or time.

[Woodtroll]

Thanks, guys, I do appreciate your help. I agree that the newer Gun Digests are really not much. I quit buying these in about 2000, picked up a 2006 just the other day for $5, and was amazed at the LACK of articles and information. I also feel that this forum, along with a couple other gun boards I read, are a great source of information for any specialized topic I might be wondering about.

I get a kick out of thumbing through the products section of the oldest Handloader's Digests, seeing what products were available when I was very young. The depressing part is what some of those things cost then! But I still think we have it better now, for the most part, as casters and shooters.

By the way, I'm looking for the #16 HD if anyone has an extra. Again, thank y'all for your help!

Take care, Regan

[KCSO]

The 2008 G/D has one redeeming feature, a nice long article on Walter Hudson and his work with the Krag rifle.

[Bent Ramrod]

I think the problem is that the publisher of Handloader's Digest figured if he put it out every year, a la Gun Digest, he'd make three or five times as much as if he put it out irregularly. The quantum yield of worthwhile articles dropped fast between 1994 (the thirteenth) and 1998 (the seventeenth). I don't have the 18th, but I can imagine it's worse than the 17th. Sort of like the famous circus lemonade with the one lemon in the barrel of water that keeps getting topped up with water as the lemonade is drawn out the bottom. After a while it's pretty thin!

On the other hand, maybe Digest Books, Inc. thinks its average customer is akin to the newsstand magazine buyer--He buys one out of curiosity or boredom, reads it and tosses it out without particularly caring that there was one before it and there will be another one along later.