[struwwelpeter]

for a real encounter (that's not apocalyptic SHTF)? NEVER ... for so many reasons.

I hear you, I guess. A lawyer friend I shoot with got to talking reloading. For starters, never sell or give away any ammo you make. His main 'caveat', though, is NEVER shoot a burglar with your own rounds, because no matter what, a wily prosecutor will turn that low-power, low-mass target ammo into a custom-made killing/maiming bullet that is banned by the Geneva Convention and under a bazillion statutes. ("Your honor, the accused actually sought out alloys containing toxic tin and arsenic! And he lubed the bullets with a carcinogen!") Let the factory share the lawsuit.

BTW: For serious SHTF I prefer a revolver. 30 years of range time on active duty and reserves with 1911's and M9's leaves me a bit wary of automatics.

I have no problem with the upper end of Lee's chart, which is VERY safety minded. My problem is how low can I go and still get the slide to reload? No need to beat the poor thing to death against paper, especially with 20-30 boxes on the agenda, and it's hard to find non-jacketed commercial rounds. Without reloading (and casting) I'd have to win the lotto to enjoy this hobby.

In my stupider years I experimented, and only by some miracle did I not end up a cyclops.

Reloading rifle ammo is more difficult. REALLY HIGH chamber pressures, super hard allows, strong crimps to keep .30/30 from telescoping inside tubular mags, and most of all YOU PUT THE THING RIGHT AGAINST YOUR FACE.

Has anyone noticed a strange new cartridge case in .45 ACP? I keep running across these cases that take SMALL pistol primers. Weird.

[mylife]

NEVER shoot a burglar with your own rounds, because no matter what, a wily prosecutor will turn that low-power, low-mass target ammo into a custom-made killing/maiming bullet that is banned by the Geneva Convention and under a bazillion statutes.

That is seriously ****ed up, and I know you speak the truth.

[mylife]

My problem is how low can I go and still get the slide to reload?

I have had this issue with aguila sub sonic .22

[mylife]

http://www.texaslawshield.com/

[Double Tap]

If it is a justified shooting, it isn’t going to make a hill of beans what you do it with.

And the” Geneva Convention” doesn’t cover ammo... or have any bearing on a justified self defense case.

[NVDave]

The need for small pistol primers is predicated on the higher pressures.

If you have, let’s say, 40K psi in the case, and you have a large primer, that’s that much more area against which the pressure can be forcing that primer to back out.

Since the length of the powder stack isn’t terribly long, the small primers will have sufficient brissiance to light off the powder, and yet be less prone to backing out.

[NVDave]

Oh, and on the “don’t use reloads for self-defense” - I have taken course from a JD who said exactly the same thing. His recommendation was to use the ammo that at least a few PD’s in your state use - which will typically be good (and probably expensive) JHP rounds from a major ammo manufacture.

That way, if in a civil wrongful death trial the family of your uninvited guest wails and claims that you were using some special ammo you cooked up because you were “seeking to kill someone,” you point out all the PD’s that also use your ammo and defuse the issue.

[ExSoldier]

though, is NEVER shoot a burglar with your own rounds, because no matter what, a wily prosecutor will turn that low-power, low-mass target ammo into a custom-made killing/maiming bullet that is banned by the Geneva Convention and under a bazillion statutes. ("Your honor, the accused actually sought out alloys containing toxic tin and arsenic! And he lubed the bullets with a carcinogen!") Let the factory share the lawsuit.

Durus: struwwelpeter nailed the answer to your question above, in spades. Even in states with an amended Castle Doctrine -- so called "stand your ground" or "shoot first" (as the antis love to call them) states, a zealous prosecutor could turn your justifiable shooting into something going before a Grand Jury based on specific intent to kill rather than provide for lawful self defense!

BTW: For serious SHTF I prefer a revolver. 30 years of range time on active duty and reserves with 1911's and M9's leaves me a bit wary of automatics.

Ever experienced an extruded primer that hangs up on the revolver backplate? I have. A gunsmith had to detail strip it to clear the hung round. Had that happened in a confrontation my revolver would have become a paperweight. I've only experienced that particular issue once in my life -- that's about 40 years of shooting experience. That's once too many for me. I use revolvers for teaching only. I've been a certified instructor for 22 + years. Any weapon I choose to carry for the purposes of self defense has to be 100% reliable in it's essence. That of course doesn't include a faulty magazine or even operator error. But in any case, I have to be able to clear a jam in an emergency and put the piece back into service to defend my life or the lives of others. I can always do that with a semi auto. I have not yet run into a jam that I couldn't rapidly clear, again in that 40 year span, if I do my part.