I wouldn't pick up a bag of reloads at a gun show and use them in my personal defense weapon.
It is often said to be a potential liability issue during the subsequent trial.
Yes there is Stuart. It is best to buy anything commercially made by a manufacturer. You can load within the spec but it is best that you use factory ammo so that you cannot get charged or blamed for going over the top by creating ultra-hot loads which can cause collateral damage. It keeps you on the right side of the law and liability.
Loose lips sink ships! In this case your freedom!
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That's my two cents worth and that's probably overpriced. |
Yes, there is. As someone else pointed out it may affect the outcome of your inevitable day in court. You may be seen as eager to field test your home brewed sooper-dooper-hollow point-bad guy stopper. On the other hand if you load, liike I do, what the local police are using your ammo choice becomes a non-issue. My local police uses .40 caliber 165 grain Gold Dot JHPs. It is excellent ammo with a proven track record on the street and I have complete confidence in it’s functioning in my Glock G23.
I have reloaded before. My equipment was of the simple hand operated kind. Even being as careful as possible there was still variation between rounds. There were also the inevitable double charge and squib (no charge) loads. Factory ammo is also water proofed to a degree with a lacquer coating around the primer to casing joint. Ideally, if you’re loading self defense loads you are going to use unfired brass casings and state of the art JHP bullets. You can also apply the lacquer to the finished cartriedges yourself. Your ammo is still probably not as good as the best commmercial self defense ammo.
Reloading is a fun addition to your shooting hobby. It’s a great way to learn intimately what makes good ammo and what makes bad. It’s also a great way to get cheap practice and hunting ammo. Of course since you’re dealing with explosives and projectiles you have to be knowledgeable, careful, and precise when reloading.
Many manufacturers void the warranty on any gun used with reloads because quality control is unknown.
My advice is learn to reload if you want to but stick to factory ammo in your carry gun.
Nope. No problemo so long as you load correctly and safely.
Depends on whether you HIT WHAT YOU’RE SHOOTIN’ AT!
If you buy reloads, there is a significant reliability issue. Reloads I’ve bought at gun shows jam my revolver about 1 time out of 50, although I now know to check all reloads for primers that stick out.
If you reload your own, then you should know how well it functions. A good home reloader can make ammo just as reliable as the manufacturer.
The only legal liability would be if you hotloaded something and the gun blew up and injured someone. For self defense, it is assumed that you are willing to kill someone when you shoot them. I don’t care if it is a 22 LR - if you shoot someone, you accept responsibility for killing them.
Does it show you are some wild eyed killer? Nope.
If I took up reloading, it would be so I could load 44 specials at 44 special +P type levels for shooting in my 44 magnum. I find a 240 grain bullet at 1400+ fps uncomfortable to shoot and excessive for anything I care about. The same bullet at 1000 fps is about right. Standard 44 special would put the same bullet at about 800 fps.
So what would the prosecutor argue? That a 240 grain bullet doing 950-1000 fps makes me a wacko, while factory ammo at 1400-1500 would not?
In addition, I’ve seen challenges issued to see if anyone can cite a case ever where handloading was used to attack the defendant in a self-defense case. I’ve yet to see anyone come up with a case.
If you shoot someone in self-defense, you accept the idea that killing them was justified. So it is up to the prosecution to show killing them was NOT self defense, and prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.
OTOH, if you fire because ‘you just wanted to wound them’, then you are in a HEAP of powerful doo-doo!
No matter what you load, if it ever goes to trail, the perp’s barrister is going to say “factory ammo is just not deadly enough so he had to load up super deadly blah blah”
Ask your local police what they use and do likewise. That negates any ammo related vulnerability because they surely must know the proper ammo to use...
What I am looking for is “home machine loader” device, that will take a cartridge with a primer, put an exact amount of powder in it, insert the bullet and give it a quality crimp.
Not really for the serious reloader, but for the home amateur reloader. Maybe battery powered as well, so it could be used in the field.
Commercial cartridges are good, but you never know when getting them might be a problem.
Go for it. My ammo is at least as good (better I think) than off the shelf. Aside from that the advantages are many. You get to pick components. You get to pick the loading. You get to practice w/ what you carry...practice like you fight, fight like you practice. You get to cycle many many rds thru your weapons before you need them in an emergency. As for malfunctions any ammo can cause those AND you should be practicing malfunction drills as a common exercise anyway. The price is right so you get to practice much more.
The argument that somehow youll get tagged for your ‘killer’ ammo is not well founded. Who will know if you keep your mouth shut? At any rate if you make the ammo as you should itll have the appearance of factory. I strongly doubt the cops or da will be able to tell yours from factory. I strongly doubt whether theyll even know to look.
If, as people are predicting, things go bad then having the capably to make your own ammo will pay off big...youll be doing business as usual.
Its going to take plenty of time, study and experimentation on your part. Its doable though and the knowledge gained is invaluable.
1. I know of no case where handhoads were either used or determined to be an issue for the shooter. If there is one, somebody post a link or cite.
2. If you’ve reloaded for a long time and are good at it, you can meet or exceed factory ammo. Most common factory bullets are available for reloading.
3. If you’re new to reloading, or lack the gauges and tools for proper quality control, leave it to the professionals at Federal, Speer, Olin, et al.
I’ve reloaded for 25 years and still only carry factory ammo, but mostly because all my pistol handloads are target/bulk rounds of FMJ, plated, etc. I have, however, run my choice of carry ammo through my pistol for fit and function before ever carrying them on the street.
In terms of reliability, factory self-defense type ammo is quite good. Is it as reliable as you could make a handload if you take the time to test and determine the absolute best load for your pistol? No...simply because you are doing it by hand and aren't depending on the mechanical repeatability of machines that do go out of true. An experienced handloader can, if dedicated, make much better quality ammo than a mass producer.
In terms of liability it's very unlikely that a criminal case of self defense will be determined by what ammo you used, and a lot of states limit civil liability in cases of self defense. I've had this discussion with a lot of people and the absolute only example that I've ever been provided of ammo being a factor in a trial was a case where they prosecution probably already had a conviction and were piling on. This comes down to your particular situation.
Personally I don't carry with handloads. There are a few reasons for this, the primary reason being is that I haven't found a good performing hollow point at a good price.
2)If I did have a gun and wanted to reload for it, I would not hesitate to use reloads for practice and hunting..
3)I would not recommend using reloads for self defense because you just never know when you get a box of primers that sat on the shelf and somehow deteriorated. This could lead to a misfire and catastrophe.
4)If you buy a small amount of ammo for self defense, load up your weapon(s) with the good stuff and throw away the box. If you happen to have to shoot someone, you can say you just bought some ammo, don't know anything about it, don't have the box it came in, etc.hunting for some poor homeless dope addict who only wanted to get in out of the cold when you shot him.
If you use your own hot load ammo and think they can't figure out what you were using, you haven't heard of CSI. They are going to take your firearm from you and there's probably a chance you still have some rounds in the cylinder or the clip. Gothcha. With all the great defensive loads for sale, you are not very bright to load your own and wear or show anything that draws attention to yourself to portray yourself as the fastest gun in town.
I'd go with whatever Mas suggests, because he's the guy you want on your defense team if you're ever on trial for using a gun for self defense.
Mark
Let’s put it this way, if you NEED to kill then your life must be in jeapordy. If it is then does it matter what you kill with? I mean, dead is dead, you or the bad guy. Worrying about a court case over your life means you really have your priorities screwed up and will probably get dead.
My instructor said absolutely not for self defense. Only use the good stuff. As careful as you are, there are always defects in the handloading process so buy the ammo marked for personal defense.
Thanks everyone for your input