Do you carry your handloads in your carry gun?

[gw104]

I for one am not worried about legal problems involving a shooting using my handloads.I know some people say you could be in more trouble if you use handloaded ammo,what are your views on this?

[Longdayjake]

This fear stems from Mr. Ayoob. He has been an expert witness in many cases and he feels that handloads cannot be predicted as to how they will function. He claims that can affect how police view a certain scene. I think it goes something like, "police are going to base their investigation on what they know about bullet performance. They know what they know about bullet performance by studying factory ammo. They may come to some false conclusion about your handloads because they perfom differently than factory ammo."

I personally believe that I won't shoot anyone unless my life is in danger. If I ever have to do it and my handloads come under investigation, any lawyer worth his spit will be able to get a cop to admit that handloads can perform differently than factory ammo. If a cop admits that their testing may not be consitent with reality then the prosecutor cannot use that piece of evidence against you. If he does use it against you then he is handing reasonable doubt to your jury. I use my handloads because I don't fear hypothetical situations. Thats something that anti gun people do.

[Xfire68]

Good points Jake! I have heard from many people on the net that it's not a good idea to use your own loads and they gave reasons why. My thinking is in line with yours Jake. If I ever have to defend myself to the point of using a gun I don't think my hand loads will be a issue. If the prosecutor want to say your loads are more deadly then factory ammo I will just point him in the direction of some +P+ extreme SD loads which my loads are nowhere near even at close to the max in my Lyman's load manual.

[lieut89]

Good points Jake! I have heard from many people on the net that it's not a good idea to use your own loads and they gave reasons why. My thinking is in line with yours Jake. If I ever have to defend myself to the point of using a gun I don't think my hand loads will be a issue. If the prosecutor want to say your loads are more deadly then factory ammo I will just point him in the direction of some +P+ extreme SD loads which my loads are nowhere near even at close to the max in my Lyman's load manual.

I would think that if you were in a situation where you were defending you're life, you would probably be shooting to stop the offender dead in his tracks, in which case the deadlier the ammo in my opinion, the better.

[Xfire68]

Agreed! I saw some sweet Premium 12g 375 grain hollow-point slugs by Winchester at Dick's Sporting Goods yesterday and they look like they would do a hell of a number on a intruder!

They are coming out with new shot shells all the time these days that are geared at ultra home/personal defense!