The Debate Continues: Whether to Use Handloads For Self-Defense

 I've posted about this topic before:

• "Handloaded Ammunition for Self Defense: Yes or No?" 
• "VIDEO: Massad Ayoob On Why You Shouldn't Use Handloads For Self-Defense" 

 So you would think that would have settled the matter (sarc.). Here are a couple more takes on the matter:

    First up is this piece from Shooting News Weekly, "EDC Tip: No Reloads for Self-Defense" by Paul Markel. (When I first saw the title, I thought he was talking about not carrying additional ammunition for self-defense, but the article is about using hand loaded ammunition). His argument against using hand loads boils down to two points: (1) reliability issues (which I think is valid); and (2) a hostile prosecutor (or plaintiff's attorney in the subsequent civil lawsuit for damages) "looking for anything they can find to paint you as a reckless, negligent, or malevolent person," including labeling you as a "gun nut" or asserting that you wanted to kill someone. 

    Having loaded your self-defense firearm with handloaded or “home-loaded” ammunition, it’s not a stretch that a hostile attorney will assert to the jury that “commercially available ammunition wasn’t good enough” and that you set out to make ammunition that was “even more deadly and destructive” to ensure that your ammo would cause “maximum damage.” 

    Such accusations put you and your counsel on the defensive, forcing you to try to convince a jury that none of the above was true. Remember, your jury isn’t going to be made up of sympathetic gun toters. The opposing counsel will ensure that.  

Thus, Markel writes:

For years and years, my advice to those who are unsure about which self-defense load to carry is to find out what ammunition your local police or sheriff’s department is using. If you have no other brand loyalty, just purchase the same thing that local law enforcement uses. If you’re ever questioned, your attorney can say that if it’s good enough for local cops to carry, it’s certainly good enough for an armed citizen. Again, no hostile attorney is going to try and convince a jury that the Sheriff’s Department is wrong and their ammo is evil.  

As I've noted before, however, you may not be privy to such information unless you are friends with a police officer or deputy. 

    And in the opposite corner, we have this piece from GUNS Magazine entitled "Fact or Fictions:
Gun Myths That Refuse to Die" by Brent Wheat (https://gunsmagazine.com/our-experts/fact-or-fictions-gun-myths-that-refuse-to-die/). He addresses numerous such myths such as "knock down" power, racking the slide of a shotgun is enough to send felons fleeing, and revolvers never jam, but also addresses whether using hand loads will put you in jail:

And finally, we have to address the internet’s common warning: “Don’t use reloads for self-defense or you’ll go to jail.” The number of real-life court cases where this has actually mattered could fit on the back of a .22 box. If your shoot was justified, the ammo type isn’t likely to turn it into a murder charge. One good reason for not using reloads has to do with reliability, but if you trust your own handloads over the factory version, be my guest. Yes, a prosecuting attorney might make an issue about your ammo, but it’s probably a symptom of larger problems with your case. As with all legal matters, talk to your attorney for guidance if you’re going to carry your own creations. 

    Wheat is correct that there are a paucity of cases where using handloads was a determining factor. Massad Ayoob has only ever discussed three cases where it was relevant. The "deadlier bullet" argument was only employed in a case against a police officer that decided to use his own hand loaded ammunition over the ammunition issued by his department and so part of the case revolved around why he believed the department ammo was not good enough. The other two cases involved situations where gunshot residue was key to determining the distance at which the shooting took place, but there were difficulties in establishing the distance based on the residue because the defendant had used hand loads. But, in his video, Ayoob notes that gunshot residue evidence was considered in a couple famous cases to establish distance and orientation even though hand loaded ammunition was not a factor: the George Zimmerman case and the shooting of Michael Brown.

    To me, reliability should be the overriding concern which favors commercial loads over handloads. Secondarily is that many good self-defense bullets are not available to the hand loader. Hornady is pretty good about making its bullet line available to the hand loader, but other manufacturers either don't sell just the bullets from their self-defense lines or availability is sporadic.