Massad Ayoob has argued for many, many years against using your own handloads for self-defense based on a couple potential problems: (i) a prosecutor or plaintiff's attorney arguing that you specifically manufactured the ammunition to be more deadly; (ii) issues as to powder residue on the target when the distance to the target is a critical issue. The point to using the commercial ammunition is that you can verify or document what was used and be tested. And, if you are really cautious, you may also want to use the same ammunition as the local law enforcement, which makes it even more difficult for a prosecutor to question your choice of ammo.
VIDEO: "Cases Where Handloads Caused Court Problems"
Massad Ayoob - Facts and Firearms (22 min.)
Never bought into this idea and never will. A couple counterpoints. Reloaded ammunition intentionally made to be more deadly? Is not boutique "defensive ammo designed to stop threats more efficiently versus the "white box" variety? If I step up from using .factory loaded 38 Special to factory loaded .44 magnum...is that not an attempt on my part to be more deadly? Powder residue on target? That's a stretch since there are so many variables affecting that...humidity, wind temperature, the particular fabric the corpse was wearing etc. etc. If it comes down splitting hairs like that, either the prosecutor or the defendant has a very weak case to begin with and is looking for a needle in a haystack. And the part about commercial ammunition being verifiable...there is variation even between individual cartridges from the same lot...just look at the SD's on chronographs. In short, any ammunition is potentially deadly when you point the muzzle at someone and pull the trigger. I would venture to say that the particular cases that Ayoob references are a drop in the ocean compared to all the shootings across this country over the past 50 years.
ReplyDeleteYou raise some valid points. However, this is just one of the reasons I use commercially loaded defensive ammunition and stick to the handloads for practice. Other reasons include that the commercial manufacturers typically use bullets that I can't buy for handloading, generally they uses nickel plated cases which makes for more reliable feeding and extraction, the better quality ammo is sealed against moisture and oils, and I can find dozens of videos and tests of the ammunition to better understand their performance.
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