Reality or Internet myth?
As far as I know, legally you cannot take the fight outside in CA. Same thing goes for shooting someone in the back...Looks really incriminating in court. If they high tail it outta my house, good for them...I'd rather not have to kill someone.
Why would reloads get you in trouble?
The "outside the house" would be carry on the street. A defensive shooting that happens in a public place, not something starting inside your home and going outside. In CA, and everyplace else I know of, if the attacker (s) flee, you are not justified shooting them any more.
Reloads could get you in trouble, in court. At least thats what many people believe. The prosecution making claims about how regular ammo "wasn't deadly enough" for you, or some other such drivel, in an attempt to sway the jury about your mental state and therefore your justification for shooting.
Massad Ayoob (who posts on this board from time to time), a recognised authority on how the courts handle defensive shootings, has found one case where the use of reloaded ammo did play an important part. I'm sure there may be a few others as well, but the number cannot be very large, or we would have heard a lot more about it. The general opinion is that using factory ammo for defense is the best idea, if for no other reason than the fact that the prosecution cannot make an issue of reloads if you don't use them. Many experts recommend that you use whatever it is that the local police use for ammo.
The only real problem with using reloads is that there is no way for a lab to verify and duplicate what is in them. Factory ammo, the lab can test some of the same lot (if it comes down to that) and so can testify to their findings. With your reloads, its your word about the load (which is automatically suspect, because you are the accused), and they (usually) can't test any unfired rounds, because they are "evidence".
In the one case mentioned, the defense said the victim shot herself, but because the lab didn't find as much powder residue as they expected to find, they said the shot had to have been fired from further away, making it murder instead of suicide. The ammo came from a box of reloads which included light target loads, which would have left less powder residue than "regular" ammo. So you see the possibilities for confusion that can occur. Personally, in my home, my gun might have reloads in it. You should do what you feel is best.
sorry no old ACP ammo here.
...Might want to give those a try. Since they're bonded they're more likely to retain their jacket and original weight when hitting the target.