Are hand loads for self defense a no no?

Ive heard it explained that if/when sued in court, all ballistics data that COULD be on your side, is thrown out the window and could be used against you.

Data like how close the attacker was from you when you shot. If its your word against theirs you could have to fight to prove the guy was even coming at you.
 
Christcorp, Come to Ohio to find ammo right now. It's not as easy as you think. If some comes in the store in the am, it's gone by afternoon. We have hoarders over here, HOARDERS I SAY !!!!!:) I'm not so much handload vs commercial, I'm more in the boat, shoot what you have. I would rather have ammo in my guns, then, not because I couldn't find, or afford what was available.
My only argument with " the lawyers will take you apart for using super duper cop killer handloads", is I load, using manuals. And I imagine that most people load with common sense, or you won't keep your firearm in one piece for long.
If, God forbid, I would have to discharge my weapon in the direction of another Human Being, and I am left standing, I'll worry about the ethics of using handloads, while I breath in, and out. Also, any forensics lab could take apart, and test bullets, powder, and powder weight, and match it with existing data. Beside, with the .44Magnum Alaskan, I DOWNLOAD to .44Special volocities, or slightly above in the +P range.
 
The problem is, your own reloading manuals/data/powder/bullets cannot be submitted as evidence to clear you. The other guys (family) lawyer will reject all your data and evidence as being biased: Tampered evidence from your premises that, if shown to prove your case, has been set up to falsely clear you--this is based off a discussion Mas Ayoob had with a lawyer about the issue, I had the recorded interview downloaded from one of the gun websites.

But if your only concern is staying alive and saving money, stick with what you feel comfortable with.
 
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OK, this is a silly-ass thread to start with, but it's fun to play around with it.

So, in the event you shoot some low life with a handload, I try to imagine the scenarios in a civil court. Yes, I'm not addressing the real life trauma and second-guessing going on in your own head.

First of all, how would anyone know it was a handload to begin with? Surely there would be a police investigation in any shooting no doubt. That would be evidence in a civil case. Maybe your police officers are more studious than ours are, but chances are our guys here would ask you things like "where'd you get 45 Colt these days?" And my answer would be "hmmm... I dunno, I have a few of them laying around. Maybe I bought them awhile back over in Riverton."

So, somehow they ascertain it's a handload that killed the evil scumbag. The money-grubber asks you "so why did you feel it was necessary to have this sooper dooper badass killer round?" And you (dressed in your ragged clothes of course) answer "well, dang, ya know I'm not a rich dude. I'm barely getting by as it is. I can't afford these high priced store bought factory bullets. So I kinda scraped up some leftover stuff and reloaded me some homemade stuff to protect Ma and the kids and dogs from these dang ole crooks runnin round here. It's the only option I had." Once the jury saw how poor you were to have to reload, there's no way they would give out a big award.
 
They dont have to sue you, maybe they want jail time. It has happened. And if they catch you in a lie that just looks worse.

Basically you want to be able to prove ballistically without a doubt that you shot the perp from 4 feet away versus, say, 30 feet away. You cant prove with your reloads and they can bring up 'experts' who will say theres no proof that you were 'x' feet away because without ballistic evidence, its your word against theirs. Their objective would be to cast doubt that it was a legal shoot etc...

But the important thing, whether you're in jail or sued, you have your health and you lived to tell about it. And saved a few bucks too! ;)
 
Mark; not to start an argument, but I'm pretty positive that if you asked for a box of 20 rounds of a particular caliber and brand, I could find it for you online in approximately 37 seconds. (In stock). Would it be possibly a little more money than "normal"? Possibly. But it's only 1 box for a caliber/gun we're talking about. After knowing how a particular manufacturer's ammo shoots in your particular gun; "Roughly 1 box"; you really don't need to "Practice" and go through hundreds of rounds of SD/HD rounds.

I.e.:
230 grain remington 45acp golden sabers. Available at ammo bank
9mm Winchester Ranger 90gr. +P Frangible Ammo Available at Ammunitiontogo
.40 S&W Federal Hi-SHOK JHP Available at Ammobank
Extreme Shock Air Freedom Ammunition 357 Magnum 85 Grain Available at midwayUSA

So, what is it you're looking for? I tried 4 high quality SD rounds. Remington, Federal, Winchester, and Extreme Shock. OK, I admit that it took more than 37 seconds. Truthfully, it took about 90 seconds to find all 4. Maybe you want Corbon, Buffalobore, etc... Anyway, my point is that just about anything is currently available from legitimate retailer. It's actually the bulk and large number cheaper plinking ammo that's difficult to get. No one in their right mind is going to shoot a $20-$30 box of 20 rounds SD/HD ammo just for plinking. Most people know, because of the price, that they also don't need hundreds of rounds of it either. Anyway, good luck. If you'd like a nice site to save you time looking, here's one. Just plug in the caliber and it will find any of the more well known online retail stores with it in stock.
http://www.ammoengine.com/
 
It's really simple. Handloads won't be a big deal in determining if you are guilty or innocent in a criminal trial. They will quite likely be a big deal in a cdivil trial. Handloads will also cost you a lot of money. They cost you a lot of money because your attorney, once he finds out you were using handloads, has to prepare an argument in case it does become an issue in court. To prepare the argument he is going to have to hire someone like me to help him. So plan on that handloaded bullet costing you at least $5000 in attorney and expert witness fees. Plus it can be one of those little factors that hurt you in court. There is no way it will help you in court. Given that it cannot help you but can hurt you, and that it won't shoot the guy any better than a factory load (assuming normal calibers/guns etc.) there is no good reason for using a handload for SD if you have the chance to use a quality, modern factory load.

Mike Goob also make a good point. Handloads do not allow testimonial exemplars. Usually not a big deal, but I've seen a couple of cases where the exempalrs were very important to the final verdict.
 
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