Some may say I go a bit overboard on my cleaning but I like my brass to look at least as good, and in most cases better than new. Primer pockets too, inside of the case ditto. I buy commercial bullets for my CCW.
I still weigh and measure each handload and visually inspect it. I have a light over the powder dispenser and visually look into the brass to see if the powder level is where it should be. I weight the powder load after every 5th round to make sure I'm on the mark.

Chronograph loads until I satisfied.

Now if I could comfortably/legally carry my loaded rounds without being sued in my CCW I'd feel proud.

Is there a law in NC that you can only carry factory ammo ?

You can be sued for any imagined cause.
Handloads because "you tailored" them to KILL, or "didn't do it right" so the rounds wounded and left the bad guy to suffer or die slowly.
You used factory hollow points, self defense rounds so you could go out and KILL someone.
You get the idea.
Too many bleeding hearts thinking protecting yourself and/or family is barbaric. And too many lawyers willing to get on the case trying to make a buck.
So staying within your states laws load up.

muck

Then you must be using Thumblers and SST. Like new Brass, good stuff.

quote:

Originally posted by Dom:
Then you must be using Thumblers and SST. Like new Brass, good stuff.

Yes, I love my Thumbler & use stainless steel pins with a witches brew of Dawn dish soap, water, and Lemi-shine. I punch out the primer before cleaning with a decapping die. After drying, examine to make sure all the pins are out, lube with Hornady One-Shot, and put in an airtight container until ready to load.

Muck,
Correct. What I've heard is to find out what your local LE is using and use that.

Delta, if you are using commercial bullets and not putting rat poison in the hollow points or something crazy like that then why would you even think about mentioning to Law Enforcement that they are your handloads???

No one would ever pick up on it...trust me!

I am a retired police detective

There has never been a civil or criminal trial that questioned reloaded ammo as part of the evidential discovery. Guns, and the ammunition used in them, are deadly force. If you have a reason to use deadly force then it will make no difference what ammo you use. If questioned the reason you use reloads should be the same as mine: it is the most consistently accurate ammunition available in my gun. Nobody on the jury wants you to use ammo that might hit an innocent by-stander.

quote:

Originally posted by PaulS:
There has never been a civil or criminal trial that questioned reloaded ammo as part of the evidential discovery. Guns, and the ammunition used in them, are deadly force. If you have a reason to use deadly force then it will make no difference what ammo you use. If questioned the reason you use reloads should be the same as mine: it is the most consistently accurate ammunition available in my gun. Nobody on the jury wants you to use ammo that might hit an innocent by-stander.

Never a cival or criminal trial that handloads came into qurstion?

.....google is a good place to start to clear up this mis-statement

Here is some good info. Good arguments for using factory loads, namely repeatability of experiments.

http://www.gunforums.net/forum...court-mas-ayoob.html

If you want hot ammo, get some Double Tap or Corbon for your pistol. I use that for my 10mm auto, but that is for hunting. I use Remington Golden Saber 230 grs in my 1911 and Speer Gold Dot in my wife's 38 special and my 9mm.

A good prosecutor will convolute your explanation and turn you into a knuckle-dragging gun nut!

I would never mention that I was using loads I made myself....No Way.

quote:

Originally posted by PaulS:
There has never been a civil or criminal trial that questioned reloaded ammo as part of the evidential discovery.

that you know of, or did you research it?

There have been cases in criminal matters that questioned the load when a gun that was tested could not reproduce the powder dispersal pattern but it was not in a self-defence case and it was not a determining factor in the case.

The ammunition used was not a consideration in the case. What was questioned was the distance from which the gun was fired. I did my research and limited it to actual events where ammunition used was used as evidence to prosecute or win a civil suit.

If you have to use deadly force to protect yourself there is no way that any prosecutor is going to bring up a "level" of lethality. That would open the door to a precedent of less than lethal force. A dead perp is just as dead whether a 22 LR was used or a 458 magnum was used to kill him. My "puny little" 357 magnum is lethal but no more or less lethal that any other cartridge that kills a man.

quote:

Originally posted by deltam:

quote:

Originally posted by Dom:
Then you must be using Thumblers and SST. Like new Brass, good stuff.

Yes, I love my Thumbler & use stainless steel pins with a witches brew of Dawn dish soap, water, and Lemi-shine. I punch out the primer before cleaning with a decapping die. After drying, examine to make sure all the pins are out, lube with Hornady One-Shot, and put in an airtight container until ready to load.

For sure. I've found that one doesn't want to use too much Lemmi-shine though, just about a 1/4 tsp seems right.

Amazing results.

quote:

If you have to use deadly force to protect yourself there is no way that any prosecutor is going to bring up a "level" of lethality.

Hogwash! When the Japanese foreign exchange student was shot in Louisiana quite a few years back with a 44 Magnum (the only handgun the homeowner owned...) the prosecutor made significant hay out of the fact the young man was shot with a 44 and how much "overkill" it was.

And what was the outcome in that case?