You'll shoot your eye out

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One of the most ridiculous things I hear about reloading my own ammunition is that it is too dangerous. I'm told over and over that manufactured ammo is safer due to the levels of Q&A each manufacturer has.

Ahab begs to differ.

That's not to say that reloading doesn't carry risks. Inattentive reloaders realize their folly rather quickly, sometimes painfully. However, by carefully cultivating good reloading habits, you can reduce the risk significantly to the point of being on par with factory loads.

The other ridiculous reloading myth is that you should never carry reloads as Self Defense rounds. Until someone can show me actual case studies of people convicted of premeditated murder or successfully sued in civil court specifically because they used reloads, it's a myth without any basis in fact, regardless of what Massad Ayoob says.

rolled out on Monday, October 15, 2007 10:37 AM

Comments

# re: You'll shoot your eye out - Weer'd Beard

Rolled Out On: 10/15/2007 11:22 AM

My only reason for using factory ammo is I've heard that the round is "tighter" as in a tighter crimp on the bullet and a tighter seal in the primer pocket, making them a little more durable to the elements.

Maybe that's not true, but I will also say that the QC in making some $25 per box "Social Ammo" is going to be a LOT better than that $11 a box russian crap. Not to mention the quality of the componants used.

The only loads I DON'T reload are 7.62X39 (just too cheap to be woth the hassle) 7.62X54R (though I have a stock of brass and dies for when the surplus stuff starts drying up) 7.62X25 (Don't shoot enugh of it to be worth the PITA of dealing with bottle-necked pistol cartridges and tiny bullets) and .25 ACP (NO WAY! NEVER!).

If I had room on my bench I'd get a shotshell reloader. Maybe in the future.

I prefer the home rolled! : ]

# re: You'll shoot your eye out - John

Rolled Out On: 10/15/2007 11:31 AM

"Happy Birthday to You
Happy Birthday to You
Happy Birthday dear Robb
Happy Birthday to You!!"

# re: You'll shoot your eye out - Ahab

Rolled Out On: 10/15/2007 2:59 PM

For the record, I use off the shelf ammo for my carry loads - It's Remington Golden Saber or Speer Gold Dot; but for converting money into smoke and noise, Wolf worked great.

Like I said, I am very glad that I was using a wheelgun and not a revolver.

# re: You'll shoot your eye out - Ahab

Rolled Out On: 10/15/2007 3:00 PM

For the record, that should have said "A wheelgun and not a semi-automatic".

Jesus, I cannot type today.

# re: You'll shoot your eye out - Robb Allen

Rolled Out On: 10/15/2007 3:01 PM

You lucked out. I was about to have fun with that ;)

# re: You'll shoot your eye out - John Hardin

Rolled Out On: 10/15/2007 7:41 PM

Until someone can show me actual case studies of people convicted of premeditated murder or successfully sued in civil court specifically because they used reloads, it's a myth without any basis in fact

Who the hell wants to be a test case?

# re: You'll shoot your eye out - Robb Allen

Rolled Out On: 10/15/2007 8:55 PM

JH, I will gladly risk it. To me, there's no difference in baking a cake from scratch, building a porch, or reloading ammunition. You can pay someone else to do it for you, but there is a joy in doing it yourself.

Again, it's just a myth. I doubt there's ever going to be a test case because the premise is so asinine that I doubt too many lawyers would adopt it as a winning strategy. Desperation, sure, but it wouldn't hold water.

# re: You'll shoot your eye out - Brian

Rolled Out On: 10/16/2007 12:13 AM

If you hunt through enough Ayoob articles, you'll find a case of a man going to jail as a result of reloaded ammo; but it's not because they were used in self-defense.

The guy's wife was intimidated by standard ammo, so he made some underloaded ammo for her to use in it. I guess he figured reduced power .38 that she would use was better than full power that she wouldn't use. In the case, he said that she had shot herself. Police based their forensic evidence on what would be expected from factory ammo, and refused to look at the results of handmade ammo based on the numbers he had logged for that batch. As a result, they stated that there wasn't enough powder residue on her head for it to be self-inflicted, which would be true if it weren't reloaded ammo.

As for other reloaded ammo, you can run into the same problems that some face because of other modifications to their guns. I have read cases of prosecutors trying to use things like laser sights, night sights, hollowpoint ammo, carrying extra magazines, etc. to convince a jury that you're some kind of vigilante who was looking for someone to kill. If you're going to use things like that (and what kind of idiot wouldn't at least use hollowpoints for self defense), you need to be able to clearly articulate why you use that in court, should you ever end up there.

Hollowpoints: the police use the same thing. are you saying they're all killers? I use hollowpoints so the bullets stay in the criminal instead of going straight through and hitting some innocent person.

Lasers: Most assaults happen at close range. You won't always be able to sight down the gun. In fact, you may be in hand-to-hand range, in which case you HAVE to keep the gun low and near you so he can't take it from you. The laser lets you see if it's on target while doing that.

Reloaded Ammo: I haven't made up any self-defense reloads yet. But when I do, it will be because I can show concrete data that I can group better with it than with factory ammo. If it's not noticeably better, I'm better off sticking with the factory stuff that the police around here use.

"Again, it's just a myth. I doubt there's ever going to be a test case because the premise is so asinine that I doubt too many lawyers would adopt it as a winning strategy. Desperation, sure, but it wouldn't hold water."

It is a myth if anyone claims that people have gone to jail for using reloaded ammo for self-defense. However, don't be so sure about it not holding water. Depending on how anti-gun your community is, and how stupid (never underestimate that second part), you could be in rough shape without a good lawyer.