Missouri Bullet Company makes some of the best cast bullets on the market. The Hi-Tek coated ones, like those in your picture, are harder than my X-wife’s heart. Not so sure I would carry those in my pistol for self defense. That’s basically ball ammo. Google the FBI report from 2014 on caliber and bullet effectiveness. This report, based on the FBI’s interviews with coroners across the country on the autopsies on people killed in actual shootings, reached some very interesting conclusions. The bottom line from 9MM on up was that caliber made little difference and that they saw little difference in the damage caused to the human body IF modern, high performance ammunition was used. This likely had a good bit to do with the FBI, and other law enforcement agencies, going back to 9MM. Bear in mind that law enforcement agencies select ammunition based on a much different set of criteria than others do. They are forced to consider the application of their ammunition on a number of barriers that an officer might encounter, not the least of which is tempered automotive safety glass. Don’t know about you, but I don’t anticipate having to shoot through too many windshields. In 9MM I carry either the 124 grain Speer Gold Dot Hollow Point or the SIG 124 grain V-Crown.
Based on several legal opinions I’ve read, I do not carry anything but factory ammo in my CCW weapons. While there is nothing illegal per se in carrying reloaded ammo in your CCW, the problem is that they may not be able to reliably establish all of the forensic evidence following a shooting when “non-standard”...”reloaded” ammo has been used. With factory ammo, the company can be deposed and would be able to testify as to the relatively small variances in their ammo, thus making things like distance between shooter and target much more reliable to estimate. Shoot someone much further away than “bad breath” distances and it may get incrementally more difficult to prove, to a jury’s satisfaction, that you had good reason to believe your life was in jeopardy.
What bothers me almost as much as the prospect of being charged criminally in a self-defense shooting is the civil liability that could attach, even if I’m not charged criminally. The burden of proof in a civil suit, alleging wrongful death, is much less than “beyond a reasonable doubt” that applies in a criminal case. All that is necessary for the plaintiff to show is that, by the “preponderance of the evidence”, what they allege was likely the case. Just ask OJ Simpson how that worked out for him. Even if you win such a case, the legal costs of defending yourself would likely hit $100,000 at a minimum. The specialized insurance that is out there to cover such an event won’t even come close to providing you with that level of coverage. So, got a spare 100k lying around to spend on something like this? I pray to God that I never have to use deadly force against someone else. If I do, I want to eliminate as many variables as I can. Reloaded ammo in my CCW? No thank you!
