Loading SD ammo?

[turnerdye1]

Do you guys do it? Or do you stick with factory? Ive loaded almost 500 rounds of target ammo this week and i am addicted. I have another 500 to go but im also wanting to load some SD ammo for stockpiling and stashing. Also i would like to carry these as well.

Midway has a sale on these and they have great reviews. They are Hornady so they cant be bad!
Hornady XTP Bullets 9mm (355 Diameter) 124 Grain Jacketed Hollow Point Box of 100 - MidwayUSA

I was just curious what you guys do

 

[U.S. Patriot]

I would be weary of loading SD ammo. I have read articles in magazines of people getting screwed in court. They tried to say that they loaded their ammo hotter then factory ammo on purpose and blah, blah, blah. Hate sounding like party pooper, but I would hate to get screwed because of something like that.

 

[JetGirl]

SD = factory.
Everything else = reloads.

 

[XtremeVel]

Do you guys do it? Or do you stick with factory? Ive loaded almost 500 rounds of target ammo this week and i am addicted. I have another 500 to go but im also wanting to load some SD ammo for stockpiling and stashing. Also i would like to carry these as well.

Midway has a sale on these and they have great reviews. They are Hornady so they cant be bad!
Hornady XTP Bullets 9mm (355 Diameter) 124 Grain Jacketed Hollow Point Box of 100 - MidwayUSA

I was just curious what you guys do

Hornady XTP's are a excellent bullet at a reasonable price. Something like the Speer Gold Dot ( Bonded bullet ) might be a bit better, but the difference in price, IMO, isn't worth it.

While it's not too hard to produce more consistent, more accurate target ammo as compared to store bought, loading SD ammo would be taking it to the next level. It would involve more testing. It would involve understanding the relationship between bullet velocity and bullet construction. Also, I'm not sure reloaders have the access to all the lower flash powders some of the manufactures do.

Half the fun of reloading is trying new and different things.. At that price, go ahead and try some. Once you get them dialed in, there would be nothing wrong with having a few hundred stashed away for a rainy day.

 

[45fan]

Im with XtremeVel on this one. That is a great price, and you can very likely come up with a load that will be more accurate in your pistol than factory ammo.
As far as carry ammo, I dont think it is as big an issue as some promote, but I still play it safe and carry only factory HP ammo in my self defense pistol.
There still isnt anything wrong with having a few hundred for that rainy day though, never know when you may have a need for something like that.

 

[Slow Hand]

SD ammo; no.

SHTF ammo; Yep!

I may be paranoid, but I'd like to avoid any more problems than you are already going to have if you have to shoot someone. I do have a good bit of ammo loaded up for many guns to have ready in case of SHTF. In that situation, it may be long term survival and courts and juries are the last of my worries. I've done some wet newsprint testing with my home cash HP's and they are pretty impressive. I've also played with things like Barnes Varmint grenades for .223 ammo. Very destructive!

Doug K

 

[DocIndy]

I've loaded lots of hollow points oner the years in 9mm, 38 Special, .357 Magnum and .357 SIG. All of these loads were used shooting paper/reactive targets (watermelons are fun!) For SD purposes, I always carried factory ammo. There are tons of great loads out there that have lots of development behind them and have great actual shooting results. Besides like it was stated earlier, you don't want to deal with the headache of defending yourself against the argument "why isn't factory ammo good enough that you had to load your own special ammo." To me its not worth the hassle. Good shot placement is more critical than bullet type. Lots of bad guys have been dropped with FMJ's placed in the critical areas.

 

[IndianaGTI]

I would be weary of loading SD ammo. I have read articles in magazines of people getting screwed in court. They tried to say that they loaded their ammo hotter then factory ammo on purpose and blah, blah, blah. Hate sounding like party pooper, but I would hate to get screwed because of something like that.

What he said. If you were involved in a shooting, someone might use your reloads as evidence of your overzealousness.

 

[billybob44]

overzealousness.

Great word, GT!!
That"s how a County Prosecutor would describe a Legal Gun Owner in a SD shooting.
The use of hand loaded ammo would just add to the "Roast".

Another way to throw off the people who would want to "Hang" you on a SD shooting would be to have 15 or 16 DIFFERENT factory loads in the mag. of a 9MM.
Six DIFFERENT mfgs./bullet weights of .357 in your Model 19 or 686 would also make the CSI people pull their hair out.
Any good factory load in the 3-7 yard most common distance would group in the COM to be a stopping factor. It WOULD make the investigators job a lot tougher???

 

[turnerdye1]

Alot of good info!! I might buy a couple hundred and load for SHTF stash.

 

[sloughfoot]

A former prosecutor in Allen County once said publicly that if the shooting is justified, it wouldn't matter if the shooter used a bazooka. And of course, he is talking about the criminal side, not the civil side.

Having said that, I use factory ammo in any gun intended for SD use. Mainly for the reliability factor.

The only exception I make is in my 357 Blackhawk. I load it with LSWC 180's and if it will kill the bear, it will work fine on other targets too. It has a place in the saddlebag of my Harley since I bought it from an INGO member.

 

[redwingshooter]

I had a post similar to this. https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...ding/156812-hornady_xtps_in_9mm_opinions.html

Honestly after thinking about it, I wouldn't do it. I totally get the concept as SD ammo is not cheap to practice with, but not having to deal with the legal hassle if you have to use it would outweigh the cost if you ask me. I like loading the 124 gr XTP's though, they shoot very well through my G17, so from that standpoint, load away but I'd only use them at the range or for your SHTF stash as you mentioned.

 

[Hazwhopper]

I have reloaded alot of 9mm ammo. I use the Hornady XTP ammo. I also use berry's, ranier, and Mountain Gold. The one thing that I have consistently run into, is although I take alot of time trying to reload as best as I can, I have found a couple rounds that won't fit into the pipe on any 9mm I have.
So I bought a Wilson Full Length Case gauge. It measures the case, bullet and rim size. Many times, after I pop out the primers, I put the cases in the gauge. It fits!
Then I load them up. Then I place in case (full length) gauge and it won't seat all the way in. Some how I have bulged the case. (Found this out to the tune of 300 to 400 rds)
So I don't load up for self defense, unless it is the only thing left. Reading many articles about this, they all don't recommending using reloads.
I have had 3 or 4 rounds with FTF issues. That's it. Just 3 or 4 rounds out of many and many. But the reloads, I have had 1 or 2 out of a thousand. I really do try to reload to exacting tolerances. If for some reason I would be in the situation that I need them to work, I really want them to work! I know that I shoot more accurately with the reloads. Practicing with SD ammo is expensive. The price goes down with reloads.
But the last thing I want is to do all the necessary precautions and find myself in the middle of the worst situation and the ammo will not function. The only way to know that it will function is to pull the trigger, and you can only do that once for that round. Not a good time to find that it won't function. All the training and work, explaining how this is going to go down to your family and the round doesn't function the one time you need it to.
Buy quality SD ammo, and use them to save your family. Use the reloads to hone your skills down and perfect your aiming.
My 2 cents worth.

 

[Nightwalker65]

After reading the above posts,all of which make good,sensible points,I'm going to have to rethink what I've got loaded in my EDC gun......I'm gonna change out my reloads with factory SD rounds......I'll keep reloading the same way,all HP,simply because it's the same price for the bullet weight I use,whether it's HP or FMJ,and my gun likes the HP's just fine....thanks for the insight!

 

[turnerdye1]

Thanks for all the info guys! I definetly wont be putting these in my EDC gun...well not why im carrying.

Factory rounds for EDC

Reloaded SD rounds for practice/shtf

 

[hemicharger]

Alot of good info!! I might buy a couple hundred and load for SHTF stash.

Only a couple hundred? I know you can do better than that.

 

[Hap Hazard]

Nothing but handloads for any purpose for ohhhh........a LONG time. If the shoot is good it's good. When I carried for a living we were told it could easily cost 10K to get out of a GOOD shoot and that's been 40 years ago. The theory was, of course, the civil suit. Unfortunately Police were not immune either. In those days factory ammo was the rule but we were going through the hollow point debate. It's always something!

 

[trophyhunter]

I carried my own loads for a very long time, as has been said a good shoot is just that. I have recently switched everything for carry over to Hornady's critical defense ammo.

I run a magazine of every new box through the weapon and over the chronograph for a quick "lot" check and thats what I carry. We as hand loaders just can't get some of the propellant blends manufacturers are using these days, that ammo is worth the cost to me.

I am really impressed at the speeds and the effectiveness Hornady has achieved with their line with the absence of pressure increases. The flash retardant they use in those loads is amazing and to me one of the real few and far between innovations in several decades in manufacturing factory ammo that surpasses the quality and effectiveness of even the most astute and dedicated hand loader.

We definitely have seen some innovation in bullet design offerings available to us the last 20 years or so but lately I think some of the factory loadings are worth patronizing for giving us options that truly are better than what we have had in the past and aren't currently able to do for ourselves.

I'd love to get my hands on some of the powder recipes these guys are using, more speed with less pressure combined with bonded projectile construction is a very good thing in my book.

 

[jedi]

I would be weary of loading SD ammo. I have read articles in magazines of people getting screwed in court. They tried to say that they loaded their ammo hotter then factory ammo on purpose and blah, blah, blah. Hate sounding like party pooper, but I would hate to get screwed because of something like that.

Please give use your reference on this.

What he said. If you were involved in a shooting, someone might use your reloads as evidence of your overzealousness.

That I know of there is ONLY 1 documented case and that was in AZ of reloaded even coming into play during a criminal case of self defense.
That topic was talked about here by our ATTY members. I'm going to have to get one of them to see this because I don't recall all the details or the case/court name. But in that other thread they ATTYs said that they only have run into 1 case. ONE.

Great word, GT!!
That"s how a County Prosecutor would describe a Legal Gun Owner in a SD shooting.
The use of hand loaded ammo would just add to the "Roast".

Another way to throw off the people who would want to "Hang" you on a SD shooting would be to have 15 or 16 DIFFERENT factory loads in the mag. of a 9MM.
Six DIFFERENT mfgs./bullet weights of .357 in your Model 19 or 686 would also make the CSI people pull their hair out.
Any good factory load in the 3-7 yard most common distance would group in the COM to be a stopping factor. It WOULD make the investigators job a lot tougher???

Again cite your reference please.

 

[sloughfoot]

This might be a little off topic but, do any of you guys remember the cop show from the 70's and there was a bank robbery in Los Angeles and the investigating Officers determined that the perps shot 38 special ammo loaded with "RIFLE POWDER"??? OOOH scarey stuff.

It goes through schools.... I have never forgot that foolishness.

Tony LoBianco was in the show. I can't remember the name of the show.

EDIT TO ADD, I just remembered the show was called Police Story.