I don’t carry reloads in my EDC carry, but reloads for practice should shoot as well and/or better than my carry ammunition in my opinion.
If you’re referring to ammo to reload in the event of having to use your weapon, I either carry two mags or two speed strips depending whether I’m carrying a semi auto or revolver.
No referring to reloading ammo as far as accuracy. I know you want them to be accurate but say like rifle reloads for hunting we shoot for the tighter the group the better less than an inch preferably but handgun having a lot more variables in play how tight a group and at what distance
I occasionally carry 38 wadcutter reloads. My Smith 637 shoots them well.
The threat of your life by someone that needs shot I feel will be a close contact threat.
If they are 25 feet away and do not have a weapon then they are probably too far to be a real threat unless you are old and weak
and they are running at you to end you.
50 feet away is pretty far and gives you plenty of time to draw.
If they are in your house then decide how far is the longest room and go with that.
I like great accuracy and shoot deer and squirrels and rabbits with my hand guns so they need to be accurate to those distances.
I did hit a squirrel with the wife's 7" S&W 686 357 magnum with a cast powder coated 158gr swc at 130 yards.
First shot went way over it's head as I thought it would have a lot of drop so I held high.. My fault for not knowing that gun so well.
Second shot blew snow all over it and it went up a tree.
5 minutes later it came back down and headed for the grain bin and I shot right in front of it by maybe 2" and it turned to go back towards the tree and I shot again and hit it in the flank.
I need to be more accurate with my wife's revolver as I feel the ammo is plenty accurate.
Over 40 paces for my 1 shot dead right there deer hand gun kill and that was 45ACP
I usually only carry when I am in the woods.
So my accuracy could be different than yours. I do like shooting at clays, tin cans or milk jugs at 50-100 yards with hand guns.
Practice at all distances and get as accurate as you possibly can.
If they are 25 feet away and do not have a weapon then they are probably too far to be a real threat unless you are old and weak
and they are running at you to end you.
50 feet away is pretty far and gives you plenty of time to draw.
If they are in your house then decide how far is the longest room and go with that.
I like great accuracy and shoot deer and squirrels and rabbits with my hand guns so they need to be accurate to those distances.
I did hit a squirrel with the wife's 7" S&W 686 357 magnum with a cast powder coated 158gr swc at 130 yards.
First shot went way over it's head as I thought it would have a lot of drop so I held high.. My fault for not knowing that gun so well.
Second shot blew snow all over it and it went up a tree.
5 minutes later it came back down and headed for the grain bin and I shot right in front of it by maybe 2" and it turned to go back towards the tree and I shot again and hit it in the flank.
I need to be more accurate with my wife's revolver as I feel the ammo is plenty accurate.
Over 40 paces for my 1 shot dead right there deer hand gun kill and that was 45ACP
I usually only carry when I am in the woods.
So my accuracy could be different than yours. I do like shooting at clays, tin cans or milk jugs at 50-100 yards with hand guns.
Practice at all distances and get as accurate as you possibly can.
One, accuracy is not the name of the game in an SD shooting. Speed trumps accuracy. You only need to be able to shoot minute of man. This is life or death, split second stuff, not bullseye shooting. Second, for liability reasons you do not want to carry reloads. Factory ammo only, preferably something your local or well-known dept carries, as the stopping power, lethality, over-penetration, dry-wall penetration ettc have all been researched by them or someone else. If the round you were shooting is considered to lethal, or a liability, it falls on the mfr, not you. If you are involved in a SD shooting using reloads, the DA may charge you as it could look premeditated, a prosecutor could rake you over the coals saying you were running reloads to be more lethal. Do a quick google search, and you should find stuff from guys like Mas Ayoob, Clint Smith, etc reiterating this stuff.
Makes good sense something I never thought of thanks
Quality factory self defense ammo should be carried in your handgun as well as mag, speed loader, or strip for reloads. I. The event you have to shoot someone, using reloads just gives them another excuse to blame you.
