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Old March 15, 2011, 09:14 PM   #16
Bartholomew Roberts
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Join Date: June 12, 2000
Location: Texas and Oklahoma area
Posts: 8,462
The major issue I see is the evidentiary one. It will be more difficult to get consensus on GSR tests and more difficult to get some of the evidence introduced if you are using handloads. That could mean significantly more expense post-shooting to establish the facts in your favor.

To give an example, one of the factors that complicated the Mark Abshire shooting was that the second shot hit his assailant in the back and the GSR tests suggested the distance was greater than he claimed. He eventually overcame that after two years of trial; but it cost him a lot. With factory ammo, you have an impartial third party who can provide exemplar ammo for GSR testing. With your own ammo, you will be asking the jury to trust in the records of the same guy being charged with homicide - and if you've got more than one type of handloads, you've got a whole new fight over what was loaded in the gun. I think handloads would have made his case even less certain and definitely more expensive (hire your own forensic expert, more lawyer time to get evidence admitted, etc.)

Like most of these discussions, it isn't a insurmountable problem; but it is a potential complication that can be eliminated.
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