I've seen a few threads over the years in which people say carrying reloads in your CCW pistol is a horrible idea because they are unreliable and a prosecuting attorney will use it against you.
I carry reloads in my woods carry pistols...
I have been using either Federal Hydra-Shoks or Hornady Critical Defense in my CCW pistols since I started carrying.
I have never gone to the range and shot a full session at varying distances with that ammo (except 10mm Hydra Shoks since it was free and I think it is worthless).
I have never been able to afford to blast 100 rounds of expensive carry ammo at a time. That's $100 or more worth of .40 S&W Critical Defense ammo. It has bugged me for years that I was not practicing with the same ammo that I would potentially use to save my life.
So I decided to start loading and shooting full-power loads with Speer Gold Dot or Hornady XTP bullets. That's still $25 and change for a 100-round range session, but that's a lot easier to swallow.
I loaded up some .40 S&W with the 165gr Gold Dot and 7gr of Silhouette powder. That's not a max charge, which is 7.2gr, and the bullet doesn't have a scary name. I don't see how an over zealous prosecuting attorney could accuse me of "looking for trouble" or having a "Death Wish vigilante mentality" if I ever have to defend my life and my self-defense reloads are in the pistol.
I will now be able to be completely familiar with recoil, point of impact, accuracy, and shootability of the ammo I could potentially use to save my life or the lives of others.
Anyone else use their own reloads for carry ammo?