Edwardian's suggestion of using specially concocted loads for home defense is a terrible one, IMHO. There is a plethora of suitable loadings available for any caliber that would be useful for this. I never want to have to defend myself on a witness stand against a prosecuting attorney trained to make me look like a bloodthirsty white man with an itchy trigger finger. But, how much harder would it be to do so when he says to you something like "You WANTED to kill somebody didn't you? You wanted to so bad that you went to the trouble to load the bullets UPSIDE DOWN! You couldn't wait until you got the opportunity to shoot somebody with one of your specially prepared MAN-KILLER LOADS, could you? It's an obSESSION with you, isn't it?"
Don't for a minute think that this scenario couldn't happen to you. I know it's better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6, but there are plenty of good s.d. loads that can be bought over the counter.
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SRH
+10
You make up some super-duper inverted bullet home-defense loads and use them on an intruder, and you
will be convicted. You would be handing the prosecuting attorney your behind on a platter.
Frankly, my first suggestion for home defense is a large, loud dog. Dogs are more alert than you'll ever be, and know who belongs and who doesn't. And my second would be a 20 ga pump loaded with a standard trap load. Tape a flashlight to it. Everyone recognizes the sound of a pump shotgun being racked, and it's a useful warning.
