Originally Posted by SatKong
Not to piss in the party's punch bowl, but you might give some consideration to the defensibility, in court, of hand loads, should you have to defend yourself with same. Apparently, from my readings, a sharp prosecutor will use this as a premise to try to prove any number of erroneous points which will make little sense to a gunner, but may paint that same gunner in a bad light to a less than gun savvy jury...
SatCong
Massad's big argument concerns GSR and with handloads that cannot be duplicated. Point to consider. Yet, in the following case, sounds like factory ammo doesn't really answer a lot of questions either.
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/13654907.htm
Vick trial: Ammo expert tries to bolster state's case
A ballistics expert testified this morning that the bullet lodged in slain St. Paul police Sgt. Gerald Vick's body was a special kind of ammunition that didn't produce gunshot residue when fired.
Prosecutors called consultant Paul Szabo to the stand to try to explain to jurors why police found no gunshot residue on defendant Harry Evan's hands, but did find traces of the substance on the hands of star witness Antonio Kelly.
Evans, 33, is on trial for first- and second-degree murder. Vick was fatally shot in an alley outside of an East Side tavern around 2:20 a.m. on May 6. Vick and his partner had been working undercover investigation prostitution at bars that night when they confronted Evans and his companion Kelly outside Erick's Bar.
Evans has pleaded not guilty and has accused his friend Kelly of pulling the trigger.
Prosecutors told the jury during an opening statement that Evan's DNA was found on the murder weapon, but defense attorneys countered that Kelly had lead and barium particles — or gunshot residue — on his hands, proving Kelly fired the gun.
Szabo, who works for the Winchester ammunition division of Olin Corporation, said the Winchester .38-caliber bullet recovered by the medical examiner, labeled Exhibit 2, is a WinClean type that is designed to eliminate airborne lead when fired.
"This is a brand intended for target shooting at indoor ranges," said Szabo.
Szabo said that bullet, which uses a lead-free priming mix and is sealed, would not produce gunshot residue. But under cross-examination by defense attorneys, Szabo testified that while the interior of a WinClean bullet is sealed, it still contains lead. Szabo said he knew of no study that proves that interior lead couldn't escape upon firing.
Police recovered one of the three bullets that struck Vick and five shell casings near the murder weapon.
Szabo examined the shell casings and said he could not tell just by looking at the casings whether all the ammunition found by police was WinClean.
