GRIZ

Back to the original question, what hollowpoints are best. 1. WW Silvertips-they got a bad rap IMO from the Miami FBI shooting. The bullet penetrated his arm, breaking his humerus, into his chest, hitting a rib, through his lung, and stopped an inch short of the heart. On the way it took out a couple of inches of his brachial artery. He would probably die if that happened to him in an emergency room. Total penetration, 11 inches so the FBI came up with 12" minimum. Another plus with Silvertips is a very minor blue muzzle flash. Preserves your night vision. I went round and round with this with a 20 something forum member who wrote a term paper about this. His attitude was f__k your 50 years of experience. 2. 147 gr JHP or 124 gr Gold Dots-thats if you want more penetration. I'm not going to give for instances you can't research. A few years ago NYPD had a shooting that initially reported the bullets were stopped by the bad guys jacket. That was 124gr Gold Dots. Many ignored the reports a few days later that disclosed the bullets had penetrated the BG, entry and exit, and where stopped by his jacket. My recommendations by caliber? 22 short-roundnose, penetration same as 22 hollowpoint. 22 lr- solids, you need the penetration. 25 ACP-FMJ, more reliable than 22s. 32 ACP-FMJ will give you good penetration. 380 ACP-FMJ for penetration 38 special- factory wadcutters in a 2". I like 147 gr +P+ in a Kramer. 357 mag-125 jhp, proven. 9mm parabellum-already stated. I have no issue using fmj if penetration is no problem. 40 S&W- no use for this round. 44 spl-good as it is. No hot load needed. 45 ACP- I'm good with FMJ. The 230 gr JHP Speer is a good load. 44 mag-download needed here. Any bullet at 1000 fps. If you need more than that, go to a rifle.

So he went to trial on the hollowpoint charge? I did a lot of work with local police from the 70s to the first decade of the 21st century. I saw local police in the 90s charge people only with possession of hollowpoints. However, this was on warrants for drug dealers and between the time it took them to develop the probable cause for the warrant and the time they served the warrant, the drug dealer moved his dope and his guns but forgot to move his hollowpoints. He was arrested for hollowpoints and hollowpoints only. However they arrived at it, by the late 90s, cops were told not to charge anyone with just possession of hollowpoints. Many have said you are in danger having that one 22 lr hollowpoint rolling around in your trunk. Fact is I've researched and I could only find one person charged with only possession of hollowpoints and that was 20 years ago.

Without the details one is unable to opine about the merits of the case. You do state the homeowner was charged with some homicide statute for killing the intruder. If that's the case he would normally be charged with a hollowpoint charge. All of which does little to answer the OP's question but does present an important point. I will use hypothetical cases to illustrate points. Hollowpoints are legal to possess at home. Being charged with illegal possession depends on how you use them. If you're over 21 you can possess alcoholic beverages in your home. No problem. If you serve them to minors you can have all kinds of criminal problems. Use hollowpoints in the home for defense? Totally legal if you meet the criteria for justifiable lethal force. If you don't you can be charged with the homicide and a hollowpoint charge. As an aside, many endorse having security cameras and other methods to reinforce your claim of self defense. Sometimes too much information can hurt you. Not sure what the present criteria is but at one time NJ LEOS basically had to spot the badguy the first shot. If the BG had a gun in his hand but not pointed at the LEO he couldn't shoot. So okay, based on that, an "antigun prosecutor" might get an indictment from a grand jury. Keep in mind a prosecutor makes their bones on a conviction rate. A prosecutor that wants to take BS to trial (no matter what their political views) will soon find themselves doing house closings and writing wills. Nothing against that that's all some lawyers want to do. I think too many overthink this issue.

Which case was this?

I use gun socks for iron sights guns. My scoped rifles mostly live in hard cases.

You are talented!!! Most wouldn't attempt that!!!

Tex , I'd rebuild it.

You might sell your normal capacity magazines before you come north and buy 10 rd mags.

IIRC correctly tracers and AP are permitted in NJ as collectable items. Not for use.

Good advice. The delivery time of the safe plays a role in Operations Security. Most apartment complexes are pretty empty midmorning to mid-afternoon on a weekday this time of year. People at work, kids at school. No one around to see what you're doing. Another idea is get yourself a refrigerator box. You don't have to put the safe in the box. Just band the outside to the safe. Every refrigerator I've seen is packaged the same way.

Home is where you live. Own, rent, or live there otherwise. Examples? If your adult child owns firearms and lives at no cost in your house, that's his home. Your brother, friend, etc moves back into the state and stays with you at no cost whilst they look for house or apartment. That's their home.

I don't know about covering it with a blanket. Any time I've stopped a car and they had a blanket over something I the back seat it's piqued my interest.

As someone mentioned get a towel to clean your firearm on. The best thing to wipe the firearm with is an old tshirt. Absorbent and no lint. As you grow more confident, you can make patches from an old tshirt. I haven't bought patches in years.

@brucin you are correct. But that's a Liberal scumhole for years. Politics in Chicago trumps everything. There's a lot of that shown on "Chicago PD". A prosecutor makes their rep by their conviction rate. Their are many prosecutors that dismiss cases (malum prohibitive crimes, no one was hurt, no one was robbed) because they serve no cause for justice. PM me and I'll give you examples. You have to understand an asst prosecutor in NJ may have a few hundred cases on his plate. A defense attorney makes their rep by getting defendants off or getting charges reduced. If you have a good defense attorney you will never go to trial. Your attorney will have the charges dismissed or plea to reduced charges. The best criminal defense attorney I know told me (paraphrasing), "The best training for a defense attorney is to be a prosecutor for a few years".

Nothing is perfect. Altruistic may be the wrong term too. Prosecutors are doing what they're paid for when they prosecute cases. They are paid to get convictions. Defense attorneys defend people. Most importantly introduce a reasonable doubt the jury understands. We're way off topic here. Start another thread on this and it can be discussed further.

I'm using powder that's 20+ years old. Stored with no climate control in original containers. Loads still chronoed like they 20 years ago. I conducted a test in the 70s on what would deactivate primers as far as lubricants. I used water, gun oil, WD40, and others I can't remember. I filled primed cases with whatever and let it sit for 24 hrs. Then I loaded the cases. Nothing killed the primer except WD40. 5 out of 6 times. I haven't worried about primers since. I still use WD40 to flush out water. For example, if used out in the rain. If I do this I flush out the WD40 with BrakeKlenn (red can). Red can Brakeleen is basically the same as Gunscrubber. This is not based on "Joe told me at the gravel pit". It's based on spectral analysis from a laboratory. Don't ask me how I got that done! I recently found some 357 I reloaded in 1978. This ammo made a move to AZ, 2 moves in FL, a move to MD, and then back to NJ. Still performed like 1978. The component that can be effected the most is powder. First test is smell. If it's acidic toss. Makes good fertilizer. Goggle other tests with appearance and burn. I've never had issues with powder in almost 50 years of reloading. But...I'm careful and will post any issues I have. Pretty good info you've gotten in previous responses.

Not in theory, in fact. How many trials have you been through?

Good point. However, remember it's the prosecution's job to prove you guilty. You don't have to prove your innocence.

I'd you're involved in a shooting and the prosecutor is looking at what type of ammo you used that's the least of your worries.

I'm sure they have surveillance cameras at the sites. However, if you park 2 blocks away I doubt any surveillance ranges that far.

I don't see much sense in getting wrapped around EFMJ in NJ unless you have a carry permit. If you don't have a carry permit the limited times you can transport or possess a handgun, you can have hollowpoints. The only scenario I can see for most in NJ is if you have a FID and carry an unloaded PCC in your car.

I'll take it. PM me with your address.

Good for the good guy.

There was a Port Authority Officer who shot out a window so he and a bunch of people could escape on 9/11. Nothing happened to him. I guess Hopewell and Port Authority have different rules.

It's all about elevation. I'm only 14 ft asl. Sandy saw houses 200 yds from my front door loose their first floor. I was fine. Climate change? Real. But using fossil fuels has little to do with it, if anything. The tree huggers in the 70s were talking global cooling. Guess what that wasn't the end of us all. Cooling and warming are cycles the Earth goes through. Whatever we do has little to do with it. FWIW, the winter of 1940-41 in Europe was so cold most of the English Channel froze over. The Brits were concerned the Germans would just drive their tanks over the ice. Elizabeth had a response issue because Fire Dept HQS was flooded. Not normal but I've seen a photo of them flooded out in the 70s.