Aftermarket Barrels & Concealed Carry

DataMax said:

It is generally advised NOT to carry a concealed firearm with an aftermarket barrel ... it is simply one more thing that can be used against you in a court of law ... or so I am told. I have three firearms that I carry in varying situations ... two of the I shoot with aftermarket barrels and then change the barrels out before I leave the range. To be honest, I would like to carry what I practice with.

My question is this ... does anyone here know of anyone who was involved in a shooting where an aftermarket barrel became an issue? And if so ... how did it turn out.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

I truly don't mean to sound cynical, but for the love of God, what's the next thing we're gonna worry about............if or not we have had the finish changed, haven't had the thing looked at by a gunsmith, changed the grips............or LO......had aftermarket sights installed!

Truth be told, if it's a good shoot, it's a good shoot........MAS and the rest be damned, I admit to being a disgusted contrarian, I carry what I want, when I want.........inclusive of hand-loads, slicked up actions, and 'holler points' that I cooked up myself!.........If I am gonna' be damned to hell for defending myself in a lawful shoot, then so be it................but, if I have to, I INTEND to win an armed confrontation and if that necessitates me having to install a simple mod such as a new bbl, then I, for one, WILL do it.

This fear of litigation, prosecution and all the imaginary ill's that attend the simple act of self defense are truly self defeating...........those sort of considerations make me believe that anyone so concerned will hesitate when he or she ought to act. and that IS a bad thing......... in truth, any activist case history's negatively impacting the use of defensive armament are so minor that it's my conviction that most of it's dreamed up by gun writers hurting for sufficient copy to make their deadlines.........

Set aside the ministrations of those so called experts, do a bit of research yourself, and draw your own conclusions..........if there's no lawful, statutory prohibition then my inclination is to do what in my best reasoned judgement is appropriate.

By the way, the ONLY case I know of where an other than factory load was used to down a suspect was one of mine, used by a fellow LEO who shot a fleeing armed robber in the foot...............lemme' state that a Keith 168 grain hard cast bullet driven by 14 grains of 2400 thru the right foot WILL with out doubt cause a fleeing felon to fall right down, right there!...............No questions asked or commented on relative to the shoot, nor the ammo.....and the prosecutors and defense both knew what'd been used!

Your call, but I personally wouldn't give the matter a second thought.

I dont think it would be any issue in court because of a
barrel change. They are mostly just very concerned about
the details of what was said and done by each person involved
in the shooting altercation. While at trial for my SD shooting incident
the type of ammo, gun, caliber, or anything close to that was never
brought up by the prosecutor. Not to say that pointless stupid questions
or issues dont get brought up in court but someone would really have to
be grabbing at straws to bring up something like a barrel change in the
courtroom unless maybe the prosecution had reason to believe the defendant
tried to alter the gun in every way possible to hide the fact that a paticular
firearm was used in a crime but in a SD case if a prosecutor brought up the fact
that I put a better barrel on my gun long before the incident even occured it would
just make me feel better as I would then know that they really didnt have a solid case.

Let me ask another question.

Where YOU live , what percentage of the adult population carries a gun daily?

(We'll assume only civilians with permits and that they DO always carry )

I'll BET you it's LESS than 1%. :icon_neutral:

Just by legally arming yourself you become one of the RARE individuals
who has not only PREMEDITATED using Lethal Force against another human being but actually carries a TOOL to do it efficiently. :yup:

Any DA will make sure the jury understands this fact no matter what the
individual characteristics of your weapon are.

:wave:

I can't believe that that so many people who responded to this thread seem to think that the kind of barrel you use will be "the least of your worries" or don't care what the jury/the prosecutor think after a self-defense shooting. I can't believe that one poster even dismisses the experience and advice of Massad Ayoob, who has probably testified in more self-defense shooting cases than anyone alive. Your problems only start when the goblin hits the dirt.

A barrel may seem like a small thing to us, but as AKsrule pointed out, a small, small fraction of the population goes to the trouble of carrying a concealed handgun to protect themselves with. What about that huge majority of the neutral or gun-fearing population? You can bet that they will be the ones hearing your case and deciding your fate. Someone that customizes their gun with a more accurate barrel could seem like a monster who wants to have the most deadly weapon possible in their holster so they can blow away the first down-on-his-luck victim of society that crosses his path to someone like that. It doesn't take much of an attorney to add that to his argument.

The reason you hear advice to use a stock gun and factory ammo for your carry piece is that juries will be sympathetic to someone who is just doing the best they can to stop an attack against themselves or their family and no more. They will be less sympathetic to someone who is trying to wring the last little bit of murderous lethality from their weapons.

The opposing counsel may be incompetent, or sympathetic to your cause, and won't mount much of a case against you, but don't bet on it. They could just as easily be a crusading anti-gun ambulance chaser who will exaggerate everything about you and do their best to make you look like a vicious killer. The less you give them to use against you, the easier it will be for your lawyer to win the trial. There's no need to make it more difficult and expensive than need be.