The use of reloads has been an issue in court on several occasions. Don't load them in your carry gun.
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Don't use Hornady "Zombie Max" ammo in your carry gun. It says not for use on humans on the box and a trial lawyer would almost certainly twist that against you in court. Yes, it's the same as their critical defense ammo with a different color plastic plug, but a jury won't know and a lawyer won't care.
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In the end it all comes down to the prosecutor and how bad he/she wants to nail you, and that usually depends on how justifiable your shooting was. A crappy prosecutor will be after you no matter what, but others will only try to nail you if the circumstances of your incident were questionable or, heaven forbid, bad. For prosecutors out for blood, they'll use whatever they can, whether it makes sense or not. They've attempted to demonize gun owners simply for the use of hollow point ammunition in some cases. Arguments such as that are usually easy to deflect by pointing out that the police use the same type of ammunition, but arguments take lawyers and court time, and those cost you dearly even when you win the case, so it's best to avoid them entirely by being wise ahead of time. So think about stuff like what's written on the box of zombie ammo and what the media did to demonize Black Talons several years back. There's no logical reason why either one of those rounds should be a problem. But our court system, and especially lawyers and juries, aren't always logical. Both of those ammo types would very likely be a source of problems if they were involved in a court case over a contentious shooting, so why risk it?
