When Did It Start? (Carrying an Extra Mag)

[Taj]

I started in 1988 after an off duty shooting. Long story but one "gang banger" with a long gun and another with a Hi-Power. I had a Colt's Officer's Model with 7 rounds. Hit the guy with the long gun first and he quit fighting. Guy with the Hi-Power was behind the right rear of a car and proceeded to mag dump me at about 22 yards. I was flat footed in the middle of the street and my only cover was my car with my family in it so that was out. I shot 4 rounds at the HP guy and managed to skip one off the trunk and hit him in the left nipple. He stopped shooting. I didn't know how many rounds I had left but wasn't at lock-back. (One round left --chamber) After that I started carrying a full sized auto and two spares.

 

[Golddollar]

Now that I am a retired gentleman of leisure, I don’t carry a reload.[

/QUOTE]

And isn't it great!

 

[sigp220.45]

And I, for one, I am happy that you were able to retire and become a gentleman of leisure! I knew you carried that SIG for most of your career, but I don’t recall seeing a picture of it previously and I was a little surprised by the wooden grips. When did you put those on?

I carried it the whole time. I bought it on my Dad’s FFL when I was still in the Academy, picked it up from him on the way to New Orleans, took it straight from the box and qualified with it, put it in the holster they issued me for a 226, and sallied forth. They issued my 226 to a guy on the bank fraud squad who was carrying a Model 13.

My kids gave me the Hogues about 1995, I think. Whenever it would go back to Quantico for maintenance I’d have to swap the factory grips back on to it.

I barely made it out the door with it. I retired in 2016, and no more .45s were authorized after December of that year.

 

[Fastbolt]

This is one of the Chicken or the Egg questions ...

Did the gun companies start including a spare magazine with pistols because the Public was asking for it?

Remember when buying a spare magazine as an accessory was sometimes difficult because many gun stores chose not to stock them?

Things changed.

I remember when S&W had different SKU numbers for pistols sold to LE, with the different SKU number denoting that the guns shipped with 2 spare mags for LE buyers, instead of 1 spare mag (like for Public Retail).

 

[Airdale26]

It depends upon your duty or job. LEO and others who have a job that requires the carrying firearms most likely carry more than one magazine. In most LE agencies two magazines carriers are standard. LE agencies do not necessarily have a policy on the number of extra magazines a patrol officer can have. Most Officers and Trooper I know carry 4-6 extra's and 4-6 rifle or other depending upon the long gun, SMG they are authorized to carry.
In the civilian world carrying extra magazines or similar is fairly prudent measure. In a LEO job their is an expectation that you will need to have extra ammo magazines. In the Civilian world that expectation is not present. There are those that truely believe that will be engaged in running gun battle. Such action are rare. No matter if you believe this is to b the case, it is prudent and reasonable to have extra for a numerous reasons. Not carrying is not wrong, carrying in not wrong or incorrect. Carrying extra ammo is based upon the individual comfort level and the their specific application (Open/Concealed carry, or home defense etc.)

 

[oldcorps76]

Forgive me if someone already said this, but "it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it."

 

[Smith391]

In the old days we were taught to always have a spare mag if carrying an autoloader.

It wasn't necessarily because of extra rounds but in case of a mag/cartridge failure, damaged mag or an accidental mag eject.

,

BINGO! ... (you beat me to it)


The idea behind carrying an "extra magazine" is not necessarily about the additional firepower, although that's never really a bad thing ... Is it?

It comes down to the mechanical functionality of your primary self-defense weapon. As WardenRoss stated, a magazine/cartridge failure, damaged magazine, or inadvertently dropped magazine in the heat of battle could prove DISASTEROUS. Losing you magazine in any of these scenarios would render your weapon a single-shot at best, or in the case of pistols with a magazine disconnect, a totally useless handful of steel and/or polymer.

Unless you're carrying a back-up to your primary defensive handgun, a spare magazine (or two) is not just a convenience ... it's life insurance when the SHTF.

 

[KurtC]

One carries a specific amount of ammunition based on the perceived threat.

One carries a spare magazine because it is the weak link in the chain.

 

[M29since14]

I had a similar mag failure as Miley Gil describes with a Wilson Combat mag. I had extra baseplates at home (I prefer the slimmer style) and I was not wearing the gun except for recreation, so it was no great hardship. But, an incident like that does make one stop and think. Bottom line is, anything can fail when you least expect it.

But to get back to the OP’s question, I don’t remember a time when carrying an extra magazine was not a common, recommended practice, in the nearly sixty years I’ve been paying attention to guns and gun handling. I’ve seen pictures that go well beyond that.

 

[max]

When I was carrying my 669, the Galco holster carried 2 extra mags on the off side. It kind of balanced the weight. When I started carrying the Sig 365, I usually didn't carry a spare mag.

One afternoon, I was walking my Golden in a nearby park and came across 2 very large and fast Dobermans running loose. I was able get across a dry creek and hide in the trees on the other side without them seeing us. I called my wife to come get us and made it back to the street as quickly as I could.

I thought if those doge had attacked us, my 13 rounds might go pretty quick. Since then, I always carry a spare mag.

 

[petepeterson]

I understand the mechanical reasons for it, but I've always carried a spare for capacity purposes.
Not for a reload and continuing to shoot, but because I don't want to be standing with an empty gun when the shooting is presumably over.
Although, looking at it now, a spare covers all three scenarios nicely.

 

[Campino1]

As early as WWI the American and German army always carried spare mags- the US with the 2 mag pouch for the 19121 and the Germans always with one pouch as part of the holster- that is why German ammo boxes are always for 16 rounds (the European magazine standardf was 8 rds of 9mm. Don't know about the Brits- I've never seen photo evidence of extrta rds for a Webley Mk6

 

[Kanewpadle]

Not to derail this thread, but I wonder how many people that do carry spare ammo actually practice reloading?

Empty reload? Tactical reload? Behind cover?

Or do you just stand there and fumble?

 

[ARgon]

Long long ago. Military especially.

 

[Squarebutt]

Anyone favor the "New York Reload?" NYPD detectives coined the phrase to describe their practice of carrying a second revolver, usually a snub-nose .38, back in the day when they were restricted to carrying .38 Special revolvers as duty guns.
While it's not practiced by cops today, who are carrying autoloaders almost exclusively, it sure was a faster way to come up shooting after the primary gun ran dry in a gunfight.

 

[colt_saa]

Anyone favor the "New York Reload?" NYPD detectives coined the phrase to describe their practice of carrying a second revolver, usually a snub-nose .38, back in the day when they were restricted to carrying .38 Special revolvers as duty guns.
While it's not practiced by cops today, who are carrying autoloaders almost exclusively, it sure was a faster way to come up shooting after the primary gun ran dry in a gunfight.

Bell Charter Oak makes a holster that they call the New York reload.

This holster not only makes a second firearm available to you if needed, it allows you to both draw simultaneously or if you're in a seated position, like while driving a vehicle, you have easy access to the crossdraw revolver

It is available for a large variety of firearms up to and including government model 1911s

 

[biku324]

Anyone favor the "New York Reload?" NYPD detectives coined the phrase to describe their practice of carrying a second revolver, usually a snub-nose .38, back in the day when they were restricted to carrying .38 Special revolvers as duty guns.
While it's not practiced by cops today, who are carrying autoloaders almost exclusively, it sure was a faster way to come up shooting after the primary gun ran dry in a gunfight.

Did that for 21 years - drawing my loaded M-49 was much faster than reloading anything, revolver with loop loader (to 1989), 5906, or 4506.

Of more concern to me was the possibility of a malfunction - clearing is only fast with some malfunctions, and in the field dirt, sand, mud, snow, ice, etc., can stop the best maintained sidearm.

The last concern was being disarmed of a primary sidearm. It happened to our officers infrequently, but got one killed and another kidnapped.

 

[Brian Parrish]

Not to derail this thread, but I wonder how many people that do carry spare ammo actually practice reloading?

Empty reload? Tactical reload? Behind cover?

Or do you just stand there and fumble?

I do practice reloads/clearance every time, because I practice at the creek. The indoor gun range does not allow working from the holster. I always shoot and move even if just a few steps in order to "get off the X". I also incorporate this into dry fire drills at home. The idea is to handle every stoppage or malfunction in exactly the same way.

Because I have experience with older Colt 1911 pistols, and the M1 carbine, I have come to expect malfunctions, even though my S&W semi autos almost never malfunction. I have a Model 457 that has never had a failure of any kind. Other types of modern weapons are much more reliable these days than these venerated classics.

Do I plan to stand there taking fire while looking at my gun and wondering what went wrong? No. I will move to a better location defensively or offensively, and while I am running, I will clear and reload the pistol. I can do this in the dark. I also practice heads up, not looking at the pistol, so I can reload with my eyes closed and in the dark, which helps, but I want to see what all is going on while running/reloading.

Here is what I want to tell you, I sometimes drop or fumble the reload mag while running. It has only happened a couple of times through the years, and it has not happened in a very long time, but that is the reason I carry 2 spare magazines. Just keep running and grab the other mag.

Kind regards!
BrianD

 

[NYlakesider]

Here is something I spotted on a visit in Mexico. We were on a cruise and took a shore excursion, of course they always spend a lot of your time in shopping areas.

Went into this very large jewelry place and they had plenty of armed guards in plain sight, both inside and out. Most were wearing a shirt denoting they were security and carried short pump shotguns.

The one that seemed to be in charge did not have a shot gun but a 1911 type pistol, hammer down on his belt. I looked close and saw no spare magazine. What I did see was a drop pouch like many of our LEOs carried in the revolver ages.

 

[SGT ROCK 11B]

How about, say, Texas Rangers with 1911s? Were they carrying spare mags?

How about, say, WWII officers with 1911s? Were they carrying spare mags?

Yes and Yes.