Do you carry a spare magazine?

Hard to change someone's mind when they've already made them up. Hope the extra mag. is never needed.

I hope, if the time comes, that I'm a better shot under stress than so many of the LEOs I see in these you tube videos. But never having been in those situations I don't know if all my shots will count or if I'll need more than the 12 or 13 rounds in my Shield Plus.

I don't know if there will be only one bad guy.

I don't know if my always worked right before magazine will work right when I absolutely need it to work.

I'm an old guy. Can't see as well as I used to. Can't run at all. Well, fast walk maybe. Can't fight much either, or at least not as effectively as I could 40 years ago.

If a situation was bad enough to need all the ammo I carry I might not live long enough to use it. But I sure would hate to run out and have the time to regret not having the ammo when I needed it. Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.
 
Having carried a revolver (originally) and then an autoloader for fifty-plus years (professionally and now as a retiree), a reload or two was a mandatory duty item. At almost 75, I still carry my old duty SW1911PD .45 ACP with two reloads off side owb and another mag in my left pocket. To quote Sonny in the Godfather: "I don't want my brother coming outta there with just his di*K in his hand". Same idea, you have a magazine malfunction with no replacement, and all you're carrying is a club. One is none, two is one. YMMV
 
Malfunctions do happen but even the small micro 9s of today are reliable enough that I am going keep carrying without a spare. Given my lifestyle the odds of my needing to defend myself are so low the real question for me is whether or not to carry any gun, not how much gun or how many spare magazines. The best way for me to be better prepared would be more range time. I only go to the gun club about once a month and a lot of the shooting I do there is more recreational than training for a real life situation.

But my life is not your life. I didn't expect anyone to change their mind about whether or not to carry a spare magazine, it was more of a poll to see how many people on this forum did or did not. More of you did than I expected. You make some good points about how they would be useful if something goes wrong.
 
Nope, no ninja in me. I do carry every day and exercise that right. I walk around with the yellow caution street light mentality and try to avoid the obvious. Each to their own .... that makes America great and we are all lucky to live here. It's all about choices.
 
You're not only crossing into the imaginary gunfighting realm here but also into law enforcement levels of preparedness, much different than civilian carry. Just consider that, don't change your ways as few would anyhow. Some people are reasonably prepared while others are wholly consumed, "eaten up", with concealed carry theory. You'll likely be struck by lightning three times in a week before you'll need extra magazines and ammo as civilian carriers, but's it's an enjoyable and harmless topic for many.
 
Magazines are the weak link in semiautos. If I was to carry a bottom feeder I would most likely carry and extra. I live out past the country and into the willy wags and am more likely to get run over by a heard of dairy cows than confront meth head, zombie, ninja death squad. If I have to shoot a car struck deer (I'm not letting it suffer waiting 1/2-3/4 of an hour for Johnny law, and shooting is a lot nicer than beating its head in with an axe, ask me how I know) or run into a vicious pinecone maybe a marauding tin can, having extra ammo to top off with is never a bad thing.
 
fatcat3 said:
Magazines are the weak link in semiautos. If I was to carry a bottom feeder I would most likely carry and extra. I live out past the country and into the willy wags and am more likely to get run over by a heard of dairy cows than confront meth head, zombie, ninja death squad. If I have to shoot a car struck deer (I'm not letting it suffer waiting 1/2-3/4 of an hour for Johnny law, and shooting is a lot nicer than beating its head in with an axe, ask me how I know) or run into a vicious pinecone maybe a marauding tin can, having extra ammo to top off with is never a bad thing.
Click to expand...
Good points.
 
326MOD10 said:
I carry a P365 and a Glock 43. A big difference in capacity but I always carry a spare magazine no matter which I have.

Not because I fear some sort of mass criminal assault but because if there is a malfunction and I have to clear it the process involves a new magazine to be inserted. ...
Click to expand...
Retired police officer with 41 years on (retired from two depts; NYPD then as chief of a Cape Cod PD). Your reasoning is sound. It's not the extra rounds you are likely to need. "Gunfights" last moments, are at close range and only a few rounds are normally discharged. Indeed, your first goal when facing an existential threat involving the potential use of the firearm is to break contact if you can do so safely, but the reality of having a malfunction involving a defective magazine.

Rich
 
I carry speed strips with a revolver and spare magazines with a semi auto. I carry more of both in my vehicle console. I practice and teach reloading and have attended training schools where they teach normal and alternate reloading methods. My wife’s LCR is accompanied by speed strips.
When I was a policeman I carried more ammo than the allotted duty belt load and extra shotgun ammo. I’ve never needed it and hope I never do. I have no argument with those who choose not to carry spare, but hope they never find themselves in a situation where they need it.
I also carry a knife and a flashlight but that’s off topic.
 

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DuckBeav said:
This just happened last month. Perp was shot 7 times and walked away. Unfortunately, the good guy was hit once but, lethally. There may be times when an extra mag comes in handy. I carry a spare 'cause nothing is guaranteed!

Click to expand...

GREAT video = "live to fight another day.....!"

Oh ya, better to have too many rounds than not enough, jus' say'n.....
16 in my S&W 59, and 15x2 available!
 
Onomea said:
Chief, I've posted this before so you may have seen it, but I took a class with John Correia, Active Self Protection (https://activeselfprotection.com/our-owner-and-founder-john-correia/) a while ago. One of the things he said was that in reviewing nearly 50,000 civilian self defense shooting videos, they had yet to see one where the good guy defending himself reloaded.

(He noted there was one recent exception: A guy with a 1911 in Pakistan who shot two guys on a motorcycle who were trying to assassinate him. He reloaded when he had them both down, and fired once more into each of them.)

John said that he would never advise anyone not to carry a reload. He said he was simply saying that he believed they would never use it.

My take on this is that it is a question of risk tolerance. For myself, I am comfortable without carrying a reload, but I understand why others, especially a man as careful as yourself, are not.
Click to expand...
And I respect your ideology and decision as well. The only food for thought to add to this is that in the current year of 2025 gangs are now more prevelent than ever. MS13 is stronger than ever. Large gatherings of not so nice people are more popular than ever before. Sometimes we need to prepare for something that was not the norm in the past and that hasn't had a need in the past - hence the choice of many here now upgrade to a semi auto higher capaciy EDC. I actually hope YOU are right and neither if us ever need a spare magazine!

Regards,
Chief38
 
No magazine here as I carry a revolver and I don't carry it to shoot anybody. But I don't go skipping through life with my head in the clouds either. I am not afraid to move away, hide or runaway. I also know where the rear exits are in the two supermarkets and WalMart I go to. Someone said a long time ago that the best way Not to get killed in a gun fight is to Not get in a gun fight.
 
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