A good number of spare mags to have for your guns?

[Vegetaman]

Just curious what your guys thoughts are on a good amount of magazines to have on hand for any one of your semi-autos. Heck, even your revolvers. How many speedloaders? Just curious. Most new guns only come with 1, 2, or 3 mags... But what is a good number of mags to have?

Wasn't really sure what forum to post this in is why it is in The Lounge. Didn't really fit the other headers, even though it is gun related.

 

[Stainless44]

5 more than I have...which means I'm never satisfied with my mag inventory!

On a more serious note, when I have 7 mags per gun I feel good...because that's how many fit in mag pockets of my Midway pistol bags. It's a totally arbitrary thing, but when those pockets are full I feel like a snake that just ate a goat...satisfied.

 

[flundertaker]

8-10 per semi pistol. 50 per semi rifle minimum. 6 speed loaders per model handgun.

 

[H Richard]

It all depends on what you are doing with the gun. Is it for home defense, for competition, for just plinking. If for home defense and you shoot it at least once a month I'd probably have 4 to 6 mags. If for competition (depending on IPSC, IDPA, Bullseye, etc) I'd probably have a dozen. If it's for plinking once or twice a month 3 to 4 are probably plenty.

 

[Engineer1911]

When MidwayUSA has a mag sale I buy what I can afford. A semi-auto without a functioning magazine is a single shot. and mags wear out.

 

[Garintheair]

I don't know why I actually have so many spares but, when I acquired my 1076 brand new I bought 15 spare mags at the same time.

I have two M&P 40c's and I have a dozen spares plus the ones which came with the guns.

My .380 pocket pistols I only have one spare each.

My semi auto rifles I have from 2 to 12 spares depending on the gun.

Here's the kicker; I still use the original mags and haven't even used the spares yet! There's probably a lesson there somewhere...

 

[ColbyBruce]

How many kids do you have? Do they own the same types of pistols that you do?

 

[Marshwheeling]

I bought two spares for my CZ 50, total of three. Shoot 'em up, load again and that just about uses up a box of 50.
For my Ruger Mark III I have five. My McFadden loader holds 50 rounds, so that works out well.
I will probably buy a couple more to supplement the two that came with my CZ75.
For my FEG, I had trouble finding one spare, and it is restricted to 10 rounds. If I ever come across another, I'll buy it.

I don't shoot a lot, but i don't like to spend too much range time loading mags.

 

[FPrice]

I say a MINIMUM of five per pistol.

As far as a maximum, well how many are out there is a good estimate.

 

[Vegetaman]

Currently I am guilty of only having 2 or 3 mags per pistol... But looking to change that. The goal is to have at least 4 for pistol going forward.

 

[ContinentalOp]

When I had a Glock 23 I had 6 mags, 3 for carry/HD and 3 for training/practicing. The training mags were the ones that got dropped regularly when practicing reloads and were used most of the time at the range for shooting. The carry/HD mags were kept loaded and were used occasionally for shooting to ensure they still worked. Each mag was individually marked so I could identify any problematic mags.

I also have different sets of strips (6 total) and speedloaders (8 total) for carry/HD vs training/practicing for the same reasons. Just recently I tore up one of my practice strips because it had been used so many times.

 

[GatorFarmer]

Lucky 13 is good, one in place and a dozen reloads. That should solve most problems. Save zombies. Then have 21.

 

[billwill]

How much room do you have left between the safe and the ammo? Should, if possible, have at least 4 per handgun and as many as you can drag around for an AR.

 

[hoc9sw]

My number is five. Why? My issue belt had two x two mag pouches, plus one in the firearm. My mind knows there are five. In a stress situation, I would count up to five before going to panic mode.

If I carry it, there are five.

 

[Evil Dog]

Generally 5 per pistol.

 

[Alpo]

Something I've often wondered about. When someone says "X-amount per gun", do they really mean that, or do they mean gun-type. Or do they maybe only have one of each gun type?

Like flundertaker said "8 to 10" per. But I've got seven 1911s in 45 caliber. Should I then have SEVENTY magazines? Seems a little much.

I remember someone on this board that is an M1 Carbine collector. Got ten or more. Fifty per rifle, minimum? Ten rifles - FIVE HUNDRED magazines?

 

[oldRoger]

Every couple of years I buy a M41 magazine and I have done that for about 50 years, so I have quite a few.
I am not certain just how many, I have a few out on loan.

Some guy bought a pile of S&W 10mm magazines and was selling them cheap so I bought a few.

If you buy a magazine here and there for a number of years pretty soon you end up with a pile of them.

I suppose it would be fair to say that I have more than I need but fewer than I want.

Do stripper clips count?

 

[ModernRifle]

The calculation is quite simple.

I usually get 6 for each semi auto pistol.
You'll need to run the calculation for yourself.

As you can see, you must allow for rust.

 

[Beemerguy53]

Interesting question...got me thinking about my stock of mags.

For my Kahr K9 and my Beretta 950BS, I have only two mags each...but I hardly ever shoot those pistols.

For my 1911s (I have 10 them, 7 of which I shoot) I have several dozen mags.

For the Model 52-2 I just bought, 3 mags. My other pistols...4 to 10 mags, depending upon make.

For my various semi-auto rifles, I have more mags than I will ever need in several lifetimes of shooting. I stocked up years ago (at 'normal' prices, thank heaven) in anticipation of their being banned.

Any time I come upon a magazine at a decent price, I scarf it up: It's better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.

 

[hoc9sw]

Any time I come upon a magazine at a decent price, I scarf it up: It's better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.

Someone was reading my mind.