Do you carry a spare magazine?

[Dave Lively]

I don't. My P365 has enough capacity I do not feel I need a spare magazine. One less thing to carry and less time practicing. No need to practice changing magazines if you do not carry a spare.

A couple of my friends feel well protected with a 5 round 38 Special J-frame or LCR. But others carry guns with 16 rounds in the gun and a 17 round spare.

 

[Frailer]

If I’m going to be away from home for several days I might toss a speed strip in my pocket. Otherwise, I don’t carry a reload.

This might get me “killed in the streets” someday…but I doubt it.

 

[CH4]

Yes, when wearing a shoulder rig

 

[326MOD10]

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.

Or suppose you are up close and personal and the mag release gets pressed.

Couple things to think about.

 

[Kanewpadle]

Carrying an extra magazine is not about how many rounds you carry or need.

Anything can happen. Especially under stress.

Carrying an extra magazine is about being as prepared as you can if the worst happens.

 

[robvious]

anything mechanical can & will fail.. a spare is not necessarily for quantity of ammo...

 

[URIT]

I'm not on the job any longer, and my biggest concerns today are the legal problems following a defense of life shooting. I've never been religious about carrying extra ammo. I believe that if I can't get the job done with the 8 or 9 rounds my favorite carry pistol magazines hold then I should run.

 

[Denverd0n]

There are a wide variety of failures that are best solved by ejecting the magazine that is in the gun and putting in a new one. As others have said, it's not about how many rounds you need; it's about being able to respond to a failure to fire.

So, whether I am carrying my 7-round single stack pistol, or my 17-round double stack pistol, I always carry a spare magazine.

 

[Valmet]

Not on my person, but have one in the console of my truck.

 

[flagaman1950]

As for me, I always carry a spare mag when I carry my Glock 42 or if carrying my S&W 37, I will carry a spare 5 rounds in a speed strip. Probably will never need them, but as the old saying goes, better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.
Best.

 

[chief38]

I normally do carry a spare magazine for my Sig P365. When carrying OWB I use a magazine pouch for the spare. When pocket carrying the P365 in a DeSantis Nemesis, I carry the spare magazine in a pocket opposite to the one I have the pistol in. Sometimes I use a thin cheap eyeglass pouch which weighs nothing and softens the lines of the magazine. The extra magazine fits perfectly into the pouch. Some pouches (larger ones) might need to be trimmed with a scissor.

As others have stated, not only is the extra magazine prudent for more rounds if needed, it is also good for any reason the mag in the pistol gets dumped out or in case of a jam. When carrying, one never knows how, when or where something can go down. It's best to be prepared and not need an extra mag, than need one and not have it.

 

[Kanewpadle]

Well said chief.

Instead of having to bend over and pick up the magazine that fell out of my gun, I would much rather reach in my pocket for my spare while moving to cover/concealment.

 

[Krogen]

I carry a Sig P365. The 12 round mag is nearly as concealable as the 10 round. I don't carry a spare because it's tough to seat a mag with the slide forward. It's a pain in the comfort of your own home and probably unfeasible under stress. If you run the gun dry, it's become a dire situation and while easy enough to insert a fresh one, the pucker factor could of an empty gun, could be and obstacle. So, I carry the single mag in the gun. If 12+1 doesn't do the job, then I'm an outlying statistic.

 

[YeshuaIsa53]

If it came with a two-magazine holster, I carry two spares when carrying a semi-auto.

 

[DuckBeav]

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!

 

[petepeterson]

Don't discount the inconvenience of standing there with an empty gun when the shooting is over.
Perps have friends and family.

 

[chief38]

Remember, this is not "the old days" when many of the bad guys carried revolvers. Almost all now carry high capacity magazines in their semi auto hand guns. Secondly, many violent crimes now include more than one perp! You could possibly be up against 2,3, or more of them. This is just one reason I no longer carry a 5 shot Chief's Special! Even though my EDC is capable of holding 10+1, 12+1, or 18+1, my normal load out is the 10+1 for size, weight and concealment. The possibility of needing more ammunition is going up as time goes on. IMHO a serious self defense minded person will carry an extra magazine.

I am also the same person who would never drive a vehicle without a spare tire, jumper cables, a portable air compressor and a tire repair plug kit onboard. And...... just for the record, my Safety Seal tire repair plug kit came with 36 plugs - I only have 24 left. I have used 12 of them over a 5 year period. Mostly for friends and neighbors, but twice on my SUV and twice on the Mrs. car - while on the road BTW. We have a road side service included in our auto insurance policy however I am not one to wait around for hours for them to show up when I can be on the road again in a half hour by doing the repair myself. I feel the same about an extra pistol magazine - maybe the police will show up eventually, but in a gun fight it is long over by the time they arrive and I want to be the one left standing. See my signature below!

 

[Onomea]

I note that in the video posted above, the good guy gets off the first shot, hitting the bad guy. The bad guy gets off the second shot, fractions of a second later, hitting the good guy.

The good guy then continues firing, hitting the bad guy six more times, causing him to fall down.

The good guy soon dies in the street. The bad guy gets up and makes his escape.

Another magazine, a reload, would not have saved the good guy.

As the narration makes clear, the good guy made two mistakes. The first was being in a bad neighborhood at night when he did not need to be. The second was being absorbed in his phone, not being aware of his surroundings.

 

[chief38]

I note that in the video posted above, the good guy gets off the first shot, hitting the bad guy. The bad guy gets off the second shot, fractions of a second later, hitting the good guy.

The good guy then continues firing, hitting the bad guy six more times, causing him to fall down.

The good guy soon dies in the street. The bad guy gets up and makes his escape.

Another magazine, a reload, would not have saved the good guy.

As the narration makes clear, the good guy made two mistakes. The first was being in a bad neighborhood at night when he did not need to be. The second was being absorbed in his phone, not being aware of his surroundings.

Every single situation is different. While you may be correct here, that has no bearing on how the next situation plays out. As far as staying out a bad neighborhood, I avoid them too, but once in a while I have no practical choice or wind up in one by accident. My wife and I recently drove 40 miles away to go to specific store for something not available locally. When we left the house we did not realize what that neighborhood was like. Anyway, thankfully we arrived, did our business and left safely but we were uncomfortable and wary the entire time we were there. Yes, I was armed and thankfully nothing happened but once in a while we all find ourselves in a place we'd rather not be. That said, there are plenty of robberies, rapes and violent crimes in great neighborhoods as well. If perp's want to prey on wealthy people and steal expensive goods they know where to go and it's usually not in the poor neighborhoods.

Carrying a spare magazine is not a big deal. If one is to take the responsibility to arm themself in the first place, why not give themself the best odds in a bad situation? Yes, to each his own, but for me it's just the way I roll. A gun is useless without ammo.

 

[Onomea]

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.