EXTRA MAGAZINES

[WR Moore]

You need to carry a minimum of one spare magazine in case of malfunction that might require you to strip the mag in the weapon out.

Use a separate pouch. Nothing collects pocket lint like a magazine. It will cause failures to feed. Fortunately, I discovered this on the practice range. You also want the magazine handy to your support hand.

 

[haggis]

Jeff Cooper once noted that if you can't solve your problem with six rounds, you're not likely to solve it with twenty. He also thought that you should always carry a reload. That way you could be fully ready after everything happened until help arrived - he thought it was just good form.

Buck

 

[cshoff]

Here is a brief article I wrote about this subject for one of our newsletters a few months ago:

It seems that there are always plenty of varying opinions on carrying spare ammunition. Some people say that, since the average gunfight typically consists of 3 or less shots being fired, the ammunition in their 5 or 6 shot revolver, or the ammunition in their 7 to 17 round semi-auto, is more than enough. Others insist that you can never have too much ammunition available on your person and they'll slide a spare magazine or speedloader into every available pocket.

While it's true that most gunfights involve 3 or less shots being fired, in today's complex tactical environment, we are seeing more and more cases where criminals attack in groups of 2, 3, or more, and in some cases, the criminals are dressed in body armor. We can ill afford to rely on statistical probability alone as the determining factor for how much ammunition we may, or may not need. Something I've said to my students before, and I'll repeat here; unless you are going swimming, there is really no such thing as "too much" ammunition. On the other hand, the concept of "too little" ammunition is easily quantifiable.

Like nearly every other piece of equipment we select for our personal protection plan, choosing how much spare ammunition to carry, and in what manner, is a matter of balancing practicality with plausibility. I'd suggest that the primary reason a person might carry at least one spare, fully-loaded magazine for his/her semi-auto is because the gun itself implicitly relies on a properly functioning magazine in order to operate correctly, never mind the fact that having the extra 7 – 17 rounds of ammunition on your person is never a bad thing. On the other hand, the person who chooses to carry a 5 or 6 shot revolver would be well advised to consider whether or not those initial 5 or 6 rounds will be enough in the event of a worse case scenario situation.

Whatever type or caliber gun you choose to carry, be sure to put some serious thought into your possible spare ammunition needs. The middle of a gunfight is not the time or place to be wishing you would have grabbed that spare speedloader or magazine on your way out the door for the evening. Make it a habit, and you will never be without when or if you are in need.

Be Safe!

 

[Knightrider03m]

Yes, always. Normally 2 mags or 2 speed loaders.

 

[RandomMan]

I never leave the house with less than 2 reloads for any pistol I'm carrying. I normally don't leave without at least 4 reloads. Sometimes I carry two guns and four reloads each.

When carrying speed loaders, I put two in the right front pocket, two in my left front pocket. Speed strips go in the right front pocket. Magazines, I will carry one on my belt in a magazine carrier, a spare in my left hip pocket, in a pocket holster that I modified to hold the magazine upright. Extra spares will go in other pockets, also in modified pocket holsters.

Carrying a gun without spare ammunition is silly in my opinion, and experience. A lot can happen to ammo while you're carrying a gun, oil can get on primers and neutralize them, lint/dirt/etc can get on your semi-auto and cause a malfunction that may require you to rip the magazine from the gun. If you've never had a welded base 1911 magazine explode on you, or the base plate of a magazine come off while shooting, you're probably not shooting or practice reloads enough. It can and DOES happen with frequency. Nothing like pulling your gun from your holster and the gun goes BANG! And then nothing, you look down and realize a load of ammunition is at your feet. That's not the time to say, "I wish I had a spare mag." That's the time to rip the old one out, ram a new one from your belt mounted mag pouch in, run the slide, and get back to work.

-Rob

 

[photoman]

None about 10% of the time. One about 80% of the time. Two about 10% of the time.

 

[bummer]

I carry 1 spare for either the 3913 or Beretta 96D Centurian.Its carried in the front left pocket in a carrier I made from leather

 

[Mike-4]

I always carry a spare mag. Sometimes 2 spare mags once in a great while.

 

[Bedrockk]

anyone got a recommendation for an IWB single-magazine holster?

also, where would you wear it if the primary is IWB at 9 o'clock?

finally, any preference on which way the magazine points?

 

[pawncop]

Always. Duty is one the belt, off duty is in left front pocket.

 

[Goldstar225]

With a single stack I always have a spare. With a double stack I carry a spare about 50% of the time.