When Did It Start? (Carrying an Extra Mag)

[SGT ROCK 11B]

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.

Actually cops all over America carried two revolvers. Chicago PD and others were famous for having two revolver holsters on the uniform belt. Others carried the second revolver in the pocket or the ankle.

In my day, I carried a Colt 1911 on the uniform belt and a Colt Detective Special in my left front pocket. Today some cops carry two Glock pistols.

 

[Chuck Edwards]

I’ve been carrying since the 80s. I started with a Colt Series 70 in .45 ACP due to the influence of Jeff Cooper, so it followed that I carried two spare mags. I’ve never gotten out of the habit of carrying spare ammo, even with a J frame. It’s vanishingly unlikely that one will need to reload as a civilian, but as has been pointed out above, the magazine is the most likely point of failure for an autoloader and if one is forced into using a revolver, being able to bring it back to fully-loaded status would be a good idea while waiting for the cops to arrive. Whoever you shot might have friends who might take offense at having downed their buddy.

I also carry a knife and a Streamlight Microstream. That flashlight gets used far more often than the knife.

 

[BB57]

I was trained to always carry a spare magazine, not so much for the extra ammunition but rather as a much faster means to clear any jam that “tap, rack, bang” could not clear. Anything else will require you to drop the magazine and clear the jammed cartridge either through the mag well, or at least in the greater available space with the magazine removed.

It’s a lot quicker to just drop the mag and load a new one, than it is to try to juggle the old mag out and back in.


——-

Today, a few things have changed:

- I’m not forced to carry issued ammo and I can (and do) extensively test my carry ammo for reliability;

- Magazine quality is much improved in most pistols;

- I have greater freedom of choice in what I carry and again focus on reliability; and

- I am no longer expected to go into dark and scary places looking for bad guys. As an ordinary armed citizen if I really feel I might need more rounds, I take that as a sign that I really need a very strong reason to go there in the first place.

 

[Buford57]

Being genuinely weird (and having lived to admit it) I consistently carried two revolvers in uniform. When I went to Investigations I still did until I switched to a M39 as my primary (with one extra mag) and a revolver BUG in the mid-80s. Today with "run and hide" (or in my case "limp and hide") as an option to "stand and fight" I am down to one revolver and a reload except when traveling in some areas of Chicago.

 

[.455_Hunter]

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

British officers had a leather ammo pouch for loose rounds on their holster belt. The Prideaux "speed" loader was also used on a limited basis.

 

[WR Moore]

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

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

Not only were they carrying spare mags, back when the 1911 was first adopted, those troops issued one were also issued 3 magazines. Pistol and all mags had lanyard loops and lanyards. Or at least mounted troops were so equipped. The idea was to prevent loss of anything whilst dashing about on horse back.

IIRC-no I'm not that old, a good friend was a dedicated collector-the magazine lanyards disappeared about the same time as horse mounted cavalry. They might have gone before given the pressures of WWI production.

 

[Archie]

I have been learning about and 'fiddling' with guns since 1963. Cannot remember anyone seriously carrying a side arm without extra ammo. At that time, revolver ammo was loose in a pocket, but semi-automatics had magazines (erroneously called 'clips') at that time.

Unless an archeologist I cannot see that as 'recent'.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

Probably started back during the Civil War with the use of cap and ball revolvers. An extra loaded cylinder or two probably came in very handy.

In some of Clint Eastwood's movies you can see him do cylinder changes from a pouch on his belt for his BP revolver.......I know.....It's TV but I bet the old timers did that too.

My BP Remington 1858 is a perfect candidate for that with it's easily removable base pin.

 

[Piwo]

Excuse the thread drift, but I don't think the practice of carrying an extra loaded cylinder for a cap-and-ball revolver is wise or practical. If one dropped the fully loaded and capped cylinder (Not an unlikely scenario with a greased cylinder) you would have a runaway "pepper box" derringer with no control over direction of fire. 1 to 6 lethal balls shooting in any random direction is not my idea of safety on the firing line.

 

[rosewood]

Excuse the thread drift, but I don't think the practice of carrying an extra loaded cylinder for a cap-and-ball revolver is wise or practical. If one dropped the fully loaded and capped cylinder (Not an unlikely scenario with a greased cylinder) you would have a runaway "pepper box" derringer with no control over direction of fire. 1 to 6 lethal balls shooting in any random direction is not my idea of safety on the firing line.

Yeah, but back then they didnt have concrete to drop it on. Would likely be dropped on dirt.

 

[rednichols]

Excuse the thread drift, but I don't think the practice of carrying an extra loaded cylinder for a cap-and-ball revolver is wise or practical. If one dropped the fully loaded and capped cylinder (Not an unlikely scenario with a greased cylinder) you would have a runaway "pepper box" derringer with no control over direction of fire. 1 to 6 lethal balls shooting in any random direction is not my idea of safety on the firing line.

Can't speak to capped or uncapped, but nevertheless a ball needs the force fit of the barrel to become lethal. The pressure behind the ball is the deadly part, not the explosion. It was not uncommon in the days when cap&ball was the norm not the exception, to carry a loaded cylinder, and for good reason.

I feel bad for those of you living during these times in my birth country, USA. I lived there 1950-2000 and didn't need to carry though I had a permit just because of the company I kept. And I haven't wished I could carry where I live now since 2000 to date. What happened over there? Columbine?

 

[LittleAugieMo]

When did it start? Watch "Untouchables & Last Man Standing" documentaries. lol

 

[Stu454]

For me, it depends on the situation. New Year's Eve 2000? Sidearm and four spare magazine under my suit. Going to the grocery store? Sidearm and maybe a single reload. Maybe not.

 

[Smoke]

I know it's not "reloads" but I seem to remember reading that boarding parties on ships in the days of the muzzleloaders carried multiple handguns. Wild Bill Hickok was known to carry more than one firearm. John Wesley Hardin was known to carry more than one gun. Jesse James was known to carry three or four.

So I would guess it was probably very shortly after somebody invented a firearm that somebody started thinking about carrying more ammunition than what was in the gun

 

[desi2358]

Excuse the thread drift, but I don't think the practice of carrying an extra loaded cylinder for a cap-and-ball revolver is wise or practical. If one dropped the fully loaded and capped cylinder (Not an unlikely scenario with a greased cylinder) you would have a runaway "pepper box" derringer with no control over direction of fire. 1 to 6 lethal balls shooting in any random direction is not my idea of safety on the firing line.

On the muzzle loading forum this is a common topic of discussion. Some modern shooters who do use extra cylinders carry them uncapped and use a capper after installing them while others take the risk and carry them capped ready to go. As anyone who has had a chain fire with a cap & ball knows they do come out with some force and are capable of causing injuries. One of the reasons revolving rifles require a hand hold that keeps your arm & hand behind the cylinder!

There has also been a lot of research on the historical practice of carrying extra cylinders and the record indicates that it very rarely happened (despite what is shown in Hollywood and Wild West novels). Most manufacturers did NOT supply extra cylinders with their guns (though if you wanted they might sell you one as a special order), the military did not buy and issue extras either. Modern shooters tend to think of everyone loading with loose ball and a flask but the development of combustible cartridges quickly provided a quicker option. The military and many civilians quickly adopted the combustible cartridge as the standard for reloads.

Really the only common usage of extra cylinders seems to have been with the early Colt Patterson revolvers which had no way to load the cylinder on the gun. They had to be taken apart to load and a number of cased sets did come with an extra cylinder. After the development of the attached loading lever the extra cylinders were soon dropped. Colt himself worked on various designs of combustible cartridges for his own guns as well as other caliber firearms (always looking for a way to make more money!).

So now we are into some major thread drift LOL!

 

[cd228]

I know it's not "reloads" but I seem to remember reading that boarding parties on ships in the days of the muzzleloaders carried multiple handguns. Wild Bill Hickok was known to carry more than one firearm. John Wesley Hardin was known to carry more than one gun. Jesse James was known to carry three or four.

So I would guess it was probably very shortly after somebody invented a firearm that somebody started thinking about carrying more ammunition than what was in the gun

The phrase "a brace of pistols" (not to be confused with a pistol brace), referred to the carrying of a pair of pistols, originated with flintlocks. It was common among cavalry.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

50-60 years ago one of the selling points for the "Wondernines"- Browning HP, S&W M59, MAB P-15, et al. was their large magazine reduced/eliminted the need for a reload.

 

[hardluk1]

Mt first handgun dad bought to teach me with was a colt 6" huntsman and used a leather pocket knife for holding my spare mag or 2 by the time I was about 10 when attempting to hunt squirrels . That was 1965 . My first handguns were bought in '76 when I turned 21 . A DW 15-2 and picked up a couple speed loaders soon after . KKS brand I think for hog and occasional deer hunting with hand loads . . I also picked up a mixed part number 5" 1911 and a few mags . Took some time to and a few extra sear springs to tune the trigger pull sear and then tune a couple of the mags I bought . I shot mostly a hard cast 200gr swc bullet and I harvested a couple hogs with it too . Mag holder or for several mags were made by a local tack shop owner , many shooters along with early CC holsters . MY hunting holster were Hunter back then .

 

[UncleEd]

For civilian concealed carry it was

June 7, 1972 at 10:43 a.m. DST.