How many spare Mags/Gun?

[garyb]

When I purchase a new handgun that I like, the next step is for me to go out and purchase some mags so I have some extras. With that comes the need for some extra mag pouches. Some guns come with an extra mag....some don't. Some of us want to have some extra mags on hand, some don't feel the need to have more than 1 or 2 mags. Personal choice.

For example, my IDPA guns (PM40 and M&PPRO40), I have 5 mags total for each. For my M&P22LR I have 3 mags total . For my wife's Bodyguard380 she has 2 mags total.

Just curious...Do you do the same and how many total mags do you like to have for your handguns? Not a pole...just a casual discussion.

[Dirty Harry]

My mouse guns have 2 mags. Anything else I have at least 10 for each gun. All loaded all the time.

[berettabone]

Range firearms..........3 mags, and 2 mags..............carry, two mags..........revolvers.........well, you know................

[Barth]

Mags? The more the marrier

My Glock G27 has six barrels in three lengths and calibers.
And associated twenty mags in three calibers and four lengths (3 twenty two round Big Sticks).
Arsenal SLR-106U 5.56mm pistol has twenty 30 round waffle mags.
Sig P220 45 has 10 mags (4 ten round)
Sig P239 357 has 9 mags (6 eight round).
HK45C has 8 mags (5 ten round HK45CT).

You get the picture.....

But I consider three mags an absolute minimum (Kahr MK40 Elite - 1 five & 2 six round mags).
One in the gun and twin reloads.

[jeepster09]

6 each.

[Bawanna]

Ditto for me. I like 6 for any gun that might be in the carry rotation which is most of them.
One thing I really like about 1911's, you can have a pile of magazines that work in all of them. You switch to a different one just swap the mag and the mag pouch stays the same.

[wyntrout]

I don't like to cut corners or not have enough critical items on hand. I have 10 or more for each firearm... some a LOT more. I did sell off some for firearms that I'm trying to sell.

Everyone should have at least 3 for self-defense pistols and carry at least one spare. Some guys think that ONE will be enough, but that's like traveling without a spare tire. Magazines are often the first part to give us trouble... and can fail or fall out of your weapon in a scuffle or the heat of battle... loss of fine motor skills being one of the first casualties of "fight or flight" crises... or lack thereof: "muscle memory" or fine motor skills!

JMHO



Wynn

[muggsy]

I never could fit more than one in a gun at a time, but I like to have at least two spares for my carry guns and at least five each for my range guns.

[BucketBack]

A Lot of them

[CB3]

Most of my carry guns can have extended magazines. To help with concealment the mag in the gun is usually a standard length. My backup mag that I carry with me is always an extended mag. I like to have a spare standard mag and two spare extended mags. That's five total as a minimum. Generally I have more because if you don't have mags you have a single shot gun.

I rarely carry a low capacity gun anymore. But when I do I carry two back up mags to have a sufficient number of rounds.

Just north of me in Salt Lake City a few years ago the Trolley Square shooter was stopped by an off-duty officer shooting his concealed carry 45 ACP. He had the seven rounds in the gun and no backup mag. He expended all of those rounds fairly quickly apparently without hitting the shooter but forced the shooter to take cover and stop firing at other innocents. After that the officer was out of the fight. Luckily it only took a few minutes for a special team to arrive and take down the shooter with ARs.

For range pistols like 22 trainers I have three mags so I can spend more time shooting and less time loading and practice mag changes.

I have a pistol and a carbine that both use the same mags. For those guns I have a dozen mags total. A load-out in a bug out bag for these two guns is six loaded extended mags (17 rnds ea.) plus the two in the guns and a 50 round box of ammo. That's 188 rounds total.

If I chose to carry lower capacity mags I would have more of them and carry more. That's one of the advantages to having high cap mags. You can carry fewer of them while still maintaining a high round count.

If I was a fan of constantly dropping mags on the ground or in the dirt while reloading, I would have many more mags. However I try to retain mags and practice that way. They get beat up less and work longer.

In a moving firefight dropped mags are often not able to be retrieved. That could become serious for you over a period of time and would dictate having lots and lots of mags. For true combat (long) guns, you can't have too many mags, but pistols are not for such extended fights, IMO.

[Armybrat]

At least two or three extras for my handguns.

[ParabellumJ]

Range toy, 2 or 3. Self defense gun, 5 minimum.

[otium]

At initial purchase, I like to get to 3 to begin with. If I plan on carrying some kind of extended round magazine as a spare, one of the 3 will be one of that type. Its enough to get me started without breaking the bank.

Over time I add more whenever I have the inclination and spare dollars to get them. I don't really have an upper limit, but I'd guess 6 is a good round number. I tend to give priority to the pistols which are in my edc rotation as far as how quickly I add more to their pile.

Since I have more than a couple makes and models, I keep a tally sheet in a simple notepad text file so I can have a general idea how many of each magazine model number there is.

[ltxi]

On average, I'd have to to say maybe three per pistol, never less than two. But, as Bawanna points out, mags are highly interchangeable in 1911 pattern. So, I have a pile of WC mags in two variations...Gov't and Officers/compact. That applies to Kahr Arms and Glock as well. I buy another Kahr 9mm or Glock 9 or 40 and I'm not gonna go buy extra mags, got enough already.

[gun papa]

I have a philosophy about mags. Mags are just like money in the bank. Buy good ones when they are cheap. Use some, keep others new unless you need them. Mags will generally never go down in price, (Unless you bought in a panic, at panic prices). You will always be able to get your money out of them should you need to.
During the ban of 1994, (which was my SECOND ban of my life), Glock 17 magazines were $160 used each!
I bought 5.56 ((10)) AK waffle mags prior to Sandy Hook. I needed them, so I bought them on the 2nd hand market as often as I saw a good price come along, from $20-$25ea. That was considered expensive for mags back then. I knew better. Now those mags are almost twice that amount, and I am sitting on a pile of them, black, green, and smoke.

Invest in mags. If nothing else, it is like storing and enjoying your money until you need it. papa