Those of you who carry a semi auto handgun...

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rookie4real

Joined
Aug 15, 2007
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Do you carry spare magazines with it?

I'm waiting on my carry permit that should come in a week or so and I can't decide if I should be carrying a spare mag along with a .40cal pistol on a belt that has a capacity of 12+1.
I'm debating if it's going to be worth a trouble of carrying the extra weight. In my mind if I ever have to use a firearm for defense, God forbids, it won’t be a movie fight where hero shoots many bad guys for 10 minutes and takes covers to reload.
I understand the advantage of having more ammo, especially for Law Enforcement but how practical it is in a real life situation for the average Joe?
 
Yes.

More important (to me) than the extra ammo is having a spare magazine should the first one fail in some way.

While where/how to comfortably carry the spare might pose a problem some days, I don't feel that the extra weight is that big of a deal.
 
markksr & Les Snyder nailed this one in the past few threads.In a firefight(you never wanted to be in) with your butt(or God forbid your families) on the line is not the time to find out you have a bad mag or learn how to do fast reloads.
Additionally I suggest that you completely empty the gun and practice reload drills in another area separate from the ammo. It doesn't take more than a few hours to get to the point where its reflexive. Spare mags for my 1911 (8rounds of .45) or Hi-power (15 rounds of 9mm) I want to say weigh in around 6 ounces not really a problem unless your only wearing boxers.
rookie4real, I'm not being a pain here I just had it happen a few times shooting steel plates and IDPA and that drove it home.
 
I don't usually carry an extra mag on my person, though we all probably should. If 8 rounds of .45 ACP can't resolve the situation then I'm looking for 12ga or .30-06. :D
 
Alright, I might get a mag holder for my belt, just need to figure out where to place it on a belt. Putting it on a left side opposite to the gun to equalize the weight would make sense but it is where I have a flashlight holster so every time I reach for the flashlight there is going to be a chance of flashing the mag to the unwanted eyes. Not sure, I have to think about it.

mknopfler, that was exactly my thought if 13 rounds don't fix the problem likely 12 more won't either.
 
Having a handgun is part of a defensive "plan." Yet is it isn't a plan unless you have a back up!

So you can predict the future well enough to know exactly how many rounds and/or magazines it is going to take to stop a threat(s)and/or you know exactly that everything is going to go smoothly according to your new, untested, defensive handgun plan. Not being smart but just trying to get your attention.

Carrying concealed, unfortunately, has its occupational hazards one of which is the constant shifting, moving and getting up/down everyday out of chairs, cars etc. All this torso/waist animation is tough on holstered handguns and it is not unusual for the magazine release to be inadvertently depressed by your torso and the magazine that is in the pistol is now released slightly out of battery. Often it will stay put in the handgun - partially.

Then if you have to present it to a threat or potential threat it is not unusual for the magazine to fall/drop from the magazine well onto the deck....and of course all of this is happening as you're executing a tactical withdrawal while you have a family member in tow.

So what is your back up? Are you going to scurry back up 5-7 yards to the approximate place you "think" you dropped it in the low or failing light and get on your hands and knees to search for it while a threat or potential threat is trying to attack you?

Remember you're betting you and your family's life, most likely after dark, on a piece of engineered technology at arms length. The only thing between you and the 200 pound angry gorilla is this handgun. You'd better make sure you have a back plan, or two, or three, or four. One of which might be a spare magazine, or two, charged to full capacity immediately accessible. And you'd better be prepared to do this while violently shaking from the effects of an adrenaline dump and tachypsychia.

Please don't take this wrong...I'm only trying to help...but your state doesn't require any training to obtain a permit. It would, however, behoove you and your family immensely if you sought out professional training from a highly credible full-time defensive small arms and tactics school like the one in Onalaska or down in Brownsville Oregon. I'm confident your eyes will be blasted wide opened! Just a suggestion my friend. Take it as you would any other free advice.
 
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I don't usually carry an extra mag. My carry gun is for personal (including family) self defense, not taking out teams of terrorist. I have an extra mag in the car, and may carry it in the winter if I'm going to keep my coat on. I have never had a mag fail once in my life (I have had springs and a entire frame fail before, but there's never threads about bringing extra parts...).

It my option to be comfortable with 9 rounds of .40 or 7 rounds of .380. One mag with a lot of range time behind it is worth more than 4 brand new mags with no/little practice. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to be able to carry 30 rounds, however I find it more important to make sure when you carry you fill those extra little spaces in your pockets with:
1. A bright flashlight like a 4Sevens Quark or Surefire. Target identification is 1000 more important than an extra mag. I'd rather be shot because I held my fire if I couldn't identify someone in my house (or dark parking lot etc.) than accidentally shoot someone whose actions or identity I was misinterpreting. A bright flashlight that you know how to hold when you're also holding your gun can be more valuable than the gun in certain situations.
2. A cell phone. Being able to communicate with authorities before and after a self defense situation is essential.

Carrying a handgun is a big responsibility, however after a few weeks or months you will feel very awkward without your carry gun. I never thought once about carrying when I was single, but after getting married I realized how much you can love a person. I carry everyday because I must be prepared to defend our lives if someone thinks they can take advantage of us.

When I got my CPL, my plan was to carry a (relatively) large CZ P-40 and an extra mag. That lasted about a week before I realized carrying that much gun was totally impractical (in the winter no less). I couldn't carry if I wasn't wearing the right clothes in the winter, and I outright couldn't carry in the spring or summer. I could not take off my coat and it was extremely uncomfortable to sit. Two years later, and I now carry a P239 (.40) when I can, or a TCP (.380) when I'm wearing anything more than a swimsuit. Most people who claim to carry a full size 1911 and two extra mags actually own that gun, the two mags, and a CPL, but seldom mix them. Some people may carry all that every day, but I cannot. I know of 6 CPL holders and here is what/how they carry:

>I carry a compact when I can, but mostly carry a pocket .380
>Friend A carries a USP Compact every now and again, but it's too big for EDC.
>Friend B sometimes carries a 1911 in a backpack.
>Friend C switches EDC between a pocket .380 and a pocket .38 special.
>Friend D doesn't ever carry except for when he hunts.
>Friend E carry's a pocket .38 special in her purse.
 
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I don't carry a spare mag on my person either, its in the truck though. I figure I have never needed to shoot my way out of any situations so far and since I have 15 in the clip and one in the pipe I can last longer than most anyways.
 
Different strokes, I carry a compact 1911 (Kimber Compact Stainless to be exact steel frame 32oz empty) and usually drop a spare mag in my off side back pocket.Would I love to trade all that weight in on a G19 and a spare mag Hell Yeah! But the 1911 puts em where I need em which is why I carry it over the Hi-power with twice the available rounds. Its not about needing the round count its about insurance if the primary mag fails.
I personally think that the best thing that I have done is to shoot some competitively. The first couple of times you get adrenaline poisoning when the buzzer sounds is an eye opener! After a few competitions you tend to settle down. I'm not sayings its comparable to SHTF situations but I feel it gives you a better head start(on handling the adrenaline dump) for if IT ever does hit the fan.
 
Having worn the equivalent of a Batman Utility belt as military and civilian LE may I suggest that you can get used to anything if you must...does feel good to shed it at the end of a shift.

A speedloader in a front pocket or IWB magazine holder seems prudent to me..assumes you don't have a backup firearm.

I continue to be amazed at folks that buy an autoloader with one(1) magazine.. a single shooter doesn't make a very good club but that is just me.
 
I sometimes carry a spare mag for my G23 depending on the situation. I always carry a spare for my Ruger LCP since it only holds 7 rds.
 
rookie4real said:
Do you carry spare magazines with it?
Click to expand...

No.

Like everything we do, there is a cost-benefit analysis. I carry so much cr*p already that I have to draw the line somewhere. I try to minimize the size and weight of what I carry, while maximizing utility. Were I to carry another item, it would probably be pepper spray - which I am 9000x more likely to need than a spare mag. I'm satisfied that 8 rounds of spicy 9mm in my Kel-tec PF-9 is sufficient to alter someone's behavior.
 
Im trying to think of a time I've heard of a person other than law inforcement or milatary that had a long shootout. I only have one handgun so not alot of experience but, I have never had a magazine fail. What kinda places are you traveling in anyway? If you have never had a magazine fail then why not just carry the handgun only? Try packing an extra clip someday and see if it feels like too much to have on you.
 
Are you planning to aim? :)

I keep a spare magazine in my Bag Of Evil but that's for after it's all over. On me (the BOE isn't always on me; it might be in the car) I find an extra mouse gun is about the size and weight of an extra magazine, and I think it's more likely to be useful.
 
I HAVE had mags fail. During time spent in an LE career, part of which was as a firearms instructor, I've seen others fail. I've also seen fellow cops miss repeatedly on what I considered easy shots during range sessions, and that was under no more stress than the pressure of qualifying.

I'm aware of shots fired on the street at my old PD that missed.
I'm aware of shootings at the largest PD in my state where multiple rounds were fired by officers that missed.

No intent to knock cops here, just to point out that these misses occur even among those who deal with antagonistic threats daily, to at least some degree, and among people who are trained (to at least some degree) in the expectation of violence and responses to it.

Well-known police firearms author Evan Marshall's story of making a milk run one night & finding himself in the middle of a two-man armed convenience store robbery in an area where such occasions frequently also involved customer robberies, and having to engage with one five-shot revolver with no spare ammunition, is a classic.

The more recent Trolley Square shootings in Salt Lake City by a well-armed delusional individual that were interrupted by an off-duty cop long enough for responding units to contain & neutralize is another great example of the advisability of carrying at least one reload.
The off-duty cop, finding himself in the middle of the situation, engaged the gunman.
During the exchange of gunfire, the cop was overheard saying to a bystander who was urging him to "shoot again!" that "I only have what's in the gun, I have to make 'em count."

The dynamics of a gunfight are highly stressed & highly unpredictable.
Carrying spare ammunition is neither Rambo-esque nor paranoid, it's just good sense.

Make your own decision, but if you think you can guarantee that what's in your defensive tool will be "enough", you're deluding yourself.

No, most defensive shooting scenarios are not the drawn-out Hollywood affairs we see on the screen, but the guy who says "All I'll need is one or two shots" is an idiot.

Denis
 
Carry a spare magazine for the same reason you carry a gun. Just in case. What are the chances you will actually need a gun? What are the chances you will need more than 12-13 shots? What's the chance you will need a spare change of clothes going to work? All of it is unlikely and unprobable. It just comes down to how far and for what you are willing to prepare for.
 
Quirt mentioned the Firearms training academy in Brownsville, Or.
I will vouch for those guys. I have spent some time there. Very professional :thumbup:
It is run by LEO's. One guy is the training officer for the county Swat team.

If you go, you won't regret it.

If you are going to carry a 1911, spend the money on good mags. They are money well spent...
And make sure you put quite a few rounds out, with the mags and ammo you will be using, before you trust your life to them.
I usually always carry one spare, but there sre times where I don't
 
I carry a spare mag on my person. If you're not wanting to carry it on your belt (or pocket), another possibility is ankle carry- Galco, DeSantis, others- make ankle carry mag holders
 
I don't.
8 rds in my Kimber and 13 rds in my G23,I don't figure on needing more the 2 or 3 rds to get out of most any trouble.
 
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