Spare Reloads

[Moped]

I carry 2 extra mags for my LCP, in the weak hand front pocket.  How many spare reloads do you carry and where?  

[Cruel Hand Luke]

It depends...

For most days going about my business as a private citizen I carry 1 spare G17 mag just forward of my non dominant side hip. 

For church security duty I carry 2. 

When talking about shootings in the criminal assault paradigm the odds are exponentially overwhelming that whatever happens will most likely be over one way or the other well before the ammo in my first mag is expended. Obviously the lower the capacity the more your mileage may vary. Since I am not tasked on an everyday basis with laying hands on and taking people into custody that don't want to be taken into custody there is very little on a daily basis that compels me to stay and fight. In the typical civilian encounters where someone approaches and produces a weapon to coerce you to give up your wallet or to go somewhere with them, you presenting a gun and shooting at them (whether you hit them or not) generally tends to create an unscheduled track meet with them running as fast as they can away from you .....and you often running the opposite direction...assuming they are not killed outright. The odds of you even having the time to reload before it is over is unlikely. If the "typical civilian street gunfight" last 3-4 seconds from guns coming out to end of shooting there just isn't much time for a reload in there. 

 John Correia (Active Self Protection) has watched over 15,000 civilian gunfights on video from security cameras worldwide and I have been an attendee at the presentation he does at various training conferences. He says that in all the video he has watched there is almost never a reload accomplished before the bad guys either stop or have run away....especially when people are reloading from their pockets. We watched one of those videos in his presentation where the defender reloaded from a pocket. It took a timed 15 seconds to access the mag and complete the reload. The bad guy was probably 2 blocks away before the guy got the gun up and running again.  John goes as far as to saying since he carries a hi cap gun he has stopped carrying a spare mag and carries pepper spray in its place. I have long preferred to carry both because while pepper spray can be very useful it cannot help me clear a malfunction that requires a new mag to make the gun work. So I generally carry a spare mag and pepper spray.  

The church security paradigm is a little different. We may well be facing a dedicated and prepared opponent for whom self preservation is not their overriding concern. In fact they probably EXPECT to die during the event. In that case it may well take more hits and they may possibly have to be delivered from much longer distances to stop him than would be likely in the typical street criminal mugging/assault  . We may be engaging someone who is using cover and we might have to use gunfire to "pin him in place " while a maneuvering element closes with him to render him neutralized. That type of thing has virtually no commonality with the typical civilian use of force. So for church security duty  I err on the side of caution and carry a second spare mag.  

Edited February 27, 2019 by Cruel Hand Luke

[owejia]

None, never have carried spare reloads. Only what is in the magazine or cylinder.

[Defender]

1 spare mag for my primary and 2 spares for my backup, plus 10 more mags in my bag for the primary.  Old habits are hard to break.

[A.J. Holst]

One extra mag, doubles as blunt striking tool

[gregintenn]

One extra mag/speed strip.

[peejman]

One spare mag most of the time, occasionally none, rarely two. 

[Chucktshoes]

Two spares for my primary. One for the secondary when I carry it. 

[ehull20000]

One spare.  

[JunkiCosmonaut]

one spare in my front pocket. 3 extra in my bag when I'm out hiking. 

[The Big Guy]

1 15 round spare mag in my Tier-1 Concealment holster. 

[Ronald_55]

Wow.. I must be paranoid. 

7 33rd Glock mags are in the bag I carry my AR9 in. It goes with me everywhere a gun can....

[DaveTN]

None. I usually keep an extra mag in the car.

If I let myself get into something one mag won’t get me out of; I’m hosed…. hasta la vista 

[E4 No More]

2 hours ago, DaveTN said:

None. I usually keep an extra mag in the car.

If I let myself get into something one mag won’t get me out of; I’m hosed…. hasta la vista 

Me neither. It's some mighty long odds that this 60 year old, gimpy man is going to get into a gun battle lasting longer than a few shots. I'd have better odds with winning the Powerball.

[Chucktshoes]

I feel like this is a point where I should throw out the primary reason for carrying a single spare mag isn’t for a lengthy gun fight, but to fix malfunctions.

[E4 No More]

1 minute ago, Chucktshoes said:

I feel like this is a point where I should throw out the primary reason for carrying a single spare mag isn’t for a lengthy gun fight, but to fix malfunctions.

I would argue that in the vastly numerous gunfights you are likely to encounter, if your weapon jams you don't have time to clear it. The fight is over already, and you lost.

[Chucktshoes]

1 hour ago, E4 No More said:

I would argue that in the vastly numerous gunfights you are likely to encounter, if your weapon jams you don't have time to clear it. The fight is over already, and you lost.

Maybe, maybe not. Statistical likelihood and Lord willing, I will never find out. That doesn’t stop me from training and preparing for that moment. I’m not willing to have already given up beforehand if that moment comes.

I take the steps that I find reasonable, you do you.

Edited August 3, 2020 by Chucktshoes

[deerslayer]

4 hours ago, Chucktshoes said:

Maybe, maybe not. Statistical likelihood and Lord willing, I will never find out. That doesn’t stop me from training and preparing for that moment. I’m not willing to have already given up beforehand if that moment comes.

I take the steps that I find reasonable, you do you.

Exactly.  Just because it's unlikely doesn't mean it won't or can't happen, especially with the sudden idiocy one can encounter in public nowadays.  The "average" gunfight is two or three shots at six feet or whatever.  If this is actually a calculated figure, that means some gunfights were more than two or three shots.  If you believe the "experts", all you need is a j-frame with two rounds in the cylinder and be able to hit a pie plate at five feet 

[Suitcase]

You never want to lose a gunfight from a lack of shooting back.

[leroy]

Remember... " The quickest reload is a second pistola "..!  Words to live by...

leroy

[nightrunner]

3 hours ago, leroy said:

Remember... " The quickest reload is a second pistola "..!  Words to live by...

leroy

As Clint Smith has said, a revolver speed loader is nearly as big and bulky as another revolver. New York reload actually does have merit.

[E4 No More]

16 hours ago, Chucktshoes said:

Maybe, maybe not. Statistical likelihood and Lord willing, I will never find out. That doesn’t stop me from training and preparing for that moment. I’m not willing to have already given up beforehand if that moment comes.

I take the steps that I find reasonable, you do you.

How is me commenting on a post is me doing you? 

You seem a bit defensive.

Edited August 4, 2020 by E4 No More

[Chucktshoes]

[Trekbike]

Given today's climate, I think it's prudent to set the, "a typical gun fight is less than a 3 round average" thinking to the side.    So for me and whichever gun I'm carrying, I'll have a spare magazine.
 

[Dirtshooter]

1 extra mag in front pocket, and extended mag when on church security, always 2 or 3 in my truck's console. I would rather have too many as not enough!!