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extra ammo carry

8K views 65 replies 49 participants last post by  matthew03 
#1 ·
I just joined the wheel gun crowd with a new S&W airweight. I pocket carry in a pocket holster. Best, most comfortable method to carry extra ammo? Five shots might not be enough if the Zombies come. Thanks for any suggestions you might give me.
 
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#15 ·
Agree. I understand this extra ammo thing--to each his own--but do you really believe that after 5 or 6 shots you are going to be in a position or were in a position to actually reload and continue to fire? Hey, if it makes you feel better, safer,and gives you more confidence in your safety, have at it. If this is something you take very seriously and something that can readily happen where you live, then you have the wrong firearm. A semi auto may not have the reliability of a revolver, but it can have 10 or 15 more shots already there without the need for a reload, which probably will be the last thing you are doing once you have expended those first 5 shots.
 
#4 ·
Speed strips or speed loaders either one will work. Speed loaders may be a bit quicker, however they add a little bulk to your dress. If your wearing a shirt untucked though the shouldn't be noticeable.
 
#9 ·
Didn't know what a speed strip was since my revolver is SAA. When I looked it up. I read a short article on making your own. Then I saw an image I'd a bianchi strip. The thought occurred to me that they might be more efficient if the spacing was aligned to insert two rounds at a time instead if one. Have never used one but have a pretty good idea how they work.
Anyone ?
 
#34 ·
That IS how Bianchi Speed Strips are designed; two cartridges at a time is how I practice with them. I am not sure about Tuff Strips' spacing.

While Speed Strips are certainly a handy, organized, and compact way to carry spare ammo, they are most certainly not very speedy for a complete reload. When I still carried a sixgun as a duty handgun, I practiced reloading with speedloaders, with Speed Strips, with cartridge loops on the belt, and when that innovation arrived, with a 2x2x2 carrier. The Speed Strip is the SLOWEST of these for a complete reload, but its handiness is worth it, in my opinion.

One reason I love the Speed Strip is that it is a VERY fast and sure way to get TWO rounds into one's weapon. I believe that if one's revolver is totally empty, two very fast rounds may well trump a complete reload that takes longer.

Of course, my preferred emergency reload is made of stainless steel, and is made by Ruger; an SP101!
 
#11 ·
Use Tuff Strips instead of the Bianchi Speed Strips. They have awesome customer service, and they make a lot more designs for all kinds of different calibers including shotguns. They make a 5 shot Strip that will fit perfectly im the little pocket above the right front pocket of most jeans, or even next to your wallet in your back pocket. They make Strips in different colors so you could color code your ammo as well.

For other carry options you could use a pager case or cell phone case on the belt to hold spare ammo. You might also search the "used holster and miscelaneous junk" bins commonly found in most good gun shops. If you get lucky you could find an old dump pouch. Speed Strips were made to fit those, and nobody but an old dinosaur cop or serious gun enthusiast would know what it was.
 
#14 ·
Use Tuff Strips instead of the Bianchi Speed Strips. They have awesome customer service, and they make a lot more designs for all kinds of different calibers including shotguns. They make a 5 shot Strip that will fit perfectly im the little pocket above the right front pocket of most jeans, or even next to your wallet in your back pocket.
Watch pocket, actually made for a pocket watch, which as time has went by and technology has advanced.. I haven't seen anyone use one in years. I have one that used to be my grandfathers...but for practical purposes they are now, sadly, a thing of the past.
I put my Zippo in that pocket, but I see how it would be a great spot for a speed strip! Great Idea!
 
#13 ·
i prefer Speed Strips when carrying my 5-shot J-frame in a pocket (because they're flatter). but WATCH the Ayoob video, and PRACTICE reloading your weapon. with practice it's a reasonably quick reload.

with a holster-carried revolver, i use speedloaders for the extra ammo.

for velo99: you DO insert two rounds at a time with a Speed Strip.
 
#16 ·
I toss a speed loader into the bottom of the other front pocket. My wallet sits above it and since I already buy pants/shorts with larger pockets, retrieving the reload isn't a problem.

I've tried a couple different pouches for revolver speed loaders on the belt, but added to my molti-tool and cellphone holder, and I just don't want to feel like I'm wearing Batman's utility belt.
 
#17 ·
Back in the day when I carried a wheelie, it was one speed strip in the watch pocket and a speed loader in the pocket below it. Worked out great since I'm a lefty! Funny thing is I use the watch pocket to carry a spare mag now. I just slide it in behind my belt and into the pocket.
 
#19 ·
I carry 2 speed strips in an inexpensive flip-phone case on my left hip. Works like a dream! Plus, speed strips are surprisingly fast with a little practice. If I feel there's a chance that I'll be in an area where 15 rounds wouldn't be enough if SHTF, I carry 2 more speed strips in my left pocket.
 
#22 ·
40Bob

You should always carry 2 reloads. If you are taking it serious enough to carry a gun for SD, learn to run the gun and your reloads.
Practice, practice, and more practice. Your reloads should be something you can do with your eyes closed...Bob is right, learn to run the gun.


Originally Posted by kelcarry
If 21 shots are not enough I am dead already.
That is a very poor mindset for self defense.
 
#23 ·
I originally thought the speed strip should go in the left front pocket for a right handed shooter. I shoot with two hands (normally) and to reload I open the cylinder with my right thumb and have my left hand fingers through the cylinder opening, left thumb kicks the cases out and fingers and thumb rotate the cylinder while the right hand is inserting bullets from the speed strip. The speed strip in the watch pocket on the right or in the right pocket is a go for me. YMMV
 
#24 ·
I started using Bianchi Speed Strips in my Duty Belt Dump Pouches in 1971. I then went to Speed Loaders later in the 70s, but I always carried two speed strips for my BUG which was a Model 49 that had been Armoloyed. I carried it partially down in the top of my boot.

Every now and then I'll carry one of my J Frame Revolvers and when I do, I carry two Bianchi Speed Strips.

Old habits die hard.

Jungle Work
 
#25 ·
I carry extra ammo in a speed strip contained in a leather carrier for speed strips so the rounds don't accidentally come out.
 
#26 ·
Why carry extra ammo?

You just emptied, or mostly emptied, your sidearm dealing with a thug who wanted to harm you. As you wait for the police to arrive on scene, the thug's friends and family start to gather, rather angry that you decided to ventilate the poor, misunderstood miscreant. Feel OK standing there with an empty (or almost empty) gun?

Or...while you are waiting for the police to get there, the miscreant on the ground decides that he still has some fight left in him, after all.

Point is that the reload is for when the fight is over - just in case it isn't.

Carry spare ammo. I have a custom Remora pocket ammo holster that goes in a cargo pocket - carries a spare LCP mag and a speed loader for my LCR.
 
#27 ·
Thanks for all the good ideas. I think I'll try the Tuff Strips. Thanks Superhouse 15 for the help. I'll have to leave my pocket watch at home.
 
#44 ·
I took TDI's snubby class about 18 months ago. There were two distinct groups of people when we started, the speedloader group and the speed strip group. By the end of the weekend, after many, many reloads, most, if not all of the speed strip group saw the benefit of the speedloader. I don't care how much you practice, speed strips will never be as fast as speedloaders. My preference, when carrying a revolver (which is pretty rare these days) is for speedloaders. Try both, train with both, see what you really prefer.
 
#28 ·
Spare Ammunition is a Must!

Hi. New to this forum, but not to carrying a firearm. For all you guys who have the "if X number of rounds isn't enough, then..." mindset, I want to point you in the direction of an experience that became very public. Back in 1997 an off-duty police officer was in a McDonalds in Barstow, CA when it was robbed. He subsequently wrote an after action report that was released to the public. The most pertinent aspect of that report was "ALWAYS carry extra ammo." You can find this report if you search; I'm not having any luck at the moment. In any case, the officer was armed with a subcompact Glock handgun. When he was confronted by the armed criminal and a shooting ensued, his handgun was emptied very quickly, and the full size magazine he carried as a spare became very important. This is really my point: If your armed intervention should turn into a two-way gunfight, you should not underestimate how quickly you may expend every round of ammo in whatever you're packing, even if it's a full size 9mm. We'd all like to think we could track rounds fired and hit our targets, but that doesn't always happen and if it doesn't, you should anticipate the need to reload your firearm.

With that said, I no longer use any revolvers, but when I did, I found speed strips to be simply too slow. With a great deal of practice, transitioning the revolver to the off hand to dump the brass while reloading with the strong hand, I was able to get very quick with speed loaders. It's still a lot of fine motor skill and digital manipulation, and it's hard to say if I could have been so efficient in an actual crisis. Fortunately I never found out, but I recommend making room for speed loaders.

Lastly, if worse comes to worse, any gun is better than no gun. This is just a subject where it seems prudent to tip the odds in our favor.
 
#31 ·
I had one of these briefly. My worry wasn't ever round count, it was putting them WHERE it counts. I couldn't hit jack squeeze with a snubster, and I am not a bad shot at all. Just didn't work for me and it was such an uncomfortable gun to shoot with and become proficient I sold it. But some of my buddies carry wheely guns in a belly band with speed strips and love them.
 
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