KC135

8 minimun per gun, but 12 is better, and many semis have up to 20 or so. Speed loaders, for carry guns, 8 at least.

I carry one reload per gun carried.

Summer carry is three guns, two autos and revolver, or reverse. Last few days it has been 1911, Commander, and 642.

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ExSoldier

Euc, give me six previously loaded magazines and you with your six shooter wheel gun and I flat guarantee I whomp you with time on target. Even if I'm on the move and shooting as I move so I hafta drop a few mags, I can STILL reload and resume the fight faster than a wheel gunner whose skill level to me is comesurate with my own.

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HotGuns

Personally...if I ever have to draw and fire 3 mags I'm not in a shootout..Im in a WAR...

If those 3 mags can get me back to the truck where I can pull out my GOOD STUFF and use it I think Ill be much better off...

joe/OH

I have to agree. If I am going some place where I even think I have the remote possibility of needing that many rounds, I'll have the AK in the trunk. If you live long enough, you should be able to fight your way back to your vehicle with one reload to get a real weapon suitable for fighting off whatever small army is attacking you.

Chances you'll be in a confrontation requiring you to draw your weapon? Slim. Chances that you'll need to fire your weapon? Even lower. Chances you'll need more than one reload? Remote. Chances you'll survive if you ever need more than one reload? Too remote to even consider. At least for me. I understand those with more training may take a different route and I'm not criticizing those who do - but for me it just isn't realistic.

Euclidean

Ah but there's the problem with your previous analysis.

You're assuming that the magazines are loaded. That's a situational factor some people may not be able to control.

For instance if you're traveling through gun unfriendly states, if I understand federal law correctly, you can only transport it so long as it's not loaded and none of its magazines are loaded. Local laws, circumstances, or other regulations may require you to keep the firearm and its magazines unloaded.

And even then, yes for the 100 give or take round of ammunition you already have loaded you're going to be moving very fast, but if the situation calls for firing 5 or 6 times that amount suddenly your advantage is debatable. The higher the round count goes, the less clear it is that having multiple magazines is really all that helpful.

Now I realize that's a silly thing to even consider because it's never happened in the real world and probably never will, but if we're going to talk about a fantastic situation that requires one to fire 6 magazines' worth of ammunition from a handgun all at once we might as well consider the situation to its extreme.

As we say in math your statement is true, but within limits.

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rfurtkamp

In what was presented, no, there was no realistic problem.

Why did wheelguns lose out to autos? Magazine capacity and reload time for the average shooter. Sure, there are guys who can reload a revolver in unholy spans, but for most, it's a lot more involved and more can go wrong. More can go wrong in most cases shooting an automatic, but the problems on the revolver end start and almost exclusively end during the reload cycle - speedloader that doesn't release, rounds that don't eject from the cylinder, a cylinder that doesn't want to release, etc.

For most of us, it's a fact of life that the magazines are going to be loaded.

There are no such magazine restrictions in relevant US code (Title 18 Part I Chap. 44 Sec. 926A) - ammunition must be not readily accessible from passenger compartment and the firearm itself unloaded.

Within limits, you're not going to have two boxes of ammo in your coat pocket. You might have 1 mag in the gun, and two in each pocket. That's not inconceivable, and with Glock or Sig +2 mags, it's doable. You're not likely to have 16ish speedloaders - they take up too much room. Ditto speed strips.

The magazine clearly wins out.

If you're talking about 100 round shootouts, you're going to be providing cover fire most likely - and in that, the auto wins out hands down. I can drop the entire capacity of the average wheelgun to purchase cover and movement and still have 1.5x its load still in the weapon.

If you're talking 500-600 round shootouts, well, I hope your car provides a lot of cover or you brought an ammo cart. It's going to get a little silly lugging around half a case of ammo and ripping into cardboard cases under fire.

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rachilders

True, when was the last time anyone here read of a gunfight that involved firing more than 1/2 dozen rounds unless you're in Iraq... or you're a member of the LAPD? Seriously, with a very few exceptions (like the courthouse shooting in Tyler, TX a few months ago) the vast majority of the reported shootouts involve 3-4 rounds and last only 3-4 seconds. That being the case, even a single magazine in the well should be more than enough for any situation over 99% of the people will encounter over 99% of the time. Even LEO's will seldom carry more than 2 spare magazines for their weapon and they are countless times more likely to have to draw their weapon then the rest of us. My personal preference is one on the gun and one spare mag as a backup. If I find myself involved in a situation that involves firing 20 or more rounds, I'm in deep @#&* and will probably need more than a few extra bullets to get my tail out of the fire.

CLASS3NH

As being one who has worked "Close Security" for a number of Clients while in my younger years, I have learned to be best prepared for any encounter. I'd rather carry 3-4 spare mags, for my semi-auto, 4-5 speedloaders or 5 speedstrips, than find out that the BG has counted the number of rounds expended by me, or assumes that I'm "out of mags" and decides to become the agressor. (yes "Virginia" they DO know what's out there for weapons and their capacities) Not Paranoid in any way here, just mindfull of how my opponent may think.. BTW.. while I worked that position, everybody carried at least 4 spare mags

rfurtkamp

They also have something I don't: backup.

The local LEOs I know tried to tell me that they're my backup, and I pointed to the Supreme Court's rulings on their lack of requirement to provide protection. They relented and don't give me crap about backup guns and mags as much any more.

I figure in real terms that I carry less than 30 seconds of ammunition. Response time is 5+ minutes on the best day.

Sure, the majority of times I've presented a weapon it hasn't had to have been fired - but the 3-4 second rubric is a little out of joint with what I've come to expect in the wild. People just do not die or cease to become a threat that quickly. I wish they did - I really do.

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Tom357

I'm gonna have to get Gary to change my order from one single carrier to three doubles. When I'm not using them in a gunfight, they will serve as a combination back brace and dive belt.

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