How much carry ammo is enough?

[SuperiorDG]

42

[blacklabel]

35 for me. 17+1 and a 17 round reload. The reload isn't about the additional ammunition as much as it is about malfunction clearing.

[Mick-Boy]

42

Well that only makes sense.

[<MADDOG>]

My personal opinion based on basic studies is this: my CCW is there to neutralize a basic threat and/or get myself and loved ones out of danger. Bottom line: self defense, I am not the hero of the day.

Should I need more than my lone mag (12 +1), my belief is I have put myself into an exceptionally bad situation by willful ignorance/stupidity, or I am faced with a an active shooter scenario. I think I have a better chance of winning Powerball than the later, and I play maybe once a month...

Again, my opinion.

[Irving]

My personal opinion based on basic studies is this: my CCW is there to neutralize a basic threat and/or get myself and loved ones out of danger. Bottom line: self defense, I am not the hero of the day.

Should I need more than my lone mag (12 +1), my belief is I have put myself into an exceptionally bad situation by willful ignorance/stupidity, or I am faced with a an active shooter scenario. I think I have a better chance of winning Powerball than the later, and I play maybe once a month...

Again, my opinion.

Just last night I was thinking about this while out running. I was asking myself what I would do if a drive-by on a hoise occured while I was running by. Would I engage? If I did, I better have a place to run and hide because I've only got 10 rounds and have already been running (out of breath).

[Ronin13]

I carry 31 with me at all times- 15+1 in the gun, extra mag on support side. Then in the car I have one more 15-round mag (because I'm usually never more than .25mi from my car at all times).

You going to the movies with your SO, friends, or driving through a known crime area ? The shit can drop at your church parking lot, or 15 items or less in safeway. What's your plan if it does, you in fight or flight? Do you have a choice ? Myself it depends on the area, occassion etc.

This is a great point. You can never anticipate the situation you may be faced with (God forbid anyone here ever has to be in such a situation), and you have to react how you feel best in the situation. I can't say what would happen if... I can only say I hope that I'm prepared and trained if I ever need to. So it's impossible to tell how much carry ammo on your person is "enough." Can you get out of there without having to resort to drawing? Can you get away after hostiles are aware you are armed? How are they going to react to you being armed? Too many questions, too unpredictable. I'm comfortable with what I carry, I avoid confrontation, and hope every day that I don't need to use my gun.

[dan512]

I carry a spare mag for a few reasons. As has been stated, malfunctions happen.
Secondly, I think of something Daryl Bolke from HiTS training said that Jeff Gonzales echoed in the article Mick posted. He was talking about being a cop in a less than friendly neighborhood. He mentioned that if you need to use your weapon, you may use it and survive the encounter. However, what about the next encounter? In other words, what happens when the first dudes friends figure out you just shot their buddy? How many enemies have you just made? What if they are all armed?
God willing I will never have to draw my gun. But if I do I want to make sure I have enough rounds to get to safety.
There is very little cost in carying an extra mag. It doesn't take up much space, and it isn't heavy. Low cost to benefit ratio.

[<MADDOG>]

I think Ronin hit it on the head; "So it's impossible to tell how much carry ammo on your person is "enough".

If one wishes to carry enough ammo to to do an airfield take-down against armored aliens, and comfortable carrying such; do it. To each to his/her own. But where does the hypothetical argument end, and where does reality begin?

I must also ask: why carry the extra mag for malfunctions? I myself think one should vet the weapon, and the ammo, you are carrying for this scenario with reliability being one's first priority, and your ability to clear a bad round being second. I myself, find clearing a malfunction quicker than reloading. I may have been dropped on my head too may times though ...

[TheBelly]

I must also ask: why carry the extra mag for malfunctions? I myself think one should vet the weapon, and the ammo, you are carrying for this scenario with reliability being one's first priority, and your ability to clear a bad round being second. I myself, find clearing a malfunction quicker than reloading. I may have been dropped on my head too may times though ...

It's hard to replicate kind of stress that a gunfight will impart. With that stress, i might not get a perfect grasp of the gun, causing a user-created malfunction. It might be that ONE load that got by with too little powder, thereby causing a short-stroke situation in the gun.. A butterfly in Thailand might have flapped its wings wrong. Whatever the case may be, when the gun stops working, I need to problem solve my way out of it.

[<MADDOG>]

It's hard to replicate kind of stress that a gunfight will impart. With that stress, i might not get a perfect grasp of the gun, causing a user-created malfunction. It might be that ONE load that got by with too little powder, thereby causing a short-stroke situation in the gun.. A butterfly in Thailand might have flapped its wings wrong. Whatever the case may be, when the gun stops working, I need to problem solve my way out of it.

Thanks Belly! But allow me to retort:

In scenario #1; if I pull the trigger with my pecker , it better go off (why I state reliability). In your scenario, one would be sure to have the same malfunction again regardless if one had one or twenty mags. Again, a matter of vetting one's weapon IMO, and possibly training.

#2, hence why I state you need to be able to clear. Again, I don't see a reload being quicker.