How many magazines?

[brutal]

To the OP.

For the .308, for the range, I short load multiple mags with 5 or 10 rounds if working on groups. A few are loaded to the full 20 for superhappyfuntimeblaster moments.

I'll bring more ammo than necessary and use any down time to recharge the mags if needed. If I'm alone, I like a little break time to think about what I'm doing and how I can improve.

Oddly, I ended up with 7 LR20 mags. I ordered 4 online, but picked one up at Bowers Tactical after I got the rifle. I ended up with another after getting the rifle back from Sig with a freebie in the box. The four I ordered from 44mag.com shipped free for slightly less in total than manventure (which I don't think I knew of at the time), but in greater quantities, manventure is going to be a better deal.

[ringhilt]

My personal rule for my magazine fed rifles:

3 minimum. 5 is preferred. This gives you plenty to play with and a few spares. Maybe 3 20 rounders and 2 10 rounders should do it if this is primarily a range toy and you are not doing competition or it is your go to zombie apocalypse rifle.
But I go one step further and say beyond 5 you should buy as many as you can afford simply because the politicians have a deep desire to ban these types of firearms and magazines over 10 rounds and you never know when it will happen. (unfortunately it just might happen in 2013)
I generally buy a lifetime supply for the rifles I keep and won't part with. Typically 12 magazines over 10 rounds and 2-4 10 rounders for bench work. Total of 14-16 minimum.

[R2Chief2]

Yeah, I know that now, the common answer would be "you can never have enough", but how many would you feel comfortable having for each AR or lower (future AR) in your arsenal?

EDIT: When I say how many, I mean how many total are you comfortable owning...not how many would you carry with you (that seems to me maxed out at 10 by most)

[NightCat]

....I run a plate carrier and a war belt, and I usually dont have more than 6 AR mags on that set-up.
3 on the PC, 3 on the war belt + other mags for other weapons...

I personally only have 13 AR Mags...how it got to an odd number I dont know....but if I need more than that in a civilian aspect....the shit has really hit the fan.

But yes...the more the merrier.....but what is 1 person going to do with 30 mags by themselves? besides weigh them down by 30lbs+

[R2Chief2]

....I run a plate carrier and a war belt, and I usually dont have more than 6 AR mags on that set-up.
But yes...the more the merrier.....but what is 1 person going to do with 30 mags by themselves? besides weigh them down by 30lbs+

I agree, but having 30 doesn't mean you carry them all at the same time. Mark makes a good point that they wear out/break, etc.

[MarkCO]

Point is, AR mags are disposable/replaceable items. Unless they sit in your closet, they wear out. I have thrown about 15 away in the past 10 years, Pmags and Aluminum GI. Fortunately, I started to pick up Lancer and C-Products mags in the past few years for use in the .450 BM. They work so well, about half my stock is now with steel lips.

I picked up maybe a dozen Brownells/PMags a year at matches for the past few years and had been giving them away. Kind of wish I now had all those back.

[silentshooter]

10 per rifle is what I keep as the stockpile. And that is 10 loaded mags. The others are just kept as extra stock.

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[NightCat]

I agree, but having 30 doesn't mean you carry them all at the same time. Mark makes a good point that they wear out.

..I dunno bout mags wear out.........what wears out? I've never had a magazine malfunction and some of my USGI mags I've had for...fuck knows how long...

Store them empty or loaded, but constant loading and unloading is what wears them out.

10 per rifle is what I keep as the stockpile. And that is 10 loaded mags. The others are just kept as extra stock.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

^^^ This is ideal.

I keep 6 of 13 loaded.

And I have 1 magazine of "fuck you up" ammo....72gr JHP Winchester.. home defense rounds.

While I have only 13 magazines, I have probably 20 spare mag springs and extra followers for them in case servicing is required.

PMCS :P

[Busta Prima]

You'll most likely wear out a barrel before you wear out a mag. How many extra barrels do you have?

Just playing Devil's A - I voted THIRTY!! LOL!

[MarkCO]

My ARs don't sit in the safe or closet, they get shot. Yes barrels wear out too, but not as fast as mags. When a chrome lined barrel "wears out" the group sizes start to open up, maybe 30K or so. But you don't start blowing up bullets mid-air until about 60K+. A mag won't go 60K.

Every rounds fired in an AR results in a case impacting the left or the right feedlip...with aluminum of plastic, it will eventually roll out and fail. The steel ones last almost indefinately due to the differnce in the impact force and the way materials behave.

Of my original stock of aluminm bodied AR mags from about 15 years ago, which was 10 new teflon coated mags with good internals, 6 have been thrown away. The followers, with new springs have gone into new bodies and some are still running. In October, I threw a PMag body away that started to double feed and it was about 3 years old and had about 5K rounds through it.