How many magazines, first time gun owner

Magazines are a wear item/disposable. They are the source of most problems and should be numbered and repaired or replaced if problems start. I wish I would’ve bit the bullet and bought 10 packs to save money instead of 1 at a time. I own mostly Glocks which have the advantage of low priced magazines.

For home defense or societal collapse type weapons:

Handgun and rifle: 5-10 mags

For a range gun, it depends on how much you want to shoot. I keep 2 mags for my little 22 pistol, 2 for my XD, and maybe 5 for my 1911. For my work 1911 I have 10 mags and carry 5 on me. I rarely shoot semiautos outside of work, as I hate chasing and losing brass.

I shoot a lot of revolver, so I keep rounds loose. For ccw I carry revolvers, with extra rounds in speed strips and/or a New York reload (extra revolver). For my hunting rifles, either 1 or a blind mag (internal mag).

Mars5l said:

Started this hobby in early March, so im late to the party. I have 10 firearms currently. I was watching a YouTube video from a smaller channel, it was basically what to buy before the election part whatever "magazines". Now he went on to recommend getting a magazine for whatever firearm you have every time you stop into a gun store. Part of his reasoning is due to possible actions with background in previous bans. Now im not really wanting to get to big into that discussion. But as a new gun owner how many magazines is needed for each firearm that you own?

Most of my hand guns I own 5 or 6 for each one except my Zastava M57 and my new Sig P365. With those 2 to me, the Zastava is a range toy and I have to order magazines online to even get them, the P365 will be my carry, I only need a enough to practice and test as it won't be a dedicated range gun. Im getting an AR in the near future, I've already bought 4 30rd Pmags for it, I'll get a couple more but that's about 200 rds ready to go. How many more do I need for a range day where I bring a few firearms? Other than it saves a little time at the range since I won't have to reload the magazines as much. Is my thought process wrong?

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Join the NRA. Take a class.

I am not "comfortable" with any new gun until I have around 10. Now for those that are over 10 rounds? Then it's of course more as they are forever wanting to do away with them again. Like so many things the normal person is never going to wear one out if properly cared for. If you use them enough the spring may have to be replaced some day but even that seems hard to do. I have some 1911 mags that are older than me that never cause a problem. So lay in some when you can. Bad time of course to try now. So if you want them at "normal price" you would have to really shop around for many now. The one downside to the full capacity that are over 10 is the law may one day just tell you to give them up. So many gun owners either don't care or just keep their head in the sand as new laws keep going in. So you have to think about that when buying them. That one day the place you live may just pass a law that tells you, you can't have them any more.

its proportionate to how you feel about using limited mags. Its also an issue if they are limited production, or hard to get. I have seen some 1911's have their extractors give out, and pull empty cases into the magazine, and distort the feedway severely, which is a problem with GI type mags that are only sold by a few online retailers, and frequently out of stock.
Pmags are the only magazine I have ever seen damaged from normal use, BUT ONLY with reloaded ammunition that was not tumbled. If you plan to reload, either plan to clean up burrs left by the extractor, use steel/aluminum mags, or get some extra Pmags.
For what its worth, 10 seems to be the magic number, so if you don't mind 10 rounds you wont need many. The mentality of the people who want to go lower than 10 is such that there will likely be no ex post facto provision, and you will be told you can't keep what you already have, such as what N.Y. did.
A good way to look at it, make an estimate on how many round it will take to wear out a mag, and buy enough mags to wear out the firearm. This can be difficult to estimate, but there are some figures out there for common mags.

I like 10.
Some I have 10 I use and 10 spare new . If I need one I'll take a new one and buy one to replace it. I don't throw my old mags out either, if I were ever to need to rebuild them , I will.
I don't have 10 + 10 for every bottom feeder I own but I aspire to. Mags last if you take care of them and springs are replaceable .

I live in Colorado. No one here ever thought the magazine ban would pass, even the Governor said it was a pointless law. Then some political things happened and suddenly our Governor was all for it. Now we have capacity restrictions.

If I were you I would stop buying guns and start stocking up on magazines and ammunition and I would do it before November. I can't tell you how many, I know people who own hundreds of AR magazines. I read an article by Tamara Keel where she talked about having cases of AR magazines that she hadn't even opened yet. That seems a little extreme to me my minimum is 15 per gun, if I can afford more I buy them.

For ammunition there is no upper limit I buy as much as I can reasonably afford.

I was supposed to keep count? Dammit, nobody told me! I just grab a few whenever the urge strikes and I'm near some place that has them. I doubt I will last through a firefight big enough to cause me to empty the loaded mags I have, much less load the others. But in the spirit of things here, at least 10 for a rifle, and at least 6 for a pistol. Why 6? One IN the sidearm, two loaded spares on me, two backup spares to replace any damaged ones and one dedicated range mag, but that's just me and I am an expert in absolutely nothing - just ask my wife, she'll tell ya!

Well I'm a little long in the tooth compared to many members here and I've been through several ban periods and other political issues that made me a believer in having lots of mags. I have about 150 for my ARs, probably 60 each for my 1911 and M9 pistols, and a lot of mags for every other firearm I own including .22 rifles. Mags as Hartkopf said are expendable and they do wear out, get bent, stepped on, etc., and they do have a lifespan. I remember getting a note from someone one day with a quote that a weapon without a magazine is basically just a club. My advice? Watch for deals on mags and buy all you can afford to buy. Go to gun shows and horse trade for mil surp mags if that's what you need. They aren't getting any cheaper over time, and looking forward, they may get very expensive sooner than later.

Hartkopf said:

Magazines are a wear item/disposable.

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Interesting that you would say that. Some antigunners are under the mistaken impression that magazines are for one-time use, and that therefore if they ban them, they will quickly disappear.

I don't consider quality magazines to be at all disposable. When you pay $50 for a magazine (what Sig charges for their P320 mags), you expect them to last.

AlexanderA said:

Interesting that you would say that. Some antigunners are under the mistaken impression that magazines are for one-time use, and that therefore if they ban them, they will quickly disappear.

I don't consider quality magazines to be at all disposable. When you pay $50 for a magazine (what Sig charges for their P320 mags), you expect them to last.

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I have never been able to "wear out" one yet. I have had some ultra cheapo ones that would not hold up well to things like being stepped on and such but, have yet to have any name brand ones just stop working. Some of my 1911 mags are from LONG before I was born. Not exactly sure how anyone who "wears one out" has managed to do so. My first hand gun I bought myself was on original Ruger .22. Came with a couple mags. It was well worn when I bought it. By the time I got done running about a box car worth of ammo through it the finish was almost gone from the pistol and the mags that came with it. The guy who talked me out of it was shooting it for a long time after and last I heard it's still cranking along. The spring could lose it's "spring" from enough use but even that I have yet to manage to do.

Mars5l said:

StBut as a new gun owner how many magazines is needed for each firearm that you own?

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I'm not comfortable until I have at least 6 magazines for each magazine-fed semiauto firearm I own. For guns with standard magazines that hold more than 10 rounds, I would probably buy a few more.

Hartkopf said:

Magazines are a wear item/disposable.

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I've got a box of Glock 17 mags that I bought before the previous federal "high capacity" magazine ban in the 90s. That makes then all 20-25 years old and they all still work flawlessly.

I'd say at least 5 spare if they are unusually expensive, with 10 the goal for everything else.

If we're talking something like AR or AK mags, maybe double that?
.
You're probably going to want another flavor of AR or AK (and then there's pistol versions!), and "hi-cap" mags are particularly vulnerable to bans.

The '94 AWB wasn't that long ago, and prices for "hi cap" magazines got kind of silly. And then look at Colorado.

Instead of thinking "enough for now", maybe you should be thinking "lifetime supply" since it isn't really that much.

Why is your 365 not a range gun? You should train with your EDC more than any other weapon you own. I have Pocket guns and Micro 9's that get frequent and diligent range time. I set my goal to have a dozen magazines for each gun. I make sure my Carry magazines are new and perform flawlessly and then rotate them out.

I like a minimum of at least 6 magazines per pistol and 10 per rifle.

You know...the more, the merrier!

I used to work at a small mom and pop sporting good store that sold firearms. The owner had a 10x10 room full of magazines. I’m not kidding, the room was full from floor to ceiling with only a small patch of floor space for the door to open. That is 800 cubic feet of magazines.

I guess he used to have triple that many. He started collecting them in the early nineties maniacally because of future political worries. Well then AWB 94 hit. The story goes he sold the 2/3 he had over the course of the AWB and made enough money to expand the business from a small 900 square foot building into the current 9000 square foot building.

Not saying everyone should magpie a bunch of magazines but it just shows how powerful political change can be economically.

As for me, I like about 5 per firearm.

AlexanderA said:

Interesting that you would say that. Some antigunners are under the mistaken impression that magazines are for one-time use, and that therefore if they ban them, they will quickly disappear.

I don't consider quality magazines to be at all disposable. When you pay $50 for a magazine (what Sig charges for their P320 mags), you expect them to last.

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I understand what you're saying but magazines are generally considered to be a consumable item. They do wear out and they do break and they do need replacement

I'm happy with 6 handgun mags for most.
Ar/ak I've enough.
Fn fal sufficient.
M1a need more.

Svt40. Both arms and 3 kidneys each.

Jack Ryan said:

Join the NRA. Take a class.

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Great idea! Weasel-esque Wayne doesn’t have enough suits or Mercedes!

Now, since you obviously missed the original post, how many magazines would be a good number to have for that class?

(Looking for a number, don’t even need to explain it really, but that would help.)

Like @bannockburn and @Obturation, I like ten as a minimum for an AR. Ten would be nice, but completely unnecessary for a Remington 760, so the firearm and what you plan to do with it sets the goal, like Jack alludes to, but didn’t complete the thought.

If I take a thousand round class I would need 34 magazines, at the minimum. I would also take three extra to avoid having to mess with one if it gets damaged or jammed or whatever, so I could concentrate on the class.

792mauser said:

Svt40. Both arms and 3 kidneys each.

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So just the one then...

Mars5l said:

Started this hobby in early March, so im late to the party. I have 10 firearms currently.

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If it's just a hobby to you (which is fine, it's a free-ish country), get however many you feel like you need. Doesn't really matter. I consider ownership and training with certain firearms to be a critically important part of being a responsible, free adult, far beyond just a hobby. If that's what you believe, then having "enough" magazines becomes more important.

Mars5l said:

I was watching a YouTube video from a smaller channel, it was basically what to buy before the election part whatever "magazines". Now he went on to recommend getting a magazine for whatever firearm you have every time you stop into a gun store. Part of his reasoning is due to possible actions with background in previous bans. Now im not really wanting to get to big into that discussion. But as a new gun owner how many magazines is needed for each firearm that you own?

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In many cases, magazines at gun stores are insanely expensive. Back before this current Charlie Foxtrot started, AR mags at my LGS cost almost 6 times as much as they did from a gun show or mail ordered/online. Be sure to shop around (although your selection right now will be extremely limited).

Mars5l said:

Most of my hand guns I own 5 or 6 for each one except my Zastava M57 and my new Sig P365. With those 2 to me, the Zastava is a range toy and I have to order magazines online to even get them, the P365 will be my carry, I only need a enough to practice and test as it won't be a dedicated range gun.

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Again, if shooting is purely a hobby for you, none of this matters. If it's more important than that, your carry gun should be getting most of your attention at the range.

Mars5l said:

Im getting an AR in the near future, I've already bought 4 30rd Pmags for it, I'll get a couple more but that's about 200 rds ready to go. How many more do I need for a range day where I bring a few firearms? Other than it saves a little time at the range since I won't have to reload the magazines as much. Is my thought process wrong?

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It's not "wrong", it's just hobbyist thinking, which, again, isn't terrible, it's just not the same mindset as someone who views guns as critically important tools. You have to decide which one you are.

For just a basic, short answer, I'd say at least 50 mags for your AR and 15 for each fighting handgun, minimum. Range toys don't matter.

Mars5l said:

But as a new gun owner how many magazines is needed for each firearm that you own?

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Depends on what kind of gun and what its intended use is.

In military terms the "dose of fire" was six full magazines back when I served, plus three magazines for officers' handguns. For a personal EBR it might be a good idea to have twice that. In terms of guns that are shot a lot (practical disciplines etc.) a couple of dozen should go a long way. There's nothing wrong with hoarding either, depending on when the next attempt at banning regular capacity magazines is going to take place.

Personally I have crates of magazines for some utilitarian rifle types like AR in .223 and .308, and Sako/Valmet/AK. Most of them have just accumulated since the 80's whenever they've been on sale somewhere. I also have several magazines for each of some handguns (Para double stack 10mm/.40, Caspian double stack 9mm, 1911 single stack .45 and 10mm, CZ/Jericho 9mm, Beretta 92F, HK P7, Glock 9mm etc.) Target and hunting rifles and handguns have 3-5 magazines each.

IMO I have way more magazines that I'll ever get to use. It feels borderline ridiculous when I think about it. If I was to start over, I'd probably concentrate in quality, get a dozen or so for each EBR, 3-4 for most used/carried handguns and hunting rifles and call it a day. Situations where you really have use for several dozens of magazines without having plenty of time to re-fill them are unlikely, to say the least. It also takes quite a bit of effort to wear out a magazine and the ones I've managed to bang up so bad that they're rendered unusable are few and far between.

AlexanderA said:

Interesting that you would say that. Some antigunners are under the mistaken impression that magazines are for one-time use, and that therefore if they ban them, they will quickly disappear.

I don't consider quality magazines to be at all disposable. When you pay $50 for a magazine (what Sig charges for their P320 mags), you expect them to last.

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Right everybody has a little different view that's why I said "repair or replace." I consider magazines to be somewhat disposable. A $20 Glock mag might be worth replacing if damaged. If a $50 Sig magazine got damaged I would attempt to repair it. If damage never occurs then they should last 30 years plus with nothing but spring changes and even then, springs can possibly last a life time.

Minimum =10
But I'm old and have a head start on most of you.
Last count = 19 1911 mags

10 for a rifle and 5 or 6 for a pistol is a good starting point. More if you can afford and store them. Lots and lots of ammo.

WB