Second gun vs backup magazine?

I don't know of a single occasion where I'd look at my carry gun and say" you know.....this is great but instead what I'm gonna do is get a 40gr bullet going about 800fps. Make it in a tiny gun that's hard to shoot too please"

Didn't everybody get up in arms with people wanting to use a major caliber SA for CCW? Why doesnt that matter if it's a NAA?

Being armed - is a huge advantage.
Having a spare mag - is a big insurance policy.
... especially for a 6+1 micro P938/9mm/147 gr..

W/ a single stack compact Glock G36/.45 ACP/230 gr.?
...even the spare mag is optional.

If I though I'd need more than 13 rounds? - I'd have the G23.4/180 gr. w/ a spare mag for 25 rounds.
...which is GTW crazy.




GR

JDeere said:

Good luck with your plan if you ever need it. As far as standing and staring you have no clue what I do or know. I made a point that you don't seem to understand. Carry on with your plan later...

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It's not so much about having a "plan" as it is about being able to handle your weapon competently and reflexively responding to a malfunction without thinking about it. The only way you do that is with practice. Kind of like karate or martial arts training, the outcome of a situation often comes down to who had the better training/experience. Sort of like you said, LEO and Military having an edge. People who practice and train have an edge too.

I've seen people who aren't competent with firearms who in my estimation are over confident and really didn't put time or effort beyond shelling out a few $$$ for the gun, if push comes to shove, against a skilled or determined opponent, the gun won't do anything for them.

Before I retired I carried a full size auto, 2 (or more) spare mags, and a BUG. Now that I am in retirement I normally carry a full size auto, 1-2 spare mags, and sometimes a BUG. Old habits....

JDeere said:

Plan all you want and practice all the scenarios you like. The problem is you have no clue which scenario will take place and if it will even be one you planned and practice. Truth is you will have to think real fast and the fewer things you have to deal with the better. Of course if you are an LEO or were in the military you were probably taught some things to help save your ass.

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No, the problem is that if you don't have a plan - you don't have a plan.

By failing to plan, you plan to fail.

"No plan survives contact with the enemy." True. But you can't adjust your plan on the fly to a changing reality on the ground if you don't have one to begin with.

bdickens said:

No, the problem is that if you don't have a plan - you don't have a plan.

By failing to plan, you plan to fail.

"No plan survives contact with the enemy." True. But you can't adjust your plan on the fly to a changing reality on the ground if you don't have one to begin with.

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I guess my writing is not the best and one would think that I am advocating not having any kind of plan. This is not the case. I have a plan but I am prepared to deviate from it quickly and adapt quickly. I am at the range at least once a week and I know what my edc can and will do. Is there a chance it may jam of course. But I have made it a point to carry what is reliable and run ammo that brings those chances way down. Hopefully none of us will have to exercise any sort of plan any time in the future...

Sounds like we are very much on the same page and speaking the same language. The dialects just added some confusion.

Hey, its hard enough just trying to understand "Yankee", then they throw some "Dutchy" at you.

JDeere said:

I guess my writing is not the best and one would think that I am advocating not having any kind of plan. This is not the case. I have a plan but I am prepared to deviate from it quickly and adapt quickly. I am at the range at least once a week and I know what my edc can and will do. Is there a chance it may jam of course. But I have made it a point to carry what is reliable and run ammo that brings those chances way down. Hopefully none of us will have to exercise any sort of plan any time in the future...

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Gotcha.

Appreciate the clarification.

MedWheeler said:

TTv2 writes:



Yep, once you figure out what ammo it uses, and then source some (saw your thread on this gun elsewhere.)

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Turns out it's .32 S&W Long wadcutter, but .32 S&W short can still be used, just won't shoot as well.

AK103K said:

Hey, its hard enough just trying to understand "Yankee", then they throw some "Dutchy" at you.

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Well I don't have any Yankee in me. Born and raised in the south and still here. Maybe I should have thrown in some Ya'll. All good though...

I normally carry a small revolver or LCP2. Instead of carrying a speed loader or extra magazine I would be more likely to carry a second handgun.
I have carried a 38 j frame and my 41 mag while hiking. I have also carried my Bond Arms Rowdy loaded with 410 shot shells and the 38. The second handgun was for a different purpose and the 38 was my primary defense gun carried like I do every day.

memtb said:

How about both! I’ve always carried two (2) spare magazines, but just recently got a Ruger LCP II in 22 LR for a backup.....carried in an ankle holster! However, it’s somewhat obvious when wearing shorts! When winter leaves us, I’ll readdress the second carry gun location! memtb

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Same here w/the LCP - only mine is a .380.
I once rode a motorcycle decades ago & got a flat tire.....
Life lesson learned - w/out a spare, you push - and push -and push - and push.....& pushing 350 pounds of motorcycle with a flat tire is no fun.

Mechanical things can break & quite often they break right when you need them the most.

Both occasionally.

OWB strong side Glock or FN Hi Power. Spare mag in a pouch on week side.
Pocket pistol - either a snubby 38 special with speed strips or a Ruger LCP with spare mag.

If you can't get out of trouble with a few shots from your handgun then you're in the wrong fight. At the point where you need to swap mags you probably need a rifle and a partner.

All fights are "the wrong fight", and you usually don't get to choose them. You get what you get.

The whole point of carrying a realistic gun, and its accessories, is we don't know what we might get, and you try and allow for as much as you can. At least I want a gun that is capable of as much as possible and will allow me options.

Back-up guns are great, but it seems anymore, a lot of people seem to think back-up guns are "primary" guns.

Spare mag for me. Cheaper and lighter than a second weapon, and I carry enough crap on me to begin with.

I carry two magazines in addition to the one in my CCW (PPS M2), and I do not carry a BUG. I keep the pistol clean, oiled, and checked for operational performance. I do not feel a need for a second gun and prefer to be as unencumbered as possible especially if I actually got into a SD situation.

AK103K said:

All fights are "the wrong fight", and you usually don't get to choose them. You get what you get.

The whole point of carrying a realistic gun, and its accessories, is we don't know what we might get, and you try and allow for as much as you can. At least I want a gun that is capable of as much as possible and will allow me options.

Back-up guns are great, but it seems anymore, a lot of people seem to think back-up guns are "primary" guns.

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I don't disagree, however I'm borderline lazy and I like just stuffing my pistol in my pocket.
Now that I'm out of uniform the last thing I want is to go back to lugging around extra mags or a backup gun and all the rest.

Don't know what you do for a living, but there are three scenarios were an extra mag is useless.
A) Your gun becomes inoperative. Jam,. It's quicker to grab a second gun than not.
b) You've placed your primary piece out of reach (finger printing a suspect, entering a court room where the displayed piece is a no no but a back up is ok as long as it's concealed)
c) You have a second party that needs to be armed (a spouse who doesn't have a ccw) or a ride along that isn't carrying.

642 with a speedloader and speed strip. Naa Mini with CCI stingers

I think the biggest reason to carry an extra magazine is if you have a jam/failure. You can drop the mag clear the gun and reload.
A revolver failure, if pulling the trigger again doesn't work fixing the problem isn't as easy.

If you need more than five????

WisBorn said:

If you need more than five????

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Seems from more recent news stories and videos on places like Active Self Protection that bad guys, especially car jackers like to work in packs.

Sure as soon as you start shooting back they seem to bolt, but if there are 3 dudes I think I'd feel better with more than 5.

Then again, I live far away from the big cities so who knows.

JR24 said:

Seems from more recent news stories and videos on places like Active Self Protection that bad guys, especially car jackers like to work in packs.

Sure as soon as you start shooting back they seem to bolt, but if there are 3 dudes I think I'd feel better with more than 5.

Then again, I live far away from the big cities so who knows.

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We are seeing more car jackings our area. Your point is well taken.
Maybe it's time to put my XDM 45acp with a 13 round magazine in the car.

Great Scot said:

I recently noticed that my NAA .22 magnum is smaller and weighs less than the second mag I routinely carry for my regular ccw. I got me thinking, does it make more sense to carry a second smaller gun than a second mag? I know that some will say carry both, but I’ve only got so much room to carry stuff and for me, it’s going to be one or the other. Thoughts?

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Sort of presupposes that a back up gun is decided upon in fact as back-up-ammo.

In that case - and extra magazine or speed loader makes considerably more sense to me.

In the case of a back-up gun being deemed necessary - as a second *gun* - extra ammo for the primary is rather moot in a B-U-G decision.

Todd.

Nope only one gun 3 mags.
One in the weapon
2 on the belt.
I'm old, slow and have low tolerance for stupidity. I invented avoiding people long before Covidius.
So if my situational awareness fails and If
Some how If I get involved with stupid people in a stupid place, doing stupid stuff, my C Z 75B, has 18, the 2 mags 17, = 52 round. More than enough to ruin a bad guy or guys day.