Minimum Number of Magazines?

If there is no such thing as a high-capacity magazine, then there is no such thing as a neutered magazine.

Do you use all of the mags you have? If so, six might be a good number.

I'd only purchase magazines though for guns that see a lot of use. If they all do, kudos.

I Keep 5 magazines each as a minimum. My P90 has twelve magazines!

More for rifles than for pistols.

I look at it in terms of: If I need to shoot 200 rounds and have the time to swap magazines, I'd rather do it with a rifle than a handgun. If all I've got is a handgun, then I probably didn't have the foresight to carry 10 magazines with me since I didn't think I'd need a rifle either.

If it were time to answer the call and you had to muster on the Green with your gear at a minute's notice, would you be the guy showing up with a pistol and a dozen mags, but only 4 for your long gun? Or, vice-versa with a dozen for the long gun and a couple for your pistol?

Any long gun in my safe that would be suitable for militia use gets at least enough magazines to load up between 200 and 300 rounds of ammunition. Even my Mosin 91/30 has 30 stripper clips for it and a belt pouch to keep 30 rounds immediately handy.

I have inexpensive magazine carriers, old cloth surplus things for now that cost me about $3 a piece, that allow me to carry a dozen magazines on my person. I'll upgrade as funds allow, but I at least know I can carry those magazines and make them useful if need be.

My full size pistols get at least 4 magazines. Day to day if carrying a full sized auto I typically don't carry any reloads or I might carry 1 spare mag. I have mag carriers for my belt to potentially carry all 4 if needed though. Again, this is "muster on the Green" or other imminent danger that has to be faced down rather than avoided.

I have at least 4 for every gun I have.

4 each for everything (this has stopped me from purchasing some otherwise good bargain guns) - 10 or more for guns I shoot in competition or training.

Joe

Depends on the gun and what the purpose I bought it for. Also depends on whether the mags will fit multiple guns (like M1911s and AR family guns)

I have multiple handguns in M1911 Govt and Commander sizes and I have prolly 20+ mags for all of them. For other pistols, I have 4-8. For .22lr plinkers and collection pistols I don't have more than the 2 that came in the box.

For battle rifles that use the same mags, like my ARs and Daewoo DR200, I have 20 mags. My M1A I have 5.

5 for your pistol, 15 for each of your rifles. different folks different strokes... considering mags are the biggest cause for weapons malfunction besides human error, i'd rather have a few extra than be left needing!

at least four

As many as I can fit into the gun budget. But onto a more realistic answer.

In a perfect world, I'd want at least 6 for each gun.

92FS = 25. This is my primary carry, competition, and plinking gun.
P2000 = 15. Got a good deal for buying a bunch at once.
Hunting rifles = 1 each.
AR = 15. Pick one or two up every now and then.
J Frame Smith = 1 Speedloader, but it's a recent acquisition and I intend to remedy that.

Any other handgun = 2-5, but unless it's a firearm for IDPA or carry, I really don't care. For a carry pistol, I like having 1 or two in the car, a couple in the bugout bag, a handful in the range bag, and a couple for carry with the gun.

I aim to have a minimum of three magazines per firearm, and might get more if I happen to find good deals on them.

There is no "absolute" number to have.

I have at least 10 for each of my fighting weapons, and usually at least 5 for my non fighting weapons.

Revolvers I normally have at least 6 HKS speed loaders for each type revolver. i.e. J, K, & L frames.

My fighting rifles I have at least 20 "quality" magazines.

Now my competition weapons I usually have enough magazines so as to not needing to reload during a normal club match. (Note: I will normally be carrying CCW what ever type action I compete with. I don't like to mix actions. I don't want to get confused at an inopportune time.) i.e. Compete with a Glock 34 and carry a Glock 19.

Or compete as I do, compete with a Kimber Warrior, and carry a Colt Gunsite Pistol for CCW.

It is always better to have a few to many, than not enough. Went through that during the 94 ban. Never again.

With the election coming up, if the socialist wins, don't get caught short. If the Socialist does win, don't be surprised by a run on hi cap magazines.

Just my way.

Good luck. (and don't forget to vote, remember in 2000 in Florida, It came down to 160 folks+/-)

Fred

wow, i guess i am way understocked! i only have 2 per gun. except for my 22 mag rifle, and 22 pistol they have 3 each. why do you guys have so many? personally, i like to let the gun cool down occasionally. i understand if you competitivly shoot. but for normal shooting, and target practice, what is the advantage? i shoot a mag, pop it out, slide the new one in and leave the slide open while i load the other. gives the gun a chance to cool down.

wow, i guess i am way understocked! i only have 2 per gun. except for my 22 mag rifle, and 22 pistol they have 3 each. why do you guys have so many? personally, i like to let the gun cool down occasionally. i understand if you competitivly shoot. but for normal shooting, and target practice, what is the advantage? i shoot a mag, pop it out, slide the new one in and leave the slide open while i load the other. gives the gun a chance to cool down.

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It ain't about shooting all those mags at one time. Even when I shot a 1000 round endurance match with one of my Kimber Warriors, I only used 7 of my 39 magazines. Now if I am shooting at my club a Steel Challenge, I usually am carrying 24-28 loaded magazines. When I compete with my Glock 34 I usually have 13 magazines loaded with +5 extensions on all of them.

The other reason is that if you do shoot a lot, your magazines will wear out. Many can be rebuilt, but some should be tossed. A magazine is a consumable item.

Also it is apparent you were not bothered by the 1994 AWB that restricted any magazines manufactured after 1994 to 10 rounds. Many of us were.

For fighting and defense a 'mess' of loaded magazines is usually comforting, and on rare occasion may be necessary.

Think about if one of the two magazines on one of your weapons cracked. I have seen it with many different manufacturers. Then toss it. But at times it has been hard to replace them. Let's just say experience tells me best to have a few more than I need, rather than to have not quite enough. In my life "STUFF HAPPENS". In fact after 60 years, "STUFF STILL HAPPENS".

Go figure.

Fred

At least 1.

As magazines are something that I collect, I have a few odd ones.

But my general rule is, no less than 6 magazines for actual use for every weapon. I try to keep it at 10, and for some weapons I get to 20 or more, but considering the higher cost of handgun magazines, 6 has become my more realistic number.

I have 10 Glock 31rd 9mm magazines (the +2 baseplates were replaced with magpul rangerplates) primarily for my Kel-Tec Sub2000.

I have 6 Glock 17rd 9mm magazines (also with ranger plates), for the Glock 17L I bought as companion for the Sub2000.

I have 12 Maglevel Pmags for my XCR and PLR-16. Ranger plates for those as well.

I have 20 Aluminum 20rd G3 magazines.

6 Magazines for my Kel-Tec PF-9.

I have 10 factory 12rd mags for my USP45 Tactical.

Those are the mags I keep for actual use. As part of my collection, I have:

1 Beta-C 5.56 drum with AR-15 interface.

1 MWG 90rd AR-15 drum

1 Allied Armament 50rd drum for the G3

2 Promag 20rd mags for the USP45

2 HK 10rd USP45 mags

1 National Magazine 100rd AR-15 mag (this thing is hilarious just to think about )

1 Lancer AR-15 mag

1 Cammenga Ar-15 EZ-mag

1 Magpul 20rd Pmag

4 USGI 20rd AR-15 mags

4 USGI 30rd AR-15 mags

1 USGI 40rd AR-15 mag

1 Thermold AR-15 mag

1 HK SA80 AR-15 mag

2 30rd steel mags for the G3

1 5rd PSG-1 style G3 mag

How many do you need?

As many as you want. If you attend shooting courses, then take 10. This keeps you from having to stuff magazines all the time.

But...if there are bans on regular capacity magazines, then you may want to stock up. I also recommend you buy spare bases, springs and followers.

G17 -- 10
92FS -- 2
BuckMark -- 4
AR -- 21
Marlin 925 -- 1

why do you guys have so many? personally, i like to let the gun cool down occasionally. i understand if you competitivly shoot. but for normal shooting, and target practice, what is the advantage?

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My state had a bill pending that would outlaw magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. I'd have no way to replace them (legally) without moving, so that's why I have a lot. Fortunately, the bill stalled and is pretty much dead now, but it got close.

P.S. I forgot to add that I have six mags for an AK, and I don't have an AK.

I like four as a minimum for handguns - one in the gun and one spare for carrying and two more for shooting practice, to be rotated so as not to concentrate usage and wear on any one mag.

Oh, and in addition to numbers of mags, let me (again) advocate MARKING your mags individually so you can tell one mag apart from another.

That way you can tell which ones are starting to wear out, or when dealing with surplus rifle mags, can tell which ones were defective/damaged from the start when you get them.

And to make doubly sure I know which mags are mine, I number my mags... in Chinese characters.

I try to have at least four spares, plus one with the gun which means at least five is what I try to have for every gun. However enough mags to load 100 rounds at once before I head to the range is my preference, so I can spend my time shooting instead of stuffing mags in our high heat and humidity.

--wally.

I would like to have 6 to 8.

For a defensive carry pistol, at least one spare magazine is essential -- the primary cause of failures in automatics is the magazine.

For rifles, I have a few with detatchable magazines -- mostly .22s (including .22 Hornet.) I only have one magazine for each of these rifles.