How Many Reloads?

[AlexanderA]

I'm not asking if you use reloaded ammunition

But the way the question was phrased, that's precisely what it sounded like you were asking. At least I initially took it that way.

"Reloads" sound like handloaded ammunition. Which itself is an issue in defensive carrying.

What you mean is extra ammunition, beyond the initial capacity of the gun.

 

[WrongHanded]

A little more on why I would carry more in the wilderness, or significantly farther from home.

There's no one I can rely on to help me in the wilderness except for myself. Help is far away and hard to contact. Therefore it could be possible that I may have to defend myself on more than one occasion before reaching safety. This is unlikely of course, but possible. If for example a person stumbled onto a meth lab (unlikely as that is where I live due to the terrain), there's the potential of surviving one engagement, and then having to deal with a second one if you are discovered and pursued by the original aggressor's partners.

The farther I am from home, the less familiar I am with the territory. It would be entirely possible to end up accidentally putting myself in a bad spot in a bad neighborhood. Gangland (as another example) is not a place to run out of ammo. Again, unlikely, but so is needing to use lethal force to begin with.

 

[The Night Rider]

A little more on why I would carry more in the wilderness, or significantly farther from home.

There's no one I can rely on to help me in the wilderness except for myself. Help is far away and hard to contact. Therefore it could be possible that I may have to defend myself on more than one occasion before reaching safety. This is unlikely of course, but possible. If for example a person stubbled onto a meth lab (unlikely as that is where I live due to the terrain), there's the potential of surviving one engagement, and then having to deal with a second one if you are discovered and pursued by the original aggressor's partners.

The farther I am from home, the less familiar I am with the territory. It would be entirely possible to end up accidentally putting myself in a bad spot in a bad neighborhood. Gangland (as another example) is not a place to run out of ammo. Again, unlikely, but so is needing to use lethal force to begin with.

I mean, that's quite logical

 

[Old Dog]

Double pouch with two 15-round magazines on the left flank OWB when packing a 12+1 SIG P-365XL; with the P-228 or P-229 with 15+1 in the pistol, a single OWB mag pouch with an 18-rounder onboard. Just a matter of weight and size of the packages on the belt, how the body's feeling, whether I'll be doing anything physical. Always a spare mag in the vehicle. I try not to overthink things.

 

[The Night Rider]

I try not to overthink things.

I would over think making a PB&J

 

[Simple Shooter]

15+1 Sig P229SAO. No spare mag. Very comfortable with round count and reliability.

 

[entropy]

One spare mag for each gun. (I carry the .380 all the time, 9mm sometimes.)

 

[P5 Guy]

Yes, my reload for my EDC Glock 26 is a 17 round Glock magazine.
For a total of 27 rounds

 

[CDW4ME]

I always carry a spare mag, reload.
Why? Though the OP did not request it, my reasoning is getting shared anyway*.
Location? Nope. Location not factored.
Anticipated threat? Nope. I'm not a psychic.
Expect to run out of ammo? Very unlikely; I've never "needed" a single bullet and typically have at least 16 rounds before slide lock.
In case of malfunction? Bingo.

*Other people need to see it (my infallible logic), even if they choose to ignore it.

Dude, you post the same 4 or 5 standard responses all over the internet (Except for Defensive Carry). Everyone has already seen it multiple times

Dude, I posted a similar reply on this forum yesterday and it was directly applicable to the thread.
I answered your question and explained my rationale, which I think is important.
Do you carry a reload, how many, is not as useful as knowing why, IMO.
For example, someone working in a NPE may do well just to carry a handgun and no reload, that their carry is limited by work is relevant.
How did the replies you received on DC compare to here?

 

[fastbolt]

A little more on why I would carry more in the wilderness, or significantly farther from home. ...

This is something I discovered when I found myself in work areas that often put any help and cover 30-60 minutes away. I had to carry what I might need while waiting for extended help.

Then, much of the rural roads I preferred to travel for my solo motorcycle riding presented much the same concerns, from my perspective. Combine that with the possible difference in the type and source of threat(s) that might come along when civilized environs were left behind, and I wanted to hedge things a little more in my potential favor. FWIW, I tend to look at road trips in our cars in a similar manner, since there's often a lot of mountain and other rural freeway and highway miles involved.

Just making a sojourn over the hill to enjoy some time in my cigar club? Not quite so isolated, with different SO, PD and CHP units very visible on a regular basis. Also, the areas through which I travel are better understood (and familiar) for the possible threats that may occur in them. Being able to meet other retired and active LE guys and gals in the area helps keep me abreast of activities and possible risks, as well.

Granted, there are still times when I eschew a minimal single spare mag/speedstrip, and go back to carrying more, but that's the result of keeping a finger on the pulse of current events in where I hang out, and the habits leftover from my career ... or, simply because I feel like doing so, and the extra presence of them on my belt/hips doesn't aggravate the older hot spots left over from a few decades of wearing IWB/OWB holsters and mag carriers.

When it comes right down to it, though, my primary concern is still centered on what my range drills and occasional qual sessions (LEOSA and retirement needs) reveal about my ability to make the first 1-3 rounds accurately and hopefully effectively placed. Horse before the cart.

 

[The Night Rider]

Dude, I posted a similar reply on this forum yesterday and it was directly applicable to the thread.
I answered your question and explained my rationale, which I think is important.
Do you carry a reload, how many, is not as useful as knowing why, IMO.
For example, someone working in a NPE may do well just to carry a handgun and no reload, that their carry is limited by work is relevant.
How did the replies you received on DC compare to here?

Let me say this a different way, I was asking a very specific question.

I don't need to be convinced that I should carry a reload.

What I was looking for was how people decided how many reloads they were going to carry.

 

[Tinker-S]

Yes, when I was working I carried 2 or 3 and maybe a bug with a speed strip. Since I’ve retired there is zero chance that I might have to take any action such as assist an on duty officer.

I live a pretty boring life these days. I live in a very rural area and I don’t often leave my property.

Living the dream!

 

[old lady new shooter]

Dude, you post the same 4 or 5 standard responses all over the internet (Except for Defensive Carry). Everyone has already seen it multiple times

Not everybody spends all their time reading multiple gun forums. This is the first time I'm seeing his response.

Thanks for your reasoning @CDW4ME.

 

[Coyote3855]

Back and forth from my rural property to 20 hours a week volunteer gig in town, just a G19 15+1. On the rare occasions I travel out of the area, one magazine on my belt and one in my backpack.

 

[herrwalther]

If space allows, I carry one spare magazine. It is unlikely I will need all the rounds in my loaded magazine and my spare. But the magazine is the weakest mechanical part of a semi-auto pistol. So in the event of a malfunction, I train to swap magazines if the malfunction can't be handled with immediate action: rack/bang. It is less about the number of rounds in the magazine and more about the magazine itself.

 

[25-5]

Series 70 - no
Baby Chief - no

 

[Steve in PA]

My primary semi-auto carry is a Glock 26 (10+1) with a spare 10 round magazine.

When I’m carrying my S&W 642 5-round revolver, most times I’ll carry two 5-round speed strips in a pouch on my belt.

 

[wayneinFL]

A little more on why I would carry more in the wilderness, or significantly farther from home.

There's no one I can rely on to help me in the wilderness except for myself. Help is far away and hard to contact. Therefore it could be possible that I may have to defend myself on more than one occasion before reaching safety. This is unlikely of course, but possible. If for example a person stumbled onto a meth lab (unlikely as that is where I live due to the terrain), there's the potential of surviving one engagement, and then having to deal with a second one if you are discovered and pursued by the original aggressor's partners.

The farther I am from home, the less familiar I am with the territory. It would be entirely possible to end up accidentally putting myself in a bad spot in a bad neighborhood. Gangland (as another example) is not a place to run out of ammo. Again, unlikely, but so is needing to use lethal force to begin with.

Weird things can happen in the wilderness.

I had an uncle who lived in the middle of nowhere. He'd fire a shotgun at a car going down the road if it looked suspicious. I've had friends who were shot at while hunting. I've had friends shot at while working on cell sites. I had a coworker who, years ago, couldn't get in the inlet one night. He apparently interrrupted a drug runner- somebody was on the beach shooting at him with a rifle whenever he got within range.

I don't expect anything like this would happen to me. I don't rule it out, though. If I'm traveling through rural areas or camping, I usually have a rifle in the trunk, in the boat, or in camp.

 

[Elkins45]

It varies. Ironically the guns I carry that would most likely need a reload (small pocket carry) are the ones I don’t. There’s no place to put it.

IWB carry frees up room in a pocket for a spare.

A shoulder holster gives me a couple of mag pouches and the extra ammo weight is a good counterbalance.

 

[Ru4real]

17 reloads.

My gun reloads automatically. I shoot once, and it automatically reloads another round that’s ready to go if I want to shoot again.

 

[nettlle]

I'm strictly asking questions here.

1. Do you carry a Reload? If you don't or you do I don't care why I just want to know if you do or not. Yes

2. If you carry a Reload how many do you carry? Why you picked that number would be relevant. Two mags. 8 each

3. Does the number of reloads that you're going to carry vary? no

This question is kind of specific. If say for instance you would carry a revolver and two speed loaders for a total of 18 but you would carry a glock 19 and no reload because that's 15 that's one thing. I don't carry a Glock or revolver.

The question I'm asking specifically is given THE GUN YOU NORMALLY CARRY* would you carry one reload in one place and five reloads in another place and zero loads in yet another place? no

4. How do you decide how many reloads you're going to carry? Again I'm not so much asking if your decision would be based on changing guns. Given the same gun if you carry a different number of reloads how do you make that decision? What's comfortable to carry

* I changed the BOLD text to make the guesting as generic as possible.

 

[Phaedrus/69]

I almost always carry at least one full reload for whatever I'm carrying. That would be at least one spare mag for an auto or a speed strip for my Ruger LCRx.

 

[Shawn Dodson]

I usually carry one spare magazine for "just in case", regardless of the pistol's capacity.

There could be a stoppage, or I may have to shoot more than one full magazine, or the magazine release could have been unexpectedly activated allowing the magazine to fall out of the pistol when I draw, etc....

 

[The Night Rider]

Same author as "A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn." ? I might have to look at that.

Thanks and prayers for a positive outcome

 

[murf]

i carry this all the time: the pistol, holster and one reload in the left front pocket, the other reload in the right front pocket.

i carry a full-size gun owb when clothing permits.

murf