how many rounds will a guy need?? urban combat...

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tasco 74

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i have wondering lately about how many rounds i a guy would have to have on him if the worse comes to worse..... i have my revolver and 2 speed loaders at the ready but i was thinking of getting some kind of nylon bag to keep several rounds in too..... i don't own a high capacity 9mm auto so 18 rounds is all i can get to easy right now..... the vid they have been showing on the tube with all the bullets flying in the bar was kind of revealing... (27 rounds fired or something and no body hit)....... looked like there were at least 4 shooters....... i would hope i could put down most threats with one or two shots as i'm not a gang banger or a spray and prayer... thoughts???????????????????????

LIFE IS SHORT.....
 
Statistically you're not likely to fire more than 3-4 rounds in a typical self defense scenario.

Of course there's nothing typical about the typical self defense scenario so I imagine even if you only end up firing 3-4 rounds you're going to feel better with more.

Its very rare for someone to run out of ammo in an urban self defense shooting situation, but it can happen.

I say carry as much ammo as you can comfortably carry. For me that's 10+1 in the gun and a spare 10rd mag in the pocket. Any more than that would start to become uncomfortable.



If you're really worried about "Urban Combat" than follow Jeff Cooper's thinking and use your handgun to fight your way to your rifle ... an AR in the trunk of your car with a half dozen or so 30 rounders should suffice :)
 
Knowing what the “typical” or "average" scenario is doesn’t tell you a thing about what you’ll run into. You have no idea what'll happen, so prepare for something about 3 times as bad as anything you’ve ever heard of. That’s your starting point.

Odds are, it’ll be a short fight with zero to almost zero notice. Range will be arms length to 10 feet. One to two assailants. Everyone involved will be moving in unpredictable ways.

But, it might not be that way at all. There may only be one BG. There may be six. You may see it coming and have time to get ready, take cover, call for help, get the hell out of the area. Or not.
One thing's for sure; "average" won't matter at all.

Bad guys plan their fights to give them all the advantage and give you the shaft. They don’t plan their fights based on civilian defensive shooting statistics like number of shots fired, at what distances, location or anything else that will help with your planning.

Since you can’t plan on the BG’s actions, give yourself the best chance you can by carrying the gun(s) you can fight with the best. You might love .45s (I do), but be able to do your best shooting with a Glock 17 (I do). Don’t fit your gun to your clothes, fit your clothes to your choice of fighting gun. Don’t carry a .32 just because it’s comfortable. Don’t carry anything in a way that requires two hands to get it into action. Be prepared for the really bad stuff. Planning for the wrong part of the statistical curve can get you killed.

In the entire history of gunfighting, there has never been a case where one of the shooters wished he had a smaller gun that held fewer rounds of less powerful ammo.
 
The pat answer is "enough to stop the threat". As Z and J have pointed out, there's no good way of knowing how much that is in advance.

As one long-time revolver guy to another, I can tell you how I gamble; it's mostly the same solution as yours. M65 S&W with 2 HKS loaders, as well as one of those 6-loop spare ammo holders designed for a belt, but typically floating around in a bag or coat pocket or something.

Basically, the extra 6 rounds are just because it's flat and easy to carry; Frankly, If I need more than one extra re-load, I figure that I'm probably hunkered down behind something and the belt slot spares are better than no extras beyond the 2 HKS speedloaders.

But in all likelihood (aside from the obvious unlikely SD shooting event in the first place), even the HKS loaders are more for a tactical recharge after the initial incident is over than the probability of a running fight.

JMO.
 
Urban combat?

Where are you going that you are apt to be involved in urban combat? Downtown Baghdad?

Where do you live that it's legal to carry a gun in a bar? Why would you even GO to a bar if you thought you had to carry a gun?

This one is IMHO perilously close to not making the 'reality' bar here...

lpl
 
you really cant get a good idea of how much ammunition to carry until your in the hospital or jail cell giving a detective your version of what happened.

To get some idea of the variations of "gang is attacking me" you have to look at what gets on news shows. I remember from a few years ago a news segment on gangs in los angeles having a fight. each side had about 20 people in it, and all were beating and knifingthe crap out of the other side. Ive seen articles where gang initiations involving a mere 3-6 people in a single car going around knifing people.
Its completely random so preperation is avoiding this kind of event.
 
How many rounds???

...I've worked beside cops who carried a 5-shot .38 and never fired it once in 25 years...and a rookie who killed three times in two years...known some who carried no extra ammo, and some who had over 50 rounds on them at all times...it's as individual a choice as what kind of ice cream you like...and as for citizens...the same....as a citizen not a cop, I carry close to 50 rounds on my person all day...effortlessly...just my choice...I've never had to fire one round on duty or off the force...I'd say as an ex-training officer that my advice to my rookies was good...they've all had long careers and retired safely...never heard of one of them firing a shot...it just makes sense to me that a person who doesn't have a partner, a radio to yell for help on,...might just, were he to get into a gunfight, need more ammo than a beat cop...because help might be longer arriving...how much more??? You'll have to decide for you...but the best thing is to be aware, use your head, stay out of places where trouble normally lurks, and you can probably carry for your whole life and not fire a round....probably....
 
If you need more than 10 rounds, something is very, VERY wrong.

If it needs more than 20 rounds....I think you're screwed. Few people are tactically sound enough to deal with a force-on-one scenario and get 20 shots off unless they're using spray and pray, which is VERY wrong.
 
Urban combat?

Where are you going that you are apt to be involved in urban combat? Downtown Baghdad?

Where do you live that it's legal to carry a gun in a bar? Why would you even GO to a bar if you thought you had to carry a gun?

This one is IMHO perilously close to not making the 'reality' bar here...
Click to expand...

Agreed. This thread is just screaming "disguised zombie thread" to me.
 
As some of you already knows, I am just a newbie in CCW. I took it very recently and I have not got my proper license yet. One of the questions I asked my instructor was the same question you asked -- how many rounds of bullets should I shoot if someone attack me. He said to me that if it comes to that, never empty your magazine all at once -- just in case your attacker makes a false move, or fell on top of his own gun, then you still have some left to finish him off...or something like that...I can't remember his exact words...
 
Reality?

Why would you question the reality of this. I can legally carry into any bar that I want to in PA and do sometimes because I'm usually the designated driver.:) Anyways back to the question. You have already reduced the odds greatly by having a gun in the first place. Carry a couple of speed loaders or strips and call it good.;)
 
If 6+1 in the pistol and a spare mag can't get me away from trouble, yet another mag wouldn't have helped in the first place.
 
12 mags for me: 8 for the long gun, 4 for the pistol, and dozens more in the truck. However, when I'm not in Iraq or Afghanistan, a pistol and a reload or two is the order of the day.
 
I had a near miss once... Had a situation where a woman attempted to pull a weapon on me in a city in a traffic mishap (not an accident though). Luckily, the oncoming lane was open and I was able to pull into it to drive away.
Had I not been able to do so, I suspect I would have been in some trouble. I wasn't carrying, and even if I had been, I typically only carry a LCP (6+1). Besides her, there were three large guys in the car, and I have no idea what their reaction would have been had I not gotten away.
As a result, I now make a point of at least carrying a second magazine in my briefcase.
 
I'd recommend a hi-cap 9mm with good ammo.

It gives you a lot more options especially against multiple assailants.
 
Always cary a spare magazine, as many semi auto failures can be attributable to magazine or ammo. Always wise to carry at least one reload, be it magazine or speedloader, as the internet legend/myth of gun lore says, "Ammo is cheap, life is priceless."

reload.jpg
 
I know that this was a long time ago but I remember it well because at the time it hadn't been long since my wife, 4 kids and myself were frequenters of this very restaurant.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/first100/1001214.html and for those that havn't seen this wonderful testimony, a survivor of the ordeal:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgrIsuO5PLc

So as can be seen, good people doing normal things in happy places in broad daylight aren't immune from evil doers. The occasion does arise that an armed, thinking citizen can, with one or two well aimed shots, end what could be a catastrophic event. Other times supressive fire (no, not spray and pray) to allow you and yours to depart an area and leave the bad people to the professionals is a sound decision. Under those circumstances a 5 shot J frame may start to feel a little inadaquate.

The little speed strips are much faster than loose ammo but nothing like practice and a speed loader. So, how much ammo?? As much as you WILL carry. Kinda makes one rethink Possibles Pouches and Haversacks.
 
Carry as much ammo as you can, all the time. When you're going to be a long ways from help, or somewhere you don't really want to be, carry more ammo.
My standard for day to day carry is two reloads for whichever gun I'm carrying. Any more on my person would be impractical without sticking out.
If I'll be aways from quick, reliable help, I'll have at least one box and some more magazines in my vehicle, hotel, tent, whatever.
The thing is, unless you're backed into a corner, trading rounds with someone isn't worth it. If you don't immediately stop the threat, its time to look for a hasty escape. Stick and run. If you can't shoot on the move, move and shoot, or shoot and move, you're not well trained enough. Time after time, even reasonably well trained people like Police trade rounds with someone at close range and nobody hits nothing. I'd rather take my chances hauling ass than trading rounds. Bad guys can't shoot worth a crap, I'd rather not be a stationary target and increase their odds of getting lucky.
YMMV. I'm not an operator, or a mall ninja, or anything else. My opinions. You get what you pay for with tactical advice from the internetz.
 
Posted by chuckuseret:
IMO if you need more than one magazine of ammo in a SD situation you are outgunned and it is time to retreat.
Click to expand...
If you could retreat, why did you stay for the fight?
 
I carry an autoloader for my CCW. Full mag with one in the chamber, and one spare mag. The spare is mostly so if I ever need the gun, and the mag in it goes squirtin' across the ground when I draw, I have one in my pocket that will move with me as I move to cover.
 
Using Police Departments for an example most if not all departments require uniformed officers to carry a fully loaded weapon and a minimum of two refills normally speedloaders or magazines. When I was on the street I carried a S&W model 15 (issued) and 4 speedloaders of 110gr 38spl +P+ ammo on my belt (also issued) plus a S&W Mod 19 in a shoulder holster under my uniform shirt. Plus a box of ammo in my briefcase. Good thing I wasn't Paranoid.:D

In my 18 years I was in only one shooting and in that fired one round killing my assailant instantly

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