How much extra ammo do you carry when you "concealed carry"?

Might as well throw my couple of pennies in. I keep 27 rounds with my carry pistol, 2 13 round magazines and one chambered, but I keep a couple of hundred rounds in the truck, just in case a range opportunity presents itself.

Sometimes I carry a spare magazine but most of the time I don't. My reason for carrying a spare isn't so much cause I think I will need the extra ammo. Its more in case I drop my mag while clearing a malfunction. But having a little extra ammo never hurt nobody! Except maybe the bad guys....

Usually don't carry a reload with either of my carry guns, pf9 or G19. I personally don't carry a reaload unless I'm going somewhere out of the ordinary. I have stuck a 33 rounder in my back or cargo pocket though. There are always reloads and usually a long gun in my truck.

TheGreatGonzo wrote:

advanced wrote:+1 Phillip. If 1 hi cap mag won't do it you need a bigger gun.

Unless you have a double-feed. Then you need pre-made funeral arrangements. I have never looked at my car and thought to myself, "No need to carry a spare tire. If I can't get it done with 4 tires, I just need to get an 18-wheeler!".

The 1066 has never had a double feed. Do you carry spare fan belts? How about injectors, computer, thermostat, etc...

To cover every possible malfunction on a pistol I suppose I should carry two, at some point you have to make a calculated risk when good enough is enough.

All this piling on about Jackson is getting old too. I live in South Jackson and my office is in West Jackson and has been since 1993 and I've had one truck broken into and a decade later the same truck stolen and one idiot that needed a 1911 in his face to calm him down in all that time. I do contracting work all over the metro area, I've worked at five points, West Capitol, and quite a few other super scary places according to WLBT. At most I've been harassed by a whore or a bum. The ones that get shot mainly are off trying to buy drugs or collateral damage and I don't care what your CCW is, if homie starts spraying in your direction trying to kill someone else, you are toast regardless. I stayed in New Orleans in early 2006 in the "triangle of death" and had no problems whatsoever. Furthermore thinking you are safe cause you are in the country makes you more apt to be a victim. Practice situational awareness wherever you go and avoid trouble before it comes down to the 21 foot rule, aka you're toast.

PhillipM wrote:

TheGreatGonzo wrote:

advanced wrote:+1 Phillip. If 1 hi cap mag won't do it you need a bigger gun.

Unless you have a double-feed. Then you need pre-made funeral arrangements. I have never looked at my car and thought to myself, "No need to carry a spare tire. If I can't get it done with 4 tires, I just need to get an 18-wheeler!".

The 1066 has never had a double feed. Do you carry spare fan belts? How about injectors, computer, thermostat, etc...

Nope. But those parts are not the most common parts to fail on a vehicle. A tire, on the other hand...

I also don't have the technical expertise to replace one of those parts on a car, nor the ability/tools to do it on the side of the road. Perhaps you do, but I don't. I do, however, have the ability and the tools to change a flat tire...just about anywhere. I think that is why most every car you buy comes with a spare tire, but not a spare thermostat. Wouldn't you guess? If I find myself on a dark highway in the middle of the night with a flat tire, I can pull to the shoulder, change it in a couple of minutes, and be back on my way. If the computer goes south on me, or the injectors, I don't exactly have that option. So, viewing these factors through a risk assessment process: It does not make sense to carry spare parts that are (a) less likely to fail than a tire and (b) that I do not know how to replace if they do fail (which all mechanical parts are subject to do).

With a semi-automatic pistol, a magazine is, in my experience, the most likely part to malfunction. I am an armorer, but I don't carry a pouch full of spare springs and pins and barrels on my belt because I'm not going to disassemble my gun and change out the internals in the middle of a gunfight. I do, however, have the ability to very quickly exchange a magazine with no special tools or disassembly required. Most pistols you purchase will come with a spare magazine, but I don't know many that come with spare "everything". There is a reason that you can easily purchase an incredible variety pouches for concealed spare magazines as opposed to the market for concealed "spare lower receiver" pouches.


In my opinion (and I understand that it is just an opinion), carrying an extra ounce or two of weight is definitely worth the benefit of having an extra magazine. In 20 years of carrying a firearm professionally, half of that being a Firearms Instructor, I have yet to meet anyone who ever said "I wish I was not carrying extra ammo.". I have, however, talked to more than one individual who wished they had more ammo. If I am going to go to the trouble of carrying a relatively heavy pistol on one hip, I personally can't understand why I would not add an extra 5 or 10 ounces of weight on the opposing hip. I can think of multiple situations where I might need that spare magazine. On the other hand, the only reason I can come up with for not not carrying a spare magazine is the few extra ounces of weight. To me, that kind of trade-off is no contest. In my personal daily risk assessment, the average off-duty threat to my life and safety does not merit me carrying my Colt M4 slung over my shoulder every wear I go. It does, however, merit a few extra ounces on my belt. Again…just my personal assessment as it applies to me.

Although I believe a malfunction is, by far, the most likely reason to need a spare magazine, I don't rule out the need for additional ammo either. In 1997 an off-duty Barstow, CA was caught in the middle of an armed robbery while eating at McDonalds with his family. He engaged, and killed, the robber. In a later interview, he had this to say: He has this advice for fellow officers: "Security camera video of this incident revealed that I fired all 11 rounds from my Glock 26 in about two seconds. My extra mag held 17 rounds. Words cannot describe the emotion I felt when I slammed that mag into my weapon and was still able to be in the fight." Then there was the off-duty Ogden City, UT Police Officer who found himself facing an Active Shooter in the Trolley Square Shopping Mall with only the magazine in his Kimber. In later interviews he said he had always had the attitude of "If I can't get it done with 8 rounds of .45...". Following that incident, he always carried a spare magazine. Granted, in both of these cases, they were off-duty LEOs, not private citizens. But they were off-duty and enjoying a day out with the family in the same sort of places that everybody goes. They were not out looking to encounter bad guys shooting innocent people.


As you point out...every choice should be based on risk assessment and that is an individual assessment that only an individual can make. You certainly know what is better, safer, and will provide the best odds of survival for you as an individual. I would never try and tell you what is best for you. But as an instructor, I always stress to my students the importance of carrying at least one spare magazine.
Gonzo

Usually carry one extra mag. If I'm on an overnight trip (bike,camping) I throw one more mag in my backpack. I'll admit that sometimes I just grab my backup gun without extra mag if I'm in a hurry.

Unfortunately, I don't carry an extra mag. Gotta get a spare mag holder, but its hard enough to conceal my ruger p89 as it is.