I know, it may seem like a dumb question to some of you, but I am in search of a broader understanding here…
In the course of discussions about carry and defense I inevitably run across a large number of people who tell me that they don’t carry any more ammunition than their weapon holds. I am always stunned to hear this.
So do you carry spare ammo for your carry weapons?
How much do you routinely carry?
Do you regularly carry a backup weapon?
If yes or no to any of these, why?
I carry my glock 19 and one spare mag with me at all times. When I am at the office I have my Glock and one mag on me and a couple of extra mags in computer case. Just a regular earth person here.
Assuming you’re talking about a semi-auto as a CCW weapon…
For those of us who train regularly, both in formal class settings and on our own, what is one of the most frequent causes of malfunctions that you see? While there are a number of things that pop up frequently, I’ll bet problems with magazines pop up as a factor on a regular basis. Even if I never thought I’d need the extra ammo, and even though I keep a close eye on my mags, the risk of one going south is a good enough reason for me to carry a spare. (Usually two spares.) I hope never to have to use my weapon at all. I really hope never to be in a situation that requires the use of one or more spare magazines… I doubt I will ever be put in that position. However, I feel better knowing the spares are there. G19, two spare mags.
No BUG at this time, but that is about to change.
I agree, a semi-auto has to have a spare magazine. I carry one.
M_P
Minimum of 2 spares for my primary. Very few exceptions.
I carry a Glock 19 with a spare magazine. The Glock is topped-off and the spare mag is downloaded by one, making for a total of 30 rounds Speer Gold Dot 124 gr. +P.
I do not carry a BUG currently, but I am heading in that direction. I do carry OC spray and a one-hand open folding knife, along with a flashlight.
Yes I always carry a spare mag. As someone who shoots a lot of rounds a year with a handgun I can say that you may not need the extra rounds, you may just need another properly working magazine. Mr Murphy has a mean way of making mags/guns not work sometimes. Getting the one affected by Murphy out of the gun and getting a fresh one back in the gun is usually the best solution. YMMV.
I competition damn good reload is as fast as your draw.
I’m slow on the draw and reloads but hit 1.25sec regularly and I don’t ‘dry practice’ that often but I do ‘dry fire’. In street clothes/gear I’m sure this will be 1.75-2.5sec depending on clothing which is still better than trying to monkey with your gun trying to figure out why it ain’t running.
A spare magazine is not just an ammunition holder
It is an easily replaced feeding device for your weapon
I would either carry a spare mag or a spare pistol
Even with my pimp gun!
I carry a Glock22 and i always carry 2 mags.
Assuming you remember the pistol, I honestly cant think of a worse omission than to leave a spare mag out of the “kit”.
You have to remember that the magazine is a pistol’s weakest link. So the main purpose for carrying a spare magazine is not so you can have more ammo. 
I carry either a Glock 23, Glock 26 or a Kel-Tec P-3AT daily. I usually have one spare magazine for the Glocks and two for the Kel-Tec (not sure why).
At the versy leasats if I end up emptying the first magazine during a lethal encounter (God forbid!!); I can use the second (and third) magazine to get the heck out of the AO. YMMV.
At least one spare for double stack guns, and at least 2 for single stacks.
I care a Smith Centenial Airweight as a backup about 75% of the time.
At the minimum you should always have a spare magazine for a myriad of reasons, the least of which is a malfunction that compromises the in-gun mag.
Yes
Minimum of one per weapon, with at least one accessible to either hand
Yes
because I can
Thusfar the responses are about as I figured from folks on this site.
As to where I stand on the matter:
That’s my usual carry setup. I started packing the 442 as a backup several years ago. The wisdom of this practice was confirmed to me on the range at Blackwater. I stepped up to run the first drill of the day on day 2 of a Tactical Handgun II class using the weapon I had carried as my primary on the trip down to BW.
The buzzer went off, I drew my weapon and pulled the trigger.
CLICK…Tap, rack, reacquire…CLICK…Tap, rack, reacquire…CLICK…CLICK CLICK CLICK
Turns out the weapon had busted the firing pin sometime between my range trip the week before and stepping up to run the drill that morning. I had been carrying a dead man’s gun during my entire trip down there. I was extremely glad that I started packing the 442 as a backup a short while before…
Sometimes I can only pack the 442, but I still have a speed strip and a knife on me.
I am just stunned to hear people tell me that they don’t “need” to pack an extra magazine. “I carry a Glock and I won’t ever need more than 15 rounds!”
It seems to me that anyone who would say something like that is utterly unprepared for the reality of defending themselves.
Without getting too OT on the matter, I must say that this is one of the main reasons why I like this site so much. The signal/noise ratio is very low.
There are plenty of other sites where this thread would have been filled with nonsense; instead, we get a lot of guys all on the same page and all for the same reasons, more or less.
The mentality of not carrying a spare mag, for whatever convaluted reason the “individual” (term used very loosely) may try and rationalize, causes me to seek the Motrin bottle.
Indeed.
In a similar thread at another place a poster actually had the audacity to say that people carrying spare magazines, a flashlight, and a backup are having “mall ninja” fantasies.
“If you need more than 5 shots, you shouldn’t be in the fight!”
Apparently there is some super-awesome tactical school out there that teaches you to not only be able to see the future and thus magically ensure you will never face more than a single bad guy, but also teaches you how to never miss a shot during a gunfight.
I have GOT to go to that school.
I’ve actually said “I don’t have enough tylenol for this conversation” before.
Happy birfday, btw…
Sig 229R, 2 spare mags, X200 on belt clip, Strider, SF E2E.
Or Kimber Warrior, 4 spare mags, X200, Strider, SF ect
I always have a Colt Pocketlight and 1 spare, plus 3-4 more mags for the primary in my day pack.
Ive been known at times to keep an SBR, supressor, and body armor in a Bauer Box in the back of my jeep