With modern ammo largely leveling the playing field, 9mm handguns obviously offer a lot of round capacity. However, say if you had access to a lot of .45 acp would you mind the reduced mag capacity?
More is always better but statistically very few rounds are fired in the average gun fight.
How much does this factor in to your decision on the size and caliber of your choice of carry and HD pistol? Or is, say, concealabilty more important to you?
I carry a XD45 (13+1) but really am considering going to a XDm9 3.8 (19+1) like my wife’s. I’m comfortable with both as far as function and capacity but really like the idea of 19rd mags because I normally don’t carry a second mag around.
I’d rather have and not need than to need and not have as the saying goes.
This almost feels like a 9mm vs the .45acp? Assuming not I would sill prefer my g19 wich isnt much more than some hi cap .45s. Lighter in same package. I would still want a higher round count multiple attackers, rare case a longer fight ect.
Rounds on target with hydrostatic shock is what counts and I can shoot a 9mm faster than I can 10mm or .45acp so I carry 9mm. That said, I used to want the most amount of rounds as possible like 17+1 with my SR9 or 20+1 with my Sig Tac Ops.
The thing is though the more I paid attention to the pros, the more I realized my want for higher capacities were rooted from a few things; The first was my lack of knowledge that you reload when you have time, not when you’re empty. Second was that I lack the skills to do a proper fast tactical or administrative reload. Lastly, I think I had some amount “Tacticool” enthusiasm for more rounds.
I now carry a 15+1 pistol, two spare mags and a back up.
Not if you read the first sentence of my post.
Hydrostatic shock isn’t a real thing.
I carry a 9mm because 9mm is cheap practice ammo.
I do enjoy the increased capacity. In a “midsized (G19 ish)” or larger handgun I want a minimum of 12 rounds. 9mm gives me that pretty easily. .40 could too, but I do not enjoy shooting it and see no reason to pay the increased ammo cost.
If I were to live or move to a state with a 10rd magazine capacity limit I would swap over to a .45 for my midsized carry.
I do not feel undergunned with a Glock 26 on the days in which my wardrobe is more constrained, such as most summer days. given the choice, however, I would pick the glock 19 over it.
Chip McCormick’s decision to make a 10 round 1911 mag, made me transition permanently to the 1911.
In 2003.
Again, I don’t want this to be a caliber debate. This question was also geared toward pistol size; how much mag capacity are you willing to sacrifice for concealabilty? What are all the factors that you conside? important.
I asked this partially because I am looking for a new carry pistol and would would not hesitate to go with 9mm or 40sw. However, I have a few .45 cal pistols already and reload for it. For me it’s just as cheap to practice with as 9mm. Then again I could also start reloading for 9 or 40.
I carry a 1911, so the mag capacity must not have to much effect on me. Shot placement is what matters. You can miss with 7 rds or you can miss with 19rds. You just need to practie. I do however carry an extra mag.
In weather hot enough to be t-shirt only I carry a G26 because it is all that my body habitus can conceal most of the time. 10+1 rds of 9mm leaves me feeling OK. I usually carry a g19 mag in my front pocket for reload.
I will be honest I have never really strongly considered carrying anything besides a 9mm. It is the ammunition I can afford to shoot most often and feel I shoot the best, so I stick with it. I do not feel that I would be better armed with 10+1 rds of .45 vs 10+1 rounds of 9mm… just my.02 cents.
For a general carry gun, 10 round magazine capacity is about as low as I want to go.
I like the size of the Glock 19 down to about the Glock 26 as a carry gun. For almost the last year, I’ve been carrying my S&W M&P9c off-duty. But I’m about to start carrying my Glock 19 again, when on my own time.
With any of these guns, I’m looking at magazine capacity between 10-15 rds. I always try to carry one spare magazine.
I’m more than willing to go below 10 rds for what I’d consider a special purpose gun. by this I’m referring to a BUG or a deep concealment/pocket gun. Guns like the Walther PPS or the Kahr PM9, or J-Frame.
I will be the first to agree that shot placement is the important component. But even with that in mind, some people just need more than one shot to get them to stop doing whatever it was you shot them for doing.
The trend I’ve seen over the last few years in my region is for multiple suspects. Usually two to three. This concept was the basis of a topic started a while ago by Dr. Gary Roberts in which he referred the Glock 19 as the new J-frame.
So to answer the original question, “How much does mag capacity influence your pistol choice?”, to me, quite a bit.
You could say statistically you are not going to be in a gunfight, but since you are, then statistics don’t mean much that day. Pulling the trigger is a lot better than reloading. Count on people not shooting well and performing a reload even worse.
You say you don’t want it to be a caliber debate, but it can’t help but becoming one when you’re comparing them. A 10-15 round 9mm pistol is not the same size as a 10-13 round .45.
If one completely discounts the caliber, then why wouldn’t you opt for more rounds in a smaller gun?
Around 15 is a decent number for me.
I also like to carry a spare magazine.
Weird shit happens in gunfights, and it’s a good idea to have that spare magazine in case you have a mag related stoppage, you accidentally dump the magazine, break the floor plate while smashing the gun into the threat’s face, or just plain have to shoot a lot more rounds than “average” (and exactly what the hell is an “average” gunfight anyway?).
Statistically, I won’t ever bounce my car off the guard-rail on a twisty mountain road, but I do appreciate it being there, just in case.
There are more considerations on caliber choice than ballistics. I expressed those considerations.
I’m lazy, I dont like to reload, so a high cap nine is good to have 
!
I carry a G17, feel pretty comfortable with it. I was carrying a G19 but the 17 carries as easily for me at least during the winter. I just got my permit in November so when summer gets here I’ll either adjust and wear short sleeved button ups or I’ll get a j frame revolver. I suppose we’ll see.
I live right near school and there are occasional robbing sprees in the area so when I’m walking the dog it’s nice to have 35 rounds on hand. The last time they robbed two guys and both were in the hospital for over a week. They didn’t fight them, the guys just decided to have some fun…animals.
These are issues I hypothesized may be more likely than shooting a bunch of rounds.
Averages based on statistics reported of course. The Patriots scored and average of 33.7 points per game this year. Doesnt mean they are going to do that every game but it’s something to consider if your betting on them
You said:
With modern ammo largely leveling the playing field, 9mm handguns obviously offer a lot of round capacity. However, say if you had access to a lot of .45 acp would you mind the reduced mag capacity?
So you were only referring to the economics?
Then no, I don’t think you should choose a larger size, lower capacity gun for carry, based only on having access to a lot of ammo, if you discount the caliber as far as terminal ballistics.
12-15rds seems to be the happy range for me based on typical shooting techniques of today.