6+1 or 15+1??? Is it enough with a lower round count?

[Beiruty]

I wished that those who do math-shooting are good at math. Maybe their math would show them that math shootings is net net negative.

[Soap]

Eventually the question becomes "Is one backup magazine enough or is two better?"

We could all carry more and bigger. I vote to carry the combination that allows you to carry the most. One day may be a 19 one day may be a 43. But that is two days worth of carry which is vastly better than two days not carrying.

Haha...I carry a 15+1 and a spare 15 magazine. Day after day I see one of my spare empty mags in the safe and I think "Should I load that sucker and carry it too".

[John Galt]

I would think that under normal circumstances, 7 would be enough. There is always that chance that you would get into a firefight and need more, but think about the odds of even having to use your weapon. They are slim, however they are growing every day. But the odds of having to use a lot of rounds (15+) are even smaller. With that statement, my EDC is a 1911 of some shape form or fashion, and I usually have a spare magazine if not a BUG of some sort. You never know what the sudden Adrenalin rush can cause.

I have said that 7 rounds should be plenty, unless one thinks that there might be a Gun Fight at OK Corral.

After saying that, I must admit that when carrying the G 26 or 27 in a shoulder, I have 2 large capacity mags on the other side to offset the weight of the gun.

[karder]

I used to carry a lot of rounds, and I still will if I am going on a road trip, out to the desert, or heading to a shady part of town. As I have gotten older, and hopefully wiser, I don't go out to bars or hang out late, I avoid shady areas like the plague, and I am not interested in confrontations, so I don't feel as compelling to tote around a lot of ammo. Fairly recently I got a ruger sp101 and find myself carrying it more and more often. I only have 5 shots of .357, so I guess I better make them count. I carry 6 more in a galco 2x2x2 ammo carrier. Dirty secret here, if I am just going to run an errand for the wife, lately I have found myself taking a bond arms .357, which is only 2 shots. I do have the 2x2x2 ammo pouch, but that will be slow reloading.
Don't get me wrong, I agree that you can never have too much ammo and I applaud folks who carry more rather than less, but I think that I, personally speaking, have gotten too caught up in "round count" in the past. Now maybe I am over compensating in the other direction.

[VMI77]

Jeff Cooper:

It has never been clear to me why increased magazine capacity in a defensive pistol is particularly choice. The bigger the magazine the bigger the gun, and the bigger the gun the harder it is to get hold of for people with small hands. And what, pray, does one need all those rounds for? How many lethal antagonists do you think you are going to be able to handle? Once when Bruce Nelson was asked by a suspect if the thirteen-round magazine in the P35 was not a big advantage, Bruce's answer was, "Well, yes, if you plan to miss a lot." The highest score I know of at this time achieved by one man against a group of armed adversaries was recorded in (of all places) the Ivory Coast! There, some years ago, a graduate student of mine laid out five goblins, with four dead and one totaled for the hospital. Of course there is the episode of Alvin York and his eight, but there is some dispute about that tale. (If you read it over very carefully you will see what I mean.) Be that as it may, I see no real need for a double column magazine. It is all the rage, of course, and like dual air bags, it is a popular current sales gimmick.

[MeMelYup]

Jeff Cooper:

It has never been clear to me why increased magazine capacity in a defensive pistol is particularly choice. The bigger the magazine the bigger the gun, and the bigger the gun the harder it is to get hold of for people with small hands. And what, pray, does one need all those rounds for? How many lethal antagonists do you think you are going to be able to handle? Once when Bruce Nelson was asked by a suspect if the thirteen-round magazine in the P35 was not a big advantage, Bruce's answer was, "Well, yes, if you plan to miss a lot." The highest score I know of at this time achieved by one man against a group of armed adversaries was recorded in (of all places) the Ivory Coast! There, some years ago, a graduate student of mine laid out five goblins, with four dead and one totaled for the hospital. Of course there is the episode of Alvin York and his eight, but there is some dispute about that tale. (If you read it over very carefully you will see what I mean.) Be that as it may, I see no real need for a double column magazine. It is all the rage, of course, and like dual air bags, it is a popular current sales gimmick.

Isn't it better to have them than need them?

[MONGOOSE]

I' not a big 9mm fan. However, I have read that statistically the one that puts more rounds down range, the greater probability of winning the fight.

[C-dub]

Jeff Cooper:

It has never been clear to me why increased magazine capacity in a defensive pistol is particularly choice. The bigger the magazine the bigger the gun, and the bigger the gun the harder it is to get hold of for people with small hands. And what, pray, does one need all those rounds for? How many lethal antagonists do you think you are going to be able to handle? Once when Bruce Nelson was asked by a suspect if the thirteen-round magazine in the P35 was not a big advantage, Bruce's answer was, "Well, yes, if you plan to miss a lot." The highest score I know of at this time achieved by one man against a group of armed adversaries was recorded in (of all places) the Ivory Coast! There, some years ago, a graduate student of mine laid out five goblins, with four dead and one totaled for the hospital. Of course there is the episode of Alvin York and his eight, but there is some dispute about that tale. (If you read it over very carefully you will see what I mean.) Be that as it may, I see no real need for a double column magazine. It is all the rage, of course, and like dual air bags, it is a popular current sales gimmick.

Well, if you're Jeff Cooper or Jerry Miculek or some other gun ninja master I suppose a gun with more than 7 rounds would be superfluous. However, I ain't one of those.

[Jago668]

Well, if you're Jeff Cooper or Jerry Miculek or some other gun ninja master I suppose a gun with more than 7 rounds would be superfluous. However, I ain't one of those.

Preach my brother. Hallelujah. =)

I know what I should be reasonably capable of in a shooting situation. With no guarantee that it will only be one bad guy. I will continue to carry a couple of extra mags for my G17, and hope I never even need the one that is in the pistol.

[VMI77]

Jeff Cooper:

It has never been clear to me why increased magazine capacity in a defensive pistol is particularly choice. The bigger the magazine the bigger the gun, and the bigger the gun the harder it is to get hold of for people with small hands. And what, pray, does one need all those rounds for? How many lethal antagonists do you think you are going to be able to handle? Once when Bruce Nelson was asked by a suspect if the thirteen-round magazine in the P35 was not a big advantage, Bruce's answer was, "Well, yes, if you plan to miss a lot." The highest score I know of at this time achieved by one man against a group of armed adversaries was recorded in (of all places) the Ivory Coast! There, some years ago, a graduate student of mine laid out five goblins, with four dead and one totaled for the hospital. Of course there is the episode of Alvin York and his eight, but there is some dispute about that tale. (If you read it over very carefully you will see what I mean.) Be that as it may, I see no real need for a double column magazine. It is all the rage, of course, and like dual air bags, it is a popular current sales gimmick.

Well, if you're Jeff Cooper or Jerry Miculek or some other gun ninja master I suppose a gun with more than 7 rounds would be superfluous. However, I ain't one of those.

In fairness to Mr. Cooper, it was a different country and a different world back then. Not sure of the exact date of this quote, but I believe back when he said it we were living in the days when my high school parking lot contained student vehicles displaying rifles and shotguns, and we sometimes met out in the school parking lot to examine someone's new gun.

[Blaize4286]

I think you should carry as much ammo as YOU can comfortably. What constitutes comfort is up to you. Personally I carry 13+1 in the gun, and 2 additional 16 rd mags.

[John Galt]

In fairness to Mr. Cooper, it was a different country and a different world back then. Not sure of the exact date of this quote, but I believe back when he said it we were living in the days when my high school parking lot contained student vehicles displaying rifles and shotguns, and we sometimes met out in the school parking lot to examine someone's new gun.

It is sad what liberals have done to this country.

[Iunnrais]

Well, if you're Jeff Cooper or Jerry Miculek or some other gun ninja master I suppose a gun with more than 7 rounds would be superfluous. However, I ain't one of those.

Jerry might need a few extra mags. Having watched his videos, I'd hate to think of how many rounds he could expend if he was truly excited.

[oljames3]

I think you should carry as much ammo as YOU can comfortably. What constitutes comfort is up to you. Personally I carry 13+1 in the gun, and 2 additional 16 rd mags.

I only carry one spare magazine because I have been unable to find more that fit my Tanfoglio BTA90.

[FastCarry]

I look at this way, in my 30 years, ive needed 0 rounds so I carry for comfort and concealment. Ive got 5+1 .45 currently and have pondered carrying an extra mag however. But with an extra, thats still 11 rounds total.. not much compared to some of friends who swear by capacity and carry 3 16 rnd mags.