I am often amazed that many
shooters only have the one or two magazines that came with their guns. Not realizing that they will not have time to
reload outside of practice at the firing range.
Spare magazines are what you need to carry spare ammunition at the
ready. This applies to self-defense,
competition or the zombie apocalypse.
The big question is how many
spare magazines do you need. The generic
answer is enough spares to cover loss and/or damage with enough rounds to cover
your needs. This doesn’t tell you
much.
I want to introduce what I
call the 3/5 Rule for magazines. You
need a minimum of 3 magazines, and 5 magazines is highly recommended.
Three magazines will allow
you to have one in your gun, and two spares.
This is enough to allow for lost or broken magazines and enough
ammunition capacity to handle most situations.
The only situation you may
have problems with is competition. Three
magazines may not have enough capacity for some competitions, especially if you
have single stack magazines with a capacity less then 10 rounds.
I personally recommend five
magazines. This will definitely give you
enough spares to cover loss or damage and enough capacity for any need. Even a zombie apocalypse. I also see 5 magazines being a lifetime
supply for the average shooter.
This same rule can also be
applied to rifles as well, especially with military pattern rifles such as the
AR-15. The purpose of these rifles is
defeated without spare magazines. A good
lever gun is more useful if you don’t have spare magazines.
I would even buy a few more
for rifles. Three to five magazines
minimum of 20-30 round capacity for self defense, competition and a zombie
apocalypse, 2 to 4 ten round magazines for range work and 1 or 2 five round
magazines if you hunt with your semi-auto rifle. This gives you six to eleven magazines for
your rifle.
Spare magazines may be
expensive, but a needed accessory for your firearm to work properly. They should be considered a semi-disposable
item. Do take care of them. They will give you years of good
service. But be aware they wear out,
break or can be lost. Definitely buy
spares. One or two is not enough.
Three to Five magazines
should be enough for the average shooter.
One last comment, a quality
magazine carrier is worth the money. It
is easier to carry your spare magazines and will keep dirt and pocket lint out
them, which may cause malfunctions.
Many manufacturers are now
including a cheap plastic magazine carrier.
They are cheap in both contexts of the term. Buy something better as soon as you can.
Hope this information is
useful to you and clears up any questions on how many magazines you need.
By Mez
04/26/2014
