How much ammo do you carry daily

[MLeake]

TS, how much accuracy do shooters tend to maintain (compared to their normal range performance) when they are taking fire, and the target is moving?

I'm one of the more accurate pistol shooters I know, yet I suspect my hit percentage would go way down in an actual gun fight. Maybe I'm just a pessimist.

Then again, if I'm wrong, I end up with extra bullets.

If you're wrong....

[egor20]

Back to the OP.....

I usually carry 1 extra mag or a speed loader, when I (rarely) carry a shoulder holster I carry 2, just to balance it out.

On the norm I carry a double magazine pouch with an extra mag and a folding knife in it.

[Tom Servo]

TS, how much accuracy do shooters tend to maintain (compared to their normal range performance) when they are taking fire, and the target is moving?

From what I've heard, about a third of normal. That means 2/3 is gone.

Of course, I'm not boxing in two confirmed homicidal Rangers known to have rifles at point-blank, either.

Then again, if I'm wrong, I end up with extra bullets.

Never a bad thing

If I'm wrong, and six isn't enough, I have to wonder how many would be enough. If I need more than that, I'm likely in a protracted fight, and one for which a handgun itself is not sufficient.

Then again, none of us will know until we're there. As Glenn mentioned, it comes down to our tolerance for risk. I'm already hedging the bets in my favor by having a gun with which I've practiced. Situational awareness, mindset, and presentation go a long way as well.

Could I perhaps enhance my potential chances by carrying a more extensive loadout? Perhaps, but I suppose everyone has a line at which they say "this works." Mine's there somewhere.

[Navy joe]

I'm all over the map on this. For a long time I habitually carried 17 and a spare, often with a spare 5 shot gun. These days I usually find myself just carrying the 5 shots. However, I keep a man purse as an in car bail out bag and it has bigger gun and about 70 rounds, as well as a few non gun essentials like first aid for leaky holes.

[pete2]

I only carry the 5 or the 7 that are in the gun.

[PT-92]

pete2

I only carry the 5 or the 7 that are in the gun.

Go with the 7 .

-Cheers

[mavracer]

Then again, if I'm wrong, I end up with extra bullets.

Maybe, Maybe not. Maybe the BGs win and they end up with extra bullets.
I certianly hope not, but assuming your gonna win just because you have more ammo is a bad assumption. More ammo wouldn't have helped in Miami.

[mySig229]

I carry a FNX-40 with an extra mag. 28 rounds plus one in the spout

Sent from my DROIDX

[BGutzman]

I usually carry one to two spare mags of whatever gun Im carrying which typically results in a total of 16 - 25 rounds available.

[Doug Bowser]

sig p6 2 MAGS 16 ROUNDS.

Doug

[jasmith85]

I don't normally have any ammunition with me because unless I'm going walking in the woods I don't usually take a gun with me. My guns are mostly for going to the range. The main reason I got my carry permit is so I wouldn't have to worry about keeping them unloaded while transporting them.

[MLeake]

mavracer, I don't assume I'm going to win. It would be counterproductive, though, to plan for being dead - aside from having good insurance for the wife, which I have.

As far as stacking the odds in my favor, ammo is a consideration, but far from the only one. I think regular target practice, plus regular IDPA participation, plus various courses of fire under supervision of instructors from multiple service branches (Joint tours) would help. I think regular training in the dojo probably helps. I think regular physical workouts probably help.

Doing my best to watch for and avoid trouble may be the biggest advantage I have.

I do a lot of things aside from carrying a spare magazine that might help me in a confrontation.

But I do love how some people love to make assumptions about why people carry spares. "Spray and Pray mentality; poor marksmanship;" the list goes on. It would be insulting, except it says a lot more about those who make assumptions than it says about me.

[mavracer]

It would be counterproductive, though, to plan for being dead

As it is counterproductive to plan to miss, however missing and dieing are both very much a reality. too much of the first is a good way for the second to occur. Planning to extend the fight by shooting COM until the threat stops increases the chances of recieving a fatal wound yourself. there's nothing you can hit in the chest that will physicly stop somebody from shooting to slide lock.

[Tom Servo]

But I do love how some people love to make assumptions about why people carry spares. "Spray and Pray mentality; poor marksmanship;"

Folks in the gun culture love resorting to cheap, all-or-nothing statements of absolute certainty. The 9mm won't stop anything, 1911's jam, the Beretta's going to blow up in your face...I hear it all day long.

If one has decent training, good situational awareness, the common sense to avoid trouble, and a reliable weapon he's proficient with, he's ahead of 99% of the population. The rest is down to splitting hairs over loadout.

A competent shooter who carries a 15-round automatic with a reload isn't necessarily paranoid, nor does his loadout suggest he'll feel compelled to exhaust all 30 rounds in a confrontation. Nor is someone who carries a smaller gun or array of ammunition tempting fate. It just comes down to comfort level.

I don't feel more vulnerable with a revolver than I do with a high-capacity auto. Yet, if I'm carrying the latter, I'll have it loaded to full capacity. Why? I honestly...well, it seems weird not to. I usually carry a spare mag when I carry one, even though I won't carry it if it's given me trouble. So, why the spare? Don't know. Habit, I suppose.

I know what works for me. That might be different for someone else. To each his own.

[Spats McGee]

Originally Posted by Tom Servo

If one has decent training, good situational awareness, the common sense to avoid trouble, and a reliable weapon he's proficient with, he's ahead of 99% of the population. The rest is down to splitting hairs over loadout.

Very, very well said, Tom.

[9mm]

fire extinguishers

They don't have firing pins or small parts that could break on a whim. Thats a scary thing to have a gun part break on you in a self defence shooting.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Ted Ziolkowski's pistol jammed right after the 78-year-old farmer shot someone for the first time in his life late Thursday night.

He left a single hollow-point round in the chest of a 17-year-old Cleveland youth who was later arrested for aggravated burglary, for trying to break into the rental property Ziolkowski owns on Clement Ave., on Cleveland's southeast side.

TOM SERVO:
If one has decent training, good situational awareness, the common sense to avoid trouble, and a reliable weapon he's proficient with, he's ahead of 99% of the population. The rest is down to splitting hairs over loadout.

A competent shooter who carries a 15-round automatic with a reload isn't necessarily paranoid, nor does his loadout suggest he'll feel compelled to exhaust all 30 rounds in a confrontation. Nor is someone who carries a smaller gun or array of ammunition tempting fate. It just comes down to comfort level.

As WND reported yesterday, the couple was pummeled at a stoplight the night of April 14 by dozens of black teens, and the newspaper had no mention of the incident for two weeks, despite the fact the victims, Dave Forster and Marjon Rostami, are both news reporters for the paper.

Did you hear about this?

[MLeake]

mavracer, you are developing a pattern of following my posts with arguments against claims or suggestions I have not made.

If COM is not effective after a couple rounds, it's time to consider head or pelvis.

Shooting until threat ceases does not mean shooting stupidly.

[Tom Servo]

9mm,

Regarding flash mobs and the like, a pistol in any capacity would be of limited effect. Between identifying which people are attackers and which are bystanders, prioritizing targets, and watching my background, it's unlikely I'd be able to incapacitate more than a couple of them before the others disarmed me.

It's not like they're going to stand politely at five yards and let me take aim.

[MLeake]

TS, you have a point.

My counter would be that if I am retreating, with weapon drawn but in retention mode, the odds are that situation will, like Occam's Razor, result in only malfeasants offering active pursuit.

[PT-92]

Tom Servo
Staff

9mm,

Regarding flash mobs and the like, a pistol in any capacity would be of limited effect...

meaning...?

There's no doubt a flash-mob occurrence is an instant Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot situation whereby I would love to have a carbine with a few 30 rounders but my pistol is the next best available (and legal) tool so I'll take it.

-Cheers

[Constantine]

Folks in the gun culture love resorting to cheap, all-or-nothing statements of absolute certainty. The 9mm won't stop anything, 1911's jam, the Beretta's going to blow up in your face...I hear it all day long.

If one has decent training, good situational awareness, the common sense to avoid trouble, and a reliable weapon he's proficient with, he's ahead of 99% of the population. The rest is down to splitting hairs over loadout.

A competent shooter who carries a 15-round automatic with a reload isn't necessarily paranoid, nor does his loadout suggest he'll feel compelled to exhaust all 30 rounds in a confrontation. Nor is someone who carries a smaller gun or array of ammunition tempting fate. It just comes down to comfort level.

I don't feel more vulnerable with a revolver than I do with a high-capacity auto. Yet, if I'm carrying the latter, I'll have it loaded to full capacity. Why? I honestly...well, it seems weird not to. I usually carry a spare mag when I carry one, even though I won't carry it if it's given me trouble. So, why the spare? Don't know. Habit, I suppose.

I know what works for me. That might be different for someone else. To each his own.

Conversation over. Very well put. Open your minds people.

[icedog88]

Quote:
As WND reported yesterday, the couple was pummeled at a stoplight the night of April 14 by dozens of black teens, and the newspaper had no mention of the incident for two weeks, despite the fact the victims, Dave Forster and Marjon Rostami, are both news reporters for the paper.
Did you hear about this?

This was discussed on this forum already.

Tom Servo
Staff

9mm,

Regarding flash mobs and the like, a pistol in any capacity would be of limited effect...

meaning...?

There's no doubt a flash-mob occurrence is an instant Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot situation whereby I would love to have a carbine with a few 30 rounders but my pistol is the next best available (and legal) tool so I'll take it.

I think what he means is that it isn't feasible to engage an entire flash mob.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Just for interest, a study of single armed folks (police officers) faced by mobs found that sometimes they just freeze up and take the beating, even to the point of death (Violence - by Collins). It seems the large mob achieves a dominance position over the lone victim (even though armed) and shuts down their action responses.

Now, I'm sure you would say that wouldn't happen to you but just tossing it out. Mobs sometimes cause the victim to just fall apart.

[steveracer]

No matter the weapon, a reload is with me, whether it's a six round speed strip, or a 16 round magazine, I carry a reload. Too many times, with an automatic, the only thing wrong with the gun was the mag, and a fresh one solved it immediately. Too easy to carry one to NOT have one.

[Strafer Gott]

Flash mob! Doesn't the "NAKED PREY" with Cornell Wilde start like that?
The message here is, that's no time to turn chicken! Roadrunner yes, chicken, no!