Carrying extra magazines

[Neal_G.]

Neal - I'm sorry but you show ignorance of statistical decision making. There is no necessity to go the extremes of Tactical Timmy. As said quite a few times, one decides not to act at a measure of central tendency but for a reasonable cut off in the tail of incident intensity. From good ol' null hypothesis testing, you can decided your statistical power and Type I error cut offs (.01, ,05, etc.)

No, I get that, but I don't think you got my statistical 'big picture' point I was making with my illustration of a roll cage for your passenger car. I wasn't talking about statistical decision making on carry and reload options within the context of a gun fight, or 'intense incident'. That's up to each person to analyze for themselves, and then choose what works for them. I was talking about statistical analyzing and decision making, with regards to threats, in the context of your ENTIRE LIFE. The life you actually lead within your quiet, boring 'day to day' world, not wild hypotheticals you dream up online.

It's like if we step outside and look at the world around us, metaphorically, as the endless possibilities of potential threats to our health and happiness during the course of our lives, then hyper focusing on "gun fight" scenarios is like viewing that open world of possibilities through a straw. "Homicide", by any type of weapon, isn't even in the top ten leading causes of death for white males in the US according to the CDC. The top four are; Heart disease, Cancer, Unintentional injuries (like car accidents, etc), and Lung disease.

Hell, I've only been in one legitimate life threatening incident in my life involving a weapon, a carjacking at gunpoint, but I've almost been in a head on collision with some moron looking at a cell phone bi-weekly going to and from work everyday. Almost every older male in my family has died of cancer and heart attacks. That is reality. The people actually worrying about vehicle reloads for a hypothetical extended gunfight, or whether to carry two backup mags or just one, probably aren't as worried about what their eating everyday, or if they had their yearly checkup, or if their car's brake pads are still tip top.

I was just trying to illustrate, in a light hearted way, that this sort of hyper focus on very far fetched gunfight scenarios is silly for 99.9% of us (excluding cops, deployed military personnel, and mercenaries), and it can quickly spiral into the absurd, all to the profit of your local LGS (so at least it supports capitalism ) Carry whatever you want to carry if it makes you feel good, and doesn't get you arrested. Just don't get lost in the deep end of hypotheticals!

[FireForged]

Well said

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Untrained folks are usually the ones who go for wild hypotheticals, however. Reasonably trained folks have come to a consensus that a semi and an extra mag (easy to carry) will suffice even for an extreme incident as I described it. A Sandy Hook or VT - for example. Competency with a semi and another mag is reasonable. Just a J frame - might work. But it would be dicey.

If a person feels they are spiraling out of control in the gun store and come out dressed like a Tactical Timmy - that's there problem and really irrelevant to the issue of an extra mag for carry.

[OldMarksman]

"Homicide", by any type of weapon, isn't even in the top ten leading causes of death for white males in the US according to the CDC. The top four are; Heart disease, Cancer, Unintentional injuries (like car accidents, etc), and Lung disease.

True--and we should do what we can to mitigate those risks.

And to mitigate risks with lower likelihood of occurrence and equal severity of consequences.

We keep several fire extinguishers in the house.

And I carry a gun with more capacity than a J-Frame.

By the way, Neal, all modern cars are built around what effectively serves as a roll cage, and unless you can figure out how to put six degree of freedom restraints on the helmets of all occupants without impairing the vies necessary for safe driving in traffic, adding another roll cage would not be a good risk mitigation strategy at all.

[Brit]

I might be missing something here? The majority seem to be giving reasons NOT to carry less, rather than more rounds?

Why on earth is it bad to have 16 rounds (as in my Glock 19Gen4) ready to go just by pressing a trigger? The trigger is so easy to manipulate, that thinking of a full sized male, at 5m, 4 shots to upper chest, would sound like full auto!

And under the threat of death looking you in the face (as in large male, large knife in hand) I would not be thinking of the same class I had some 40 years ago, fire, and evaluate?

But my own thought's on the matter, shoot them to the ground, or two or more assailants, two rounds on each, the infamous double tap.

The carry of a concealed pistol, is based on your life style, where you live, how you dress. As in me! 80YOA, retired, active, happy. My Glock 19, spare G17 mag, very bright Surefire light, on belt.

And before I get my Chief Special is fine for ME reply, good for you.

[briandg]

a "child" at a gun store just told me about his mall carry kit, over 40 rounds of spare magazines and a .40.

At a mall? I don't ever expect to find myself in a running gun battle. If I ever have to fight, I expect that I will either stop or drive off any attackers within a 15 round engagement. I won't carry a pair of extra magazines everywhere I go. I have enough to stop the guy at the restaurant or the bank.

If I don't manage to stop a threat with 15 rounds, what in the world would lead me to believe that 30 extras would save me?

I honestly believe that this sort of confrontation, betweenmyself and a determined killer or crew that aren't backing down or dying will never happen. the odds are astronomical. The very real possibility of a simple confrontation is different. I'll carry my high capacity semiauto, or my .357. with my .357, having only six rounds, I'm going to have to be very careful.

[briandg]

I do carry a second magazine sometimes when in the car, but I feel that it's pointless. I carry a second magazine when I travel and keep it with my pistol as I sleep, but again, I feel like it's pointless. This once again presumes that I will be able to accomplish with 30 rounds what I failed to do with only 15, and that seems unlikely. The probability is that I'm going to drop my spare down a sewer grate, lose it beneath a seat, or forget that I even have it. in the mean time, I'm going to be disarmed and working on getting that magazine which isn't confind to my belt into play.

I have no illusions that I'm possibly going to die in a gunfight. I don't think I will. I'm good enough that I can handle any simple conflict and win. I'm not good enough to win them all and I'm okay with that.

[OldMarksman]

I do carry a second magazine sometimes when in the car, but I feel that it's pointless. I carry a second magazine when I travel and keep it with my pistol as I sleep, but again, I feel like it's pointless. This once again presumes that I will be able to accomplish with 30 rounds what I failed to do with only 15, and that seems unlikely.

I do not think that extra rounds are the important factor. A main reason for carrying a second mag is to enable one to clear a malfunction quickly.

How quickly can it be done? Well, people who practice, practice, practice, can dump the old magazine, get the round or empty out of the gun, inert the new mag, and chamber a round very quickly without looking at the gun.

I'm not very fast. Personally, I think that a second gun is a whole lot quicker.

[babtong]

I feel we are getting a little off topic. The op's original question was specifically about reloads kept in a car, not reloads in general. I carry a spare mag for all the reasons already discussed

That said, personally, i see no reason to have spare mags in MY car. I can't see where spare mags in MY car would help me in anything I might get into in MY day to day life.

I do not prepare for the absolute worst scenarios. In the hypothetical cases stated by members about reaching your car then re-engaging a threat, i'd rather have a spare rifle in my car.

If you feel keeping mags and ammo in your car may helpful, go for it. It's cheap and doesn't hurt anything. Just make sure to wear your seat belt driving =)

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[Brit]

Quite a few posters have mentioned Seat Belts? Whilst not part of the original instructions, it is quite a good topic. On Dec. 26th Boxing Day 2015.
I was in a head on collision with a new VW SUV rental, the driver, from Ohio, had picked it up from the Air Port 30 min's prior to wrecking it, me, and my paid for 08 Jeep Cherokee Laredo.

I had my seat belt on, the pie plate sized bruise in the middle of my chest lasted 3 weeks. I shudder to think what would have happened to me if I was not wearing it.

Yes I was Glocked up, big time. Wearing my Glock 19, and spare G17 magazine. Plus three Glocks just returned from Glock GA, I had picked up from my Buddy, who had taken them in for check up's (old Guns). My Sons two Glocks, in his fanny Pack, he had gone off an hour before, on a plane.

The young Orange County Deputy who came upon my wrecked marked Jeep, Security Company. I gave him those 5 and asked him to unload mine also!
He now had 6 Glocks, never asked for any ID!
He kept them till my Buddy arrived, he works for OPD. I was taken to Hospital, huge elevated Blood Pressure.

Imagine that in NYC!!

[Tactical Jackalope]

If you're going to have extra loaded mags in your vehicle, that's fine. Just know that it's more important to have them on you. Everything else doesn't count. That said, I carry two spare 17 round magazines.

[Deja vu]

I carry am extra speed strip. for my 8 shot 357Magnum. I also carry an NAA 22 mini revolver for a grand total of 16 rounds of 357 and 5 rounds of 22.

As far as carrying in the car, I think its not a bad idea but its not as good as carrying on your person.

[shep854]

If one chooses to keep extra ordnance in their vehicle, a carbine with extra ammo would be most practical. If the situation has gotten so serious that a carry pistol can't rectify it, and disengagement isn't an option, something bigger is needed.

[Don P]

I like to have an extra mag just for the possibility of a failure to feed/extract/double feed, you get the picture. The weak spot for semi-autos, magazines and on the plus side extra ammo if needed

[Tucker 1371]

*edit to add*

Glenn E. Meyer: Untrained folks are usually the ones who go for wild hypotheticals, however. Reasonably trained folks have come to a consensus that a semi and an extra mag (easy to carry) will suffice even for an extreme incident as I described it. A Sandy Hook or VT - for example. Competency with a semi and another mag is reasonable. Just a J frame - might work. But it would be dicey.

If a person feels they are spiraling out of control in the gun store and come out dressed like a Tactical Timmy - that's there problem and really irrelevant to the issue of an extra mag for carry.

^This

My opinion: if you're going to run back to your car Option A is to drive away. Option B means you can't drive away and it had better be a long gun or you're in some deep poo poo.

[James K]

It does cost a bit in gas money to have that convoy of five tonners following me around with 5000 spare guns and 50,000 extra rounds of ammo, but then I never know what I might need.

Nothing paranoid here, folks, just keep moving.

Jim

[K_Mac]

James any thinking operator knows that air support is the only reliable defense against an unknown enemy. That can really add to expenses, but what are you gonna do?

[flyer898]

I think it is always a good idea to have extra ammo on your person, and more extra ammo in your car is also a good idea. I always carry two reloads for my carry gun on my person, and an extra box of ammunition in my car. The extra ammo is easily concealable, and the same reasoning applies to the ammo as to the weapon: I would rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.