Capacity. How much does it matter to you?
- Thread starter Trey Veston
- Start date
- Status
Armored farmer
Member
It's just a guideline, feel free to disagree.
However, the gun wont shoot itself. The carry permit holder has an obligation to be proficient with whatever gun they choose to carry. Capacity wont matter a lick if you fire 17 misses.
I do think more is better but it's also highly dependent on platform. A 6+1 pocket sized semi auto has bad capacity sure, but reloads can be done quickly, if needed. A small revolver only holds five and reloads are not quick and easy, which to me is a recipe for disaster. Sure, statistically you won't need it, so I do get the rationale about how a five shot J-frame is better than nothing and some may even feel it's a good choice, for whatever reason.
While I agree the chances of using it are slim to none, I'd rather have something that will give me as much of a benefit as possible, and even though I LOVE revolvers and have carried J-frames in the past, I no longer consider the J-frame to be a good option for carry, it is at best a backup, not a primary carry gun. Ideally I'd like to carry something with close to 10rds in it, and that has to be a smaller gun. I typically carry a Gen4 Glock 27 which gives me 10rds of .40, it conceals well, has a good trigger and sights and I can carry any Glock mag as a reload if I want to.
I don't mind the single stack semi autos, to me they're way better than a revolver, but in general, because they're single stack, you don't get much in the way of options for a backup mag or two. With the G26/27/33 for instance, you can carry a mag or two from a larger Glock if you feel the need to carry more ammo.
While I agree the chances of using it are slim to none, I'd rather have something that will give me as much of a benefit as possible, and even though I LOVE revolvers and have carried J-frames in the past, I no longer consider the J-frame to be a good option for carry, it is at best a backup, not a primary carry gun. Ideally I'd like to carry something with close to 10rds in it, and that has to be a smaller gun. I typically carry a Gen4 Glock 27 which gives me 10rds of .40, it conceals well, has a good trigger and sights and I can carry any Glock mag as a reload if I want to.
I don't mind the single stack semi autos, to me they're way better than a revolver, but in general, because they're single stack, you don't get much in the way of options for a backup mag or two. With the G26/27/33 for instance, you can carry a mag or two from a larger Glock if you feel the need to carry more ammo.
Last edited:
DeepSouth
Random Guy
Agreed! Likewise what others think about what I carry doesn’t really matter to me.
Sure I’d like to carry more rounds, and what I carry may not be enough one day, and that could always be true for everyone.
Last edited:
We have had more than one thread recently showing the need for quite a number of hits--hits, not rounds fired--to stop one person.
stillquietvoice
Contributing Member
Agreed my own experience with SD, hd, made me realize that more, higher capacity, was better. I only fired 1 shot under the stress of sd, it found its mark and stopped the attack at 12 ft.
After the incident I bought several high cap guns and relegated my 6" gp100 to a hunting, target shooting , and backup roles.
Armored farmer
Member
Duh.
And what number of hits does it take? Is every round fired a solid hit? Sometimes there is more than one threat. Is your threat going to be wearing body armor?
Let's not forget the OP question:
More shots is better. It weighs heavily on my decision.
Fine Figure of a Man
Member
An M1 Abrams Tank might prove inadequate for a single "engagement"
Is there a point to your responses other than just being contrary?
scaatylobo
Member
I am reasonably sure that most people who CCW ,do so with the "worst case scenario" as a measure to decide what capacity to EDC.
As a retired LEO, my "scenario" is that I am out with my wife [ that makes a big difference ] and we are in a 'active shooter' attack.
I am old and can barely run [ 2 replaced knees that work well ] but my wife cannot run at all.
I will not leave her,so if we cannot flee [ FIRST CHOICE ] than I am a shooting platform !.
So I had better be able to put down a wall for us to retreat from,NOT A GOOD CHOICE as I see it.
But that is my reason to EDC as high a capacity as possible ----- with at least one spare magazine [ usually 2 ].
One point for training, is that you can learn and practice how to deal with charging person and get the gun on target. If you do that, you realize that the hits on the move are difficult and may not be in areas that stop the person. Your movement gives you more time and time in the fight (as Tom Givens calls it) will suggest you would be happy with more than a J frame. Again, the J is for when circumstances dictate it. Running a knife drill with a J and sims or similar will give you insight into capacity issues.
Now full size guns like a G19 are carried everyday by quite a few people without difficulty. G26 types even more. I used to shoot with a group of folks and then we would go out to lunch and with normal looking casual clothes, the size guns mentioned were carried without looking weird or 'taticool'.
I used to work in an environment that might attract the rare rampage attack which might entail distance and/or more than one opponent. That's what I mean by preparing for
reasonable high cut off in the incident intensity distribution. A San Bernadino or even Columbine and I would like to have more than a J if forced to engage. I would prefer to flee but you could be in it. I agree that with the age and knees of my spouse and me, fleeing rate would be more sedate. However, at the Luby's massacre, two elderly women sedately got out of there and lived, IIRC.
Last edited:
@Hartkopf ans @WrongHanded
Oh I get that the stock grips don't fill the hand, but the extra inch the Hogue adds for just for your pinky finger is past the point of diminishing return to me.
I'd much prefer a hand filling boot grip like Badger
Oh I get that the stock grips don't fill the hand, but the extra inch the Hogue adds for just for your pinky finger is past the point of diminishing return to me.
I'd much prefer a hand filling boot grip like Badger
https://www.foxnews.com/us/vicious-new-york-city-mugging-caught-on-video-nypd
Not average encounter but was in the news today.
Not average encounter but was in the news today.
.38 Special
Member
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2006
- Messages
- 7,355
You know, I am coming to believe that many of us aren't thinking about "worst case scenario" but rather "worst case scenario where I still win". That is at least partly why these threads can be a little impolite: the guy carrying X is thinking about a scenario where X is ideal and gets a little grumpy when presented with a scenario where Y is better. The guy advocating for Y gets similarly offended by the Z guy, and so on. So we're not really arguing about guns so much as scenarios, and trying to prove that our own imagined scenario is the more likely one - even though we don't really know anything about each other's location and lifestyle.
.38 Special
Member
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2006
- Messages
- 7,355
So, how do we fight that fight?
(Direct video at https://nypost.com/2020/03/06/teens-beat-up-15-year-old-girl-and-steal-her-air-jordans-in-brooklyn/)
Avoid it if possible. Otherwise I would have to live it and see it all unfold from my eyes and even then there might not be a good response.
Agree wholeheartedly.
TomJ
Contributing Member
A lot of this is based on our perspectives. My brother lives in a part of Wisconsin where crime is rare. They have 2 newer Audis which they do not lock. When we're there I instinctively lock my car with the remote and he's puzzled as to why I do that. To him carrying a gun doesn't even enter into his thought procress, much less a higher capacity gun. Living where I do (for now due to family reasons), carrying a gun with 5 to 6 rounds doesn't make sense when there are so many options with 10+ rounds available. With so many major manufacturers making compact and subcompact guns which are reliable, accurate and hold 10 to 12 rounds I don't see the downside to carrying one of those. I understand that the odds of needing a gun are minimal, much less needing 10 to 12 rounds or more, however I lose nothing carrying one of those guns. In the unlikely event that I do need that many rounds and I don't have them the results can be catastrophic.
P32 - 7 + 1 .32acp - for every day carry at work in a locked door no print office environment.
LCP - 6 + 1 .380 - for when I want a bit more umph.
DB9 - 6 + 1 9mm - for around town, running errands etc.
XDs - 5 + 1 .45acp flush magazine + 7 round extended magazine for when I go to the "big city". If it prints a bit.... oh well.
Basically if I am willing to carry a larger pistol to increase my fire power I am going to move up to a bigger caliber instead of more bullets.
I have to go to Calyfornia at the end of the month.... UGH!!!!!
LCP - 6 + 1 .380 - for when I want a bit more umph.
DB9 - 6 + 1 9mm - for around town, running errands etc.
XDs - 5 + 1 .45acp flush magazine + 7 round extended magazine for when I go to the "big city". If it prints a bit.... oh well.
Basically if I am willing to carry a larger pistol to increase my fire power I am going to move up to a bigger caliber instead of more bullets.
I have to go to Calyfornia at the end of the month.... UGH!!!!!
Last edited:
If it works for you, my motto is! Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it! I carry hi cap when I can and adjust to the clothing to one with less rounds! Extra mag is usually on me. My reply to being questioned by friends about having a hi cap pistol on me when I carry it is, " I can have a looong conservation with it." 
.308 Norma
Member
Sorry. My lovely wife of 49 years come June grew up down there. But we completed the Idaho Enhanced Conceal Carry class together last summer, and the Instructor warned us extensively about carrying a gun at all, no matter what it is, if we have to go down to "Calyfornia" for a visit or something. Our Idaho Enhanced Concealed Carry licenses have reciprocity with a lot of states, but not the state where my wife was born and raised.
fastbolt
Member
None of this is new ground.
Some folks find it "comforting" to have higher capacity than a revolver or a single stack pistol. Others place less emphasis on capacity and more on skillset, training experience and other factors.
I'm neither a caliber nor a capacity snob.
The highest capacity double stack pistol I own only uses 12-rd mags, although I also own some pistols that use 9-10rd double stacks mags. That's after a career of carrying a badge of one sort or another for 34 years, and having served as a LE firearms trainer for 26 of those years. At various times throughout those years I carried issued revolvers, double and single stack pistols. Ditto for off-duty.
Nowadays, my typical retirement CCW choice is either one of my 5-shot snubs, or one of my LCP's (fits some pockets the snubs won't fit). Sure, there are times and circumstances where I will still get out one of my belt guns ... even my hi-cap 12rd pistol.
I still own and use some single stack pistols that have 6-8rd mag capacities, though. My favorites.
Some folks find it "comforting" to have higher capacity than a revolver or a single stack pistol. Others place less emphasis on capacity and more on skillset, training experience and other factors.
I'm neither a caliber nor a capacity snob.
The highest capacity double stack pistol I own only uses 12-rd mags, although I also own some pistols that use 9-10rd double stacks mags. That's after a career of carrying a badge of one sort or another for 34 years, and having served as a LE firearms trainer for 26 of those years. At various times throughout those years I carried issued revolvers, double and single stack pistols. Ditto for off-duty.
Nowadays, my typical retirement CCW choice is either one of my 5-shot snubs, or one of my LCP's (fits some pockets the snubs won't fit). Sure, there are times and circumstances where I will still get out one of my belt guns ... even my hi-cap 12rd pistol.
I still own and use some single stack pistols that have 6-8rd mag capacities, though. My favorites.
scaatylobo
Member
Ok,Ok, so I want to reword my comments to read " I carry for MY worst case scenario".
As expecting all to do the same.
.38 Special
Member
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2006
- Messages
- 7,355
Please don't think that my post was calling you (or anyone else in particular) out. I just see posts essentially saying "You need to carry for the scenario I'm worried about" and think "Hmm..."
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked
