How many magazines ?

Status
Not open for further replies.
J

johnnyquest

Member
Joined
Nov 23, 2008
Messages
3
Location
Pittsburgh PA
Howdy everyone,

I always see everyone talking about needing to buy more magazines, but never really any specific numbers, so I'm just wondering how many do people actually have, and perhaps why that number ?

I don't really have any hi-cap rifles etc, so I'm not familiar with any of that, I was mainly just curious, not trying to offend anyone.

For example I've read things on various sites about, having up to 30 mags per type of rifle, and that seems like it would be a lot to me ?

I understand that especially right now, there is a lot of concern about future availability, and the need down the road in case some break etc.

But then I think about for example, soldiers on Iraq, surely they don't carry around 30 mags with them, or do they ?

I'm pretty ignorant on all of the hi-cap mag stuff, so I was honestly just wondering how many mags people buy, and why.

Look forward to your replies !

JQ
 
Never "too many", and never "enough" because I can't predict the future.

"Better safe than sorry" would be to buy however many one would need to last the rest of one's life, and maybe through your child's life.

For me, that's about 100 for each gun, but I can't afford that many.

I have about 15 steel AK mags and ~30 AR mags (for four ARs). If something happens, I'll just buy neutered 10-round mags to use at the range and save the high-caps for HD, Zombies, or the occasional mag dump at the range just for giggles.
 
ive owned two aks, and i never felt like owning less than five 30 round magazines, dunno why though
 
I like having 8 mags per rifle with a couple of spares as a minimum. If you want to go crazy, double that 20 per rifle.

I'm at 10+ per rifle right now and don't feel any extreme need to buy more mags currently at panic prices. OTOH, I'm using Pmags for range use and my other rifles are AKs, which also feature hard to damage magazines. If I had a rifle that had hard to find mags I'd probably want more than 10.

BSW
 
I always see everyone talking about needing to buy more magazines, but never really any specific numbers, so I'm just wondering how many do people actually have, and perhaps why that number ?
Click to expand...

Fourteen or so PMags for my AR and a bit more than that of USGI mags (and a couple Thermolds) -- somewhere between 30-40 total. Significantly less for my other EBRs -- about 7-8 for each flavor of AK, maybe ten 20 round FAL mags plus one of the extended 30 rounders.

For pistols, anywhere from 3-6 mags, depending on the gun.

Is that enough? I consider a basic load of around seven magazines to be a good minimum for a gun you're really going to train with, with more not being a bad thing. In a world where the government may restrict access to mags, a whole bunch more would be nice.
 
I have about four 10-round magazines for my marlin .22. Having to load those little magazines is a pain on the fingers, so I just load them whenever I buy ammo so they're ready to take to the range. I wanna get more later, like, 20 of them:what:!

I have six AK magazines. No real reason, other than they were cheap. I like loading the magazines using the stripper clip loader anyways, so I only take two to the range.
 
Being limited to 10 round mags in California, I don't feel that is enough to get by. Enough mags is about three more than I have.

I would think that the soldiers in Iraq are carrying all they can carry.
 
It depends on what you have.

If you have an AR or an AK, then 4 is a good starting number, then lay in a case of ammo, after that I'd look at getting a sidearm, then adding a few mags for that, then turn back to the AR and put on a nice optic plus a few more mags plus another case of ammo in storage, etc, etc.

If you have a bolt action hunting rifle, then probably 3 is plenty...the one that comes with the gun plus one more for your pocket and a third one stored in your gun stuff in case mag A or mag B fails.
 
Everyone has their own preferences. But 3, 4, 6 mags?! You gotta be kidding me. Start out with 10 per gun--sidearm, AR, AK or whatever and work your way up from there. The more the merrier.
 
I think a minimum of five magazines for a military type rifle and three magazines for a hunting rifle is a good starting point.

Same for a semi-auto handgun 3-5 minimum.

I get a chuckle at guys who buy twenty magazines for their AR15 rifles, "Just in case". and don't ever keep more than a hundred rounds of ammunition on hand at any one time.
 
But then I think about for example, soldiers on Iraq, surely they don't carry around 30 mags with them, or do they ?
Click to expand...

I don't usually carry all mine around with me either.

But, for some rifles I have 30+. PTR91 for example. I got some for 3 dollars each, still less than 100 dollars spent and I have a lifetime supply lol.
 
I would get at least 10 for every firearm i own that uses mags, but i can't afford them in thsi new "era", i just got my AR in before it started.
 
I have 5 or more for each pistol ranging from 10 to 33rd capacity, 10 for my AK ranging from 10 to 47rd capacity, and 5 mags ranging from 5 to 10rd for my shotgun.

Realistically I don't see how you yould ever last long enough in a firefight to expend all of them - and more or less keep that kind of quantity on hand because I wanted to get them all before prices skyrocketed. Not only are they a good thing to have in case a few break, but they're a good investment for if you want to make a profit down the road...
 
10 magazines per rifle, per loadout. That is what I would consider "sufficient". It would be good to have at least 2 replacement sets (that's 30 magazines per rifle) because magazines wear out and they occasionally get banned.

By loadout, I mean if you have a Bug Out Bag, a tactical vest (for training or fighting zombies or whatever you do), and all of the other things that you might wear or carry while using your rifle. I think that it is best to have these kind of things ready to grab and go, rather than having to deal with swapping magazines between them.

I also would recommend keeping magazines loaded. Springs do not wear out from being compressed. What wears out springs is being compressed and decompressed repeatedly. That means that the more you fill and empty a magazine, the faster it will wear out. It doesn't hurt to store it loaded, so it makes for a better "grab and go" set of gear.

I would recommend keeping a few pistol magazines in each kit as well.

Kits that you might consider setting up are:

-Bug out bag (supplies to survive for 72 hours, see all of the BOB threads for examples)
-Discrete tactical (for SHTF situations where you want to be able to have tactical gear, but don't want to stand out. See Maxpedition for great discrete gear)
-Tactical (a vest, preferably with armor. Probably the least important yet most expensive setup, that you will probably never need unless the Ruskies invade)
-Range (probably a bag that stores your rifle safely with some magazines, ear and eye protection, and maybe a cleaning kit)

There are other kinds of kits that you might want to set up, but those are just some ideas of the basics. Just remember that if you are in an emergency situation, a full on tactical vest might make you a target. Discrete is best.


ETA,
You will probably never see a situation where you will need more than 1-2 magazines. Ten magazines is much more than any semi-auto rifle user would ever need in a single situation. I think that having 10 would be optimal, but you would be more than sufficiently set up with 3-5.
 
30? 50? Good grief. I sometimes wonder what some of you storm troopers are going to do once you've won the firefight.

Anyway, just for comparison, I think that the US Army suggests about 10 20-round mags for a soldier going on patrol, but it would be interesting to hear from someone with more recent experience. Of course, the average soldier has some expectation of backup in a fight.
 
30? 50? Good grief. I sometimes wonder what some of you storm troopers are going to do once you've won the firefight.
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure that the people talking about having 30-50 mags are talking about having them at home. I think that the absolute largest amount of magazines you would want to carry would be about 10. 3-5 is much more reasonable. The reason for having 30-50 mags is to replace mags that wear out. They do wear out. The idea is "how many should I get, assuming that I don't want to have to buy/worry that I won't be able to buy them anymore."

30-50 magazines will last you for the service life of your rifle, in most cases. That is the reasoning. I doubt anyone is trying to rationalize bringing all 30-50 with you to a firefight.
 
At home I like to have five magazines for each one of my Rifles and Pistols. Now on duty in Iraq I carried three magazines on my belt for my M9 at all times and one magazine in a stock pouch on my M4 (If I carried it on the FOB) on patrol I carried a bandoleer with twelve magazines for my M4 and another two more for my M9.

And ever time I went out I still wanted to have more ammo then I had.
 
...replace mags that wear out. They do wear out.
Click to expand...

When I was in Basic Training, they had us load the 20-round magazines for the M-14 (yeah, it was 1969) with 18 rounds. They said it was because loading 20 caused the springs to wear out too soon, but I wonder if the real reason was that they cut the allotment of ammunition by 10% at some time. You can never be sure you get the complete truth out of a bureaucracy.
 
My minimum has always been to have 12 mags per gun. I keep 3-4 times that around though. Overkill? Maybe. But a mag fed gun with no mags is all but useless. Things happen, feed lips get bent, springs fail, followers decide to act up, you never know. If you have more mags avalible, you just keep going for the day, and deal with the failed one at a later time.

Also: Think on possible future bans, elections, etc. Always good to have more than you figure you'll possibly ever need.

Range trips or out busting 'yotes, jacks, or other varmits, you grab somewhere between a half dozen and a dozen loaded mags, you can go all day without worrying about reloading.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

T
  • Locked
High Cost Magazines - I don't want to hear any more whining
Replies
21
Views
1K
Gewehr98
G
4
  • Locked
Price to Convert AK-47 Low Cap to Hi Cap Mags
Replies
6
Views
2K
Vegaslaith
V
C
  • Locked
How many stripper clips is enough?
2
Replies
26
Views
1K
AgentAdam
A
R
  • Locked
How many mags?
Replies
6
Views
671
Kramer Krazy
K
A
  • Locked
Hi-Point Hi-Cap
Replies
4
Views
351
W.E.G.
W.E.G.
Back
Top