Who carries reloads: Speed Loader vs. Magazine

[David E]

Tom Givens agrees and does not teach it. I can see knowing it in case it is needed, but focus on emergency reloads is more important.

I teach it because:

1) it's a good thing to know, just not as part of an actual shootout. IE; administrative handling.

2) there are a lot of stupid techniques being taught, so I show them a better way.

3) IDPA won't stop requiring them, so if you shoot IDPA, it's important for competition purposes.

 

[David E]

The holster that I have right now has a place for one spare mag and I keep one in the pistol. Now when I get my new carry holster I'll most likely carry both of my spare mags as well as the one in the pistol. That will give me a total of 30 rounds of 40 S&W rounds. Note: I do not have the same ammo in each mag. I have one mag with 155 grain hollow points, one mag with 180 grain Barry plated bullets loaded with 6.8 grains of Longshot powder, and the third has 165 grain fmj bullets in it at the moment but it will be loaded up with as a combo mag with rat shot, hollow points and fmj of three each.

I hesitate to ask..... WHY would you want to do that?!

I can see the last mag being FMJ, but never a rat-shot mix.

 

[Backpacker33]

Speed loaders for revolvers were not available when I first started carrying. Other than in Vietnam, my first issued sidearm was an auto. The people who trained me demanded carrying an additional magazine, though we operated in a civilian environment.
A few years later I was working for a close protection firm. One very good thing about it was that they required extensive training with issued weapons. I observed people inadvertently eject a full magazine. My employer strongly discouraged speed loaders, but allowed them. I saw more than one person eject the rounds thing before getting it to the cylinder. I also saw magazines fail. Therefore, we were required to carry extra magazines for semi-autos, and some form of reload for revolvers. I used a S&W dump pouch for a while, for revolvers, and was quite proficient with it. When speed strips became available I went to those instead. My employer demanded proficiency with them, so I practiced with them. Remember the scene in Silence of the Lambs where Jodi Foster was reloading her revolver with loose ammo? That would not have flown with our employer.

 

[MrTwigg]

I've taken several basic and advanced defensive shooting classes over the years and while instructors have differing opinions of nearly everything, the one thing everyone agrees on is to carry at least one spare magazine.

So I do.