Why buy and/or carry so many bullets?

[Mike1234567]

Because it's cheap insurance.

 

[gym]

It's subjective. Whatever floats your boat.It dosen't have to fall within the parameters of what any one person thinks

 

[Loosedhorse]

Could it be the new market for gun sales is aimed primarily at those in the actual bidness of crime itself?

Why, now that you mention it--aren't ALL gun sales aimed at promoting crime and killing?

The average armed private citizen (as well as the average police officer) will not fire his gun in self-defense today, tomorrow...or ever. So the total number of rounds they NEED is...zero, right?

 

[we are not amused]

I find this entire post to be somewhat stupid and silly. In someways I agree with him about high-capacity mags but for entirely different reasons. I don't like the weight and bulk involved. I don't think they are stupid or criminal.

Are JHPs the new condiment? Is it ballast to offset the brief case, newspaper, or their own trepidations? Maybe it’s simple compensation for some other deficit they possess..

If you don't know the reason to have JHPs, then you probably shouldn't be carrying. After all if you are that ignorant of what you are carrying and why you carry it... And what do you mean "compensation for some other deficit they possess?" Are you using the sicko anti-gunners old charge that people who like guns are people who think having a gun compensates for having a small penis? I didn't think anybody was sick enough to still use that line.

Could it be the new market for gun sales is aimed primarily at those in the actual bidness of crime itself? Those engaged in it’s commission rather than it’s omission?

Now that comes right out of the Brady bunch and Mayor Bloomberg!

My single stack 8 rd & 10 rd clips have proven to me it’s near impossible at first to fill them up to the top. Ouch! It’s going to be some sore thumbs and some alone time in the den late at night emptying and re-filling clip after clip, or the addition of an autoloader…. Or gee… some Range time

!
It sounds like you are physically unfit to load magazines! Is that what the entire screed is about?

Possessing, carrying, and concealing 20 round fire arms seems as ludicrous as the adage that everyone should carry a gun. Dodge city and other Frontier towns had it’s share of that approach, people were still getting shot.

Actually my position is that Everyone should carry a gun!
Dodge City and the other Frontier towns were actually quite peaceful compared to today's cities.

 

[toivo]

Feature creep. Marketing needs to match or beat the competition feature by feature.

That's half the equation. The other half is the old saying, "It's better to have and not need than to need and not have."

There's always a trade-off between convenience and security. Obviously, a soldier fully outfitted for battle is better-equipped to meet a violent assault than a guy with an LCP in his pocket is, but that's just not going to work for daily civilian life. Most people will opt for the fire extinguisher on the wall as opposed to the fire truck parked in the driveway.

 

[Shienhausser]

I carry a 6 shot .357mag and another 6 rounds.



As far as buying a lot of ammo, I shoot A LOT. I buy in groups of 1,000 and when those are done, I reload them. According to you, me buying enough ammo to supply a small militia is ridiculous even though it is for the purpose of practicing which is something you praise. Argument fail.

 

[youngda9]

Better to have and not need then to need and not have.

 

[Cosmoline]

I think a lot of folks go overboard with ammo count. The TEOTWAKI threads are the worst offenders, where folk will talk about how many hundreds, or thousands, of rounds their bug out bags have.

But in fairness, much of the training these days revolves around high capacity semiautos with plenty of extra magazines. And people tend to stick with what they're trained for. Only a few outfits offer very much love for the old wheelguns or even a single stack.

And as noted, you never know.

 

[CMC]

Back when the wonder nines came out I bought one and it was way too butt heavy for CCW for me I also bought a kit to covert my 1911 to double stack.
A six or 7 round pistol or revolver is right for me , the lighter and slimmer the pistol is what I found I need to carry confortably all day as I prefer IWB.
To each is own

 

[1911fan]

Not to hijack the thread but the reason that Dodge City and all those "frontier towns" were so peaceful was strict gun control. Cowboys had to turn in their guns before they were allowed to roam the saloon/red light district (another strictly controlled place).

Contrast this with mining towns like Virginia City and Bodie where, according to newspapers of the time, it was not at all uncommon to "have a man for breakfast", meaning that someone got himself killed overnight.

Does this mean that I advocate (shudder) gun control? NOT! I was just pointing out an obvious hole in the "everyone should carry a gun" agruement. At the very least, we should try to keep alcohol and firearms from mixing.

Back to the hi-cap thread. Some seem to think they need many, many bullets. Some don't think they need that many. Some are somewhere in between. Just don't down me for carrying a five-shot .38 with a couple of speedloaders and I won't down you for carrying the latest Wundernine and 300 rounds.

Wouldn't it be a boring world if we all agreed on everything?

ed

 

[JohnBT]

"Back when the wonder nines came out I bought one"

You bought a Browning Hi-Power in 1935? Dang, you're older than me.

 

[chhodge69]

I smell a troll

I carry more ammo for the same reason I carry a gun in the first place... just in case. There's no rational or reasonable number of rounds to carry beyond which I'm suddenly being absurd.

'Too much ammo' is determined only by concealment and encumbrance, not by emotion.

 

[mdauben]

Why do people post questions asking about someones practices that is rife with criticizm and ridicule?

It's called "trolling"

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

Past experiences show only one or two, perhaps at most, 3 or 4, shots ever get sent out to find their new nest by either attacker or attacked.

Provided it doesn't make the gun unwieldy, why not have as many rounds as possible? (Though there is a lot to be said for the slender single-stacks, especially 9mm, from a concealment standpoint.) Maybe those few shots are enough, maybe not. Especially when there are two or more attackers. I know of a case where the good guy emptied a 7-shot .45 against two robbers, killed one, but perceived that the remaining one was still in play and needed to reload. (An older thread I started, "Lessons From a Retired Marine.")

 

[goon]

...I’m a bit confused.

Do most people actually think they’ll be able to expend all those rounds if they deploy their weapon in a crisis situation against another assailant, or even two who were foolish enough to bring a knife to a gun fight?

Trust me… that new shiny pistol and all those extra rounds are gonna wind up in the hands of your mugger if you are unable to avoid, foresee, difuse or overcome some dire situation. That both hands up in the air stance only worked for the Karate Kid.

Possessing, carrying, and concealing 20 round fire arms seems as ludicrous as the adage that everyone should carry a gun. Dodge city and other Frontier towns had it’s share of that approach, people were still getting shot...

Well if you're worried about your attacker gaining possession of your firearm, maybe you should just be safe and not carry it.
If you're confident in your marksmanship abilities, you could just load the chamber and let the magazine at home.
Or you could load one in the chamber and two rounds in the magazine if you really want to go all out and be very over-prepared!
Load every other chamber in your revolver... just think of how much weight you won't have to carry by leaving those extra three rounds at home!
And think of how much money you'll save - premium defense ammunition isn't cheap, so you could really save a lot of money by not having to worry about using up $20 worth of it repelling an attacker when $10 worth of ammo might have been enough to stop him from finishing you off with a tire-iron as you flail around at him with an empty gun.

Really, it's your skin - do whatever you want. But I don't see why anyone wouldn't at least load their handgun to full capacity. Even the Broomhandle Mauser carried 10 rounds... in 1896!
As for others, I don't care how much ammunition they're carrying as long as they don't send any of it my direction.

 

[AnonymousDefender]

I think the sentiment against this is primarily coming from the fact that some of you old guys don't want to give up your 1911s and J-frames. Nothing wrong with that and 98% of all defensive situations we are likely to face, those fine weapons will do just fine.

More is obviously better. This is coming from a guy who doesn't even carry a spare magazine half the time, because I am lazy....not because I think that going without is necessarily smarter. I normally carry a glock 19. That said, the biggest reason why people carry a spare magazine has as much or more to do with malfunction clearances than number of rounds.

All that said, I don't want to come across as thinking there are not plenty of shooters here who would make me look like a nothing...but I shoot my pistols often. I can empty my 15 round capacity glock 19 into a steel plate at handgun fighting distances in a matter of seconds. It has nothing to do with "spray and pray" and everything to do with the fact that terminal ballistics is unpredictable, and handgun rounds suck. I train to shoot the threat to the ground. 15 rounds in a gun fight can be gone a lot faster than you might think. Further, as has been posted, 50% of all violent crimes in this country involve more than one assailant.

We all know that in 95% of self-defense cases the scumbags will flee the minute they find out they are not dealing with someone with the means and will to fight back. I don't want to rely on that. Like I said, your 5 / 6 / 7 + 1 weapons are plenty useful for the majority of self-defense cases. But why on earth you would knock someone for taking the time to throw on a spare magazine or carry a pistol a tenth of an inch thicker so that they have more ammunition if they need it is beyond me. Your logic is right up there with the people who claim you "don't need" to carry a gun in the first place.



Oh, and let me add the obligatory "THEY ARE NOT CALLED CLIPS. THEY ARE CALLED A "REMOVABLE BOX MAGAZINE" OR "MAGAZINE" FOR SHORT." If you are going to criticize, please at least use the correct terminology.

 

[thorazine]

What am I missing? I see such prevalence for pistol makers to increase the capacity of their weapons regularly, well, many but not all. It appears there is a race of sorts for seeing just how many shots this gun or that can hold as they bring them to market!

You're telling me that you don't want a lot of something good?!

Nine rounds of forty five is great but...

Fifteen rounds is better.

 

[Iramo94]

Because it's cheap insurance.

+1. That is exactly what it is.
The chances that you need more than two bullets are slim and none, but they are there. The chances are also slim and none that you will get into a front-end accident that will kill you without a seatbelt, but is survivable with a seatbelt. The chances are slim and none that a man aged 35 will die before he hits 45 (really, it's like 1 per million.) That doesn't mean you skimp on life insurance for your family.
Every thead like this boils down to only one idea, one truth that accurately explains the whole of concealed carry: It's cheap insurance, and it will probably never be used, thank God, but I think I'll buy some anyway.

 

[AnonymousDefender]

Also, I would hope that if I am ever involved in a fight for my life, that I am lucky enough to have a few rounds to spare after the fight is over. Can you imagine how naked you would feel if you were just forced to shoot an assailant who was trying to kill you or your loved ones, and, not knowing whether there are more threats, you are standing there holding an empty pistol waiting for the police to arrive? No thank you.

 

[ForumSurfer]

Why buyand/or carry so many bullets?

I buy so many because I shoot so many. My kids shoot often. My girlfriend occasionally shoots. I shoot often and I'm trying to improve my skillset for self defense reasons and because I want to start competing locally. Some people scoff at 1000 round purchases as being over the top. To others like me, it is just cheaper since we actually shoot that much. I personally don't feel confident in my ability after shooting 100 slow fire rounds standing at a static line shooting a stationary target twice a year.

 

[Deanimator]

1. I don't EVER remember hearing somebody say, "Boy, I wish I'd brought LESS ammunition to that gunfight."
2. One word, "flashmob".

Carry what you want. Just don't kid yourself into believing that there's NO reason to carry more.

 

[ThatGuyHank]

Carry an extra pistol!

If your first gun fails then that extra pistol could save your life.

What am I missing?

You're missing the fact that your opinion is irrelevent to everyone around you unless they share the same sentiment. I do not agree with you however. I live in a state that won't allow me to own a gun that holds more than 15 rounds, has an adjustable/folding stock, threaded muzzle/flash hider, bayonet lug or a grenade launcher. If I want a gun that holds 16 rounds or 1,000 rounds what does it matter to anyone else? Who are you to tell me that that's wrong or crazy or largely unnecessary?

Does the ordinary, everyday, clock punching guy or gal, or business professional need to carry an armory along with the lunch bucket, or Wall Street Journal?

No they don't NEED to but who cares if they want to? You don't NEED to own a gun but you do because you want to right? It's your right to carry/own as few bullets as you'd like as well as another person's right to carry/own as many as they'd like.

It's a simple matter of a person exercising their rights.

 

[Mike1234567]

Back when the wonder nines came out I bought one and it was way too butt heavy for CCW for me I also bought a kit to covert my 1911 to double stack.
A six or 7 round pistol or revolver is right for me , the lighter and slimmer the pistol is what I found I need to carry confortably all day as I prefer IWB.
To each is own

I'd MUCH rather have a bottom-heavy pistol than a top-heavy one. Although my Hi-Point .45 ACP is reliable and accurate enough, that huge/heavy slide makes the gun VERY top-heavy. The heavy slide provides for some recoil reduction but just holding the thing feels very awkward to me.

 

[USAF_Vet]

Although my Hi-Point .45 ACP is reliable and accurate enough, that huge/heavy slide makes the gun VERY top-heavy. The heavy slide provides for some recoil reduction but just holding the thing feels very awkward to me.

I find in my HP.45 that when it's loaded, although heavy, it balances very well. When empty, yes, it's a bit top heavy, but I thought that same thing about the XDm when I first held one.

 

[WNC Seabee]

Brevity is the soul of wit - Billy Shakespeare

Aside from the fairly obvious trolling, the question really comes down to "why NOT carry as much ammo as I desire?". If one wished to tote around countless magazines filled to capacity, then so be it. No skin off my nose. Do what is right for you, don't worry about others and we'll all sleep happy.