How many magazines to feel comfortable?

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Tycer
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How many magazines to feel comfortable?

Post by Tycer »

How many magazines do you need to run through your gun to feel comfortable using that gun in that round to save your life?
Does that need to be refreshed on any regular basis?
Personally, I need to run a couple of mags of my carry ammo through my gun every month to feel comfortable. I practice with ball mostly, but every month I should at least two mags through my defensive guns with my defensive ammo.
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Re: How many magazines to feel comfortable?

Post by Bulldog »

That's more than most do. I will generally break in a new semi auto handgun with 200 rounds of ball ammo, then 50 rounds of my carry ammo to ensure it functions reliably. From then on it's either ball, or cast bullets for practice.
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Re: How many magazines to feel comfortable?

Post by Sixgun »

Tycer,
What your doing sounds about right to me...couple of mags a month then with a change of fresh ammo. As you know, very important to keep excess oil out of the gun from contaminating the primers.

My magazines only hold 5 rounds, sometimes 6 and they are circular in design. In 40 years I have yet to have a failure to feed or fire when testing which is about a cylinder every month or two.---6
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Chuck 100 yd
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Re: How many magazines to feel comfortable?

Post by Chuck 100 yd »

Sixgun wrote:Tycer,
What your doing sounds about right to me...couple of mags a month then with a change of fresh ammo. As you know, very important to keep excess oil out of the gun from contaminating the primers.

My magazines only hold 5 rounds, sometimes 6 and they are circular in design. In 40 years I have yet to have a failure to feed or fire when testing which is about a cylinder every month or two.---6
Kinda like a fixed drum magazine? I have those too. :D
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Re: How many magazines to feel comfortable?

Post by Old Ironsights »

Tycer wrote:How many magazines do you need to run through your gun to feel comfortable using that gun in that round to save your life?
Does that need to be refreshed on any regular basis?
Personally, I need to run a couple of mags of my carry ammo through my gun every month to feel comfortable. I practice with ball mostly, but every month I should at least two mags through my defensive guns with my defensive ammo.
My normal practice:

Go to the range with my EDC about quarterly.

Shoot every EDC magazine I have loaded.

Shoot a few mags of ball for fun.

Reload all EDC mags with fresh Zombie Loads.

Take gun home, unload all mags, clean, then reload.

The "enviornmental wear" on EDC ammo is not something I want to trust beyond 3 months or so. Yeah, it's probably good for 300 years, but IMO if you aren't "requalifying" with your EDC at least quarterly, you are doing yourself, the public, and EDC gunowners a disservice.

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Re: How many magazines to feel comfortable?

Post by pokey »

One
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Re: How many magazines to feel comfortable?

Post by Old Ironsights »

pokey wrote:One
And yet, I generally carry 2-4 "speed strips" with my revolver.

Same same.

I shoot my cylinder full, plus all speed strips at my quarterly range day.

If anything, I've learned over the last 30 years that revolver ammo is MORE susceptible to pocket lint/oil/sweat degredation than magazines...
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Re: How many magazines to feel comfortable?

Post by jeepnik »

I try to shoot at least weekly. I start with whatever I'm carrying, and run through the magazines or cylinder and reloads. This keeps my carry ammo fresh, and avoids repeated chambering of rounds in semi autos.

As to practice ammo, I use the same reloads for carry as practice. While I reload, I'm not one who wants to continually experiment. I find a load that works in a given handgun, is accurate and that I believe will do what I want it to and stick with that. In some cases that particular load may work in several handguns, but in a few cases they have their own "special" load.

And example of the "special" loads are what I use in my S&W 1917. I don't load any sort of rip snorting load, I pretty much match the ballistics of the loads used when it was new. Heck, it is almost 100 years old.
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Re: How many magazines to feel comfortable?

Post by Griff »

I ain't tellin'. Feel lucky?
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Re: How many magazines to feel comfortable?

Post by Blaine »

I run a mag or two every time I go out with the LCP (which is every time, I guess 8) ) I'll run several rounds thru all my Semi SD weapons. I'll admit, I don't run the expensive SD rounds, but they are not flying ashtrays, so they always feed good....Blazer Aluminum would stove pipe all the time, other than that, I've never had a problem whatsoever.
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Re: How many magazines to feel comfortable?

Post by AJMD429 »

Since zombie ammo is expensive, before I waste 347 rounds to get that gun-vetoing jam, I first make sure the semiauto runs cheap 'ball' ammo for 500-1,000 rounds; if it fails that test, then it won't likely earn the title of 'CCW Piece'.

Honestly, I don't feel truly confident with a semiauto until I've fired 500 to 1,000 rounds without a failure with the 'zombie' ammo. In nearly four decades of CCW, the only guns to earn the title of 'CCW Piece' have been:

1st - Super Blackhawk :shock: (it was the only center-fire I owned and I worked nights in pharmacies :| )
2nd - AMT generic 1911 (it is still my 'chore gun' and functions flawlessly despite years of abuse)
3rd - Charter Arms Bulldog (sold but later I bought a new model stainless one)
4th - North American Arms 22 Mag (had to carry in shoe when I was med student in 'gun-free-zone' hospitals)
5th - Para Ordnance P-14 (incredibly ergonomic and many thousands of rounds fired with no jams)
6th - Charter Arms Bulldog with Crimson Trace grips
7th - Para Ordnance P-12 ('Officer' sized 12-shot, but I went back to the P-14 since I didn't care about weight/size)
8th - SIG P-938 (as ergonomic as the P-14, only in a truly compact 9mm vs. a full-size 45 ACP like the P-14)

The only semiauto that hasn't gotten fully vetted at this point is the P-12, which I just didn't continue to use, because I could carry the P-14 in the same holsters, and it barely weighs any more (aluminum frame in P-14 versus steel in P-12), so I just went back to the P-14.
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Re: How many magazines to feel comfortable?

Post by missionary5155 »

Good morning
Hard to beat a good circular rotating magazine fed exposed hammer self cocker bored in something that starts with a 4 !
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Re: How many magazines to feel comfortable?

Post by M. M. Wright »

I highly recommend Wilson magazines for the 1911. I have 8 or 9 of them and have a couple that have been left loaded for about 30 years. Well occasionally I shoot up what's in them and then reload them to stash away for maybe another year or two.

In 1980 something I shot in an IPSC state championship match where I came something like 38th and the prize for that place was a couple of Wilson magazines. Bill didn't have them with him so he brought them to me at the next monthly match. I didn't mean to put him on the spot but asked if they would be OK if I just loaded them up and shot the match. He hesitated for a couple of seconds and said "sure". I think he remembered that I was shooting a Colt tuned up by Pachmayer. Any way, the magazines performed flawlessly and I still have them.

Wilson makes an 8 rounder too of which I have a couple.
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Re: How many magazines to feel comfortable?

Post by Old Ironsights »

M. M. Wright wrote:I highly recommend Wilson magazines for the 1911.

Wilson makes an 8 rounder too of which I have a couple.
I also recommend Chip McCormic "shooting Star" brand.

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Re: How many magazines to feel comfortable?

Post by JohndeFresno »

Griff wrote:I ain't tellin'. Feel lucky?
:lol: :lol: :lol:
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Re: How many magazines to feel comfortable?

Post by Bullard4075 »

Old Ironsights wrote:
M. M. Wright wrote:I highly recommend Wilson magazines for the 1911.

Wilson makes an 8 rounder too of which I have a couple.
I also recommend Chip McCormic "shooting Star" brand.

Never let me down.
Wilson 47D mags are the standard,though I'm sure looking at the Elite Tactical Magazines.

How much better is good enough? I'm always amused at some of the combat drills. No matter what you just did there is some saying "Yeah but what if you're shooting weak hand,upside down,in the back seat of a compact Yugo at a tall norwegian is an airplane?"
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Re: How many magazines to feel comfortable?

Post by buckeyeshooter »

Tycer wrote:How many magazines do you need to run through your gun to feel comfortable using that gun in that round to save your life?
Does that need to be refreshed on any regular basis?
Personally, I need to run a couple of mags of my carry ammo through my gun every month to feel comfortable. I practice with ball mostly, but every month I should at least two mags through my defensive guns with my defensive ammo.

NONE! I still carry a revolver for self defense.
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Re: How many magazines to feel comfortable?

Post by Griff »

Bullard4075 wrote:
Old Ironsights wrote:
M. M. Wright wrote:I highly recommend Wilson magazines for the 1911.
Wilson makes an 8 rounder too of which I have a couple.
I also recommend Chip McCormic "shooting Star" brand.
Never let me down.
Wilson 47D mags are the standard,though I'm sure looking at the Elite Tactical Magazines.
How much better is good enough? I'm always amused at some of the combat drills. No matter what you just did there is some saying "Yeah but what if you're shooting weak hand,upside down,in the back seat of a compact Yugo at a tall norwegian is an airplane?"
Actually, IMO, Tripp Reseach are the gold standard when the subject is 1911 magazines. They also sell a handy kit that provides their very excellent follower and spring to rebuild your old magazine... But, in reality, NONE of 'em are worth spit, if you don't do some periodic maintenance.
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Re: How many magazines to feel comfortable?

Post by Bullard4075 »

Griff wrote:
Bullard4075 wrote:
Old Ironsights wrote:
M. M. Wright wrote:I highly recommend Wilson magazines for the 1911.
Wilson makes an 8 rounder too of which I have a couple.
I also recommend Chip McCormic "shooting Star" brand.
Never let me down.
Wilson 47D mags are the standard,though I'm sure looking at the Elite Tactical Magazines.
How much better is good enough? I'm always amused at some of the combat drills. No matter what you just did there is some saying "Yeah but what if you're shooting weak hand,upside down,in the back seat of a compact Yugo at a tall norwegian is an airplane?"
Actually, IMO, Tripp Reseach are the gold standard when the subject is 1911 magazines. They also sell a handy kit that provides their very excellent follower and spring to rebuild your old magazine... But, in reality, NONE of 'em are worth spit, if you don't do some periodic maintenance.
I'm looking up Tripp Reseach :!:
"Any man who covers his face and packs a gun is a legitimate target for any decent citizen"
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Re: How many magazines to feel comfortable?

Post by Paladin »

Bulldog wrote:That's more than most do. I will generally break in a new semi auto handgun with 200 rounds of ball ammo, then 50 rounds of my carry ammo to ensure it functions reliably. From then on it's either ball, or cast bullets for practice.
This, with shooting my carry ammo about every 6 months.
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