Should You Carry Extra Ammo on You?

Are you carrying spare ammo?  Do you really need extra ammo on your person?  What reason would you need more bullets?

First you want to factor in if it is legal in your state and if you’re able to carry extra rounds of ammo with you or not.  Laws are ever changing and you need to check with your state on what your limitations are when carrying a firearm.  If you have a wheelgun (revolver), you may be carrying a speed loader, clip or speed strips to quickly reload your firearm.  For semi-automatic handguns, you may have an extra magazine or two (or more).

From here on out, I am going to refer to semi-automatic pistols, but the same holds true for revolvers.

Straight to the point, YES you should carry an extra magazine (or speed loader, clips or speed strips) with you.  First of all, if you are involved in a gunfight, you will need all the ammo you can get your hands on within a short period of time.  You may be up against more than one attacker and with many criminals, they usually work in teams.  If you have a spare magazine or two that are on you, you will need to get access to them within seconds.  Some people carry their spare on the hip or in their pocket, but it all depends on what you’re wearing and where you’re able to store your ammo.  Remember, the more ammo you carry, the more weight you will be carrying.  I just carry one spare due to my clothing, but I’ll have a total of 30 rounds.  Each magazine carries 15.  Others may have a higher round capacity.

The advantage of having additional ammo are the following:

• You may not get all your shots on target.
• You may be out of the fight due to an injury but someone there many can continue to defend against the criminal for you.  It may even be a loved one. They may need the extra ammo to continue the fight for you.
• If your loved one has the same type of ammo and magazine as you do, they can tap you for additional bullets if your both defending yourselves.
• A single shot may not take down your threat, they could be on drugs and after several shots on target, they may continue to be a threat.
• You can stay in the fight longer and continue to defend yourself.
• You may have multiple attackers.
• Malfunctions are going to be your enemy and having extra ammo will be your best friend in case this happens.
• It could save your life.

You should train yourself in the art of reloading your firearm especially in low light conditions.  The more your practice, the more you’ll train your muscle memory and it will become automatic without looking after a while.  Doing this frequently will help you reload your firearm under pressure if you end up defending yourself, even in low light conditions.  When you do train yourself, always do so with an unloaded firearm.  Remember, training is perishable, so you must practice frequently.

Another reason to carry a spare magazine (not for revolvers) is that if you experience mechanical malfunction with the magazine, you have a spare that you can replace it with.  Magazines can go bad and if you just have one and it’s not functioning properly, you’re out of the gunfight and you’ll have to find other means to defend yourself or get the hell out of there.

If you carry multiple firearms (one firearm is your backup), you want to make sure that the magazines are interchangeable with both firearms.  If not, you may end up carrying different spare magazines for multiple guns and trying to sort out which magazine goes with what pistol within a split second could be disasterous.  When adrenalin is pumping through your system when you’re fighting for your life, its going to limit your abilities and being prepared ahead of time can save your life.  It’s best to sort this out beforehand and practice, practice, practice so you are prepared.

For example, your main semi-automatic jams and you can’t clear the malfunction. You decide to go with your backup (another semi-automatic) which is strapped to your ankle.  You empty the magazine on that one but you need more ammo.  If the magazine in you main sidearm (one with the malfunction) is useable in your backup, you can pop that one out and put it into your backup.  Now you’re ready to go again to keep defending yourself.

Some people use a revolver as a backup, and that’s just fine too.  You’ll have to have your spare ammo ready to go when you go empty.

I would highly recommend you carry spare ammo and it’s ready to go within a split second.  Don’t put a handful of bullets in your pocket thinking you can manually reload during a gunfight.  It’s going to take you a while to reload.  Be prepared and be ready to go.

Be safe out there, be the responsible firearm owner and always follow the “Concealed Carry Creed”!!!