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I'm thinking of taking a carbine class local to the area. They want me to bring (among other things) a magazine holster and snap caps.
Any recommendations on a holster that will hold two or three AR magazines? I'd be embarrassed showing up with a chest rig or something equally tacticool. Any simple/non-discrete belt holsters or similar?
What about snap caps? You guys actually use them?
When you said holster, I thought you were going to say they wanted you to bring a pistol. Them wanting you to bring a way to carry spare mags is pretty normal. The standard I've seen is a way to carry at least four mags at the firing line. My standard "low profile" configuration is two on the belt and two more shoved into magazine pockets in my jacket.
The easiest route would be something like the HSGI Tacos mounted on a belt.
Nylon version: http://www.highspeedgear.com/hsgi/bm-taco-13TA00.html
Polymer: http://www.highspeedgear.com/hsgi/16TA00-16TA00.html
I use snap caps (as well as the the dummy Magpul rounds) all the time for dry fire and malfunction practice. I've also been to courses where I had to bring a penny and wedge it between the follower and the feed lips so the empty mag wouldn't raise the bolt catch.
Depending on the course. Some entry-level carbine courses are not very demanding relative to equipment, but for most of the more advanced courses, more magazines at the line the better off you will be. I shot a 3-day course with Jeff Gonzales a few years ago and we shot 2500 rounds. There was a LOT of reloading back at the tent, and 7 magazines would not always get me through a single course of fire at the line. I always carry 4 magazines on a chest rig and two on my belt, as does almost every one else in the course. In the rare carbine course where the a pistol isn’t required, I’ll swap the belt’s pistol mags for a third AR magazine, maybe a fourth. Don’t forget to get a dump pouch for spent magazines. A RolyPoly, for example. You will also find a loader-unloaded to be a very useful tool. I use a MagLULA or StripLULA (prefer the latter). Again, depending on the intensity of the course (good carbine courses are usually kind of intense), the more efficiently you can manage your ammo and loading, the lower the chance that you will be “that guy”, whom the rest of the class has to wait on at the line while you load magazines. You might find some cheap pouches out there. Good ones always seem to cost around $30.
If your course is entry level, you’d do fine with a gun belt of come kind with 2-4 mag pouches on it. Taco’s are fine, as are most of the many others out there. I prefer pouches without retention flaps or loops and use only ITW Fastmags. I haven’t tried the polymer Tacos. They look pretty cool. It looks like it would be easier than the Fastmags to get 4 of them on the left side of my belt.
Snap caps are going to be required for malfunction drills.
Agree with Hmac, having more mags at the line never hurts. Aside from that, bring as many loaded mags as you have. My last course was 1500 rounds (4 days), with most of that being the first two days. I brought 18 loaded mags with me, and didn't have to spend any time reloading mags during the course. I saved that for my hotel room in the evenings, after cleaning the weapon. Not having to load mags means less down time from actually shooting, and you won't be holding up the rest of the clss.
The thing I like about the StripLuLa is that it works great with stripper clips too. I have a lot of Pmags, but at these courses I'll spend the evening before loading rounds into strippers at my desk while watching a movie (you can pick them up off ebay in large quantities for cheap). Using loaded stripper clips (10 rounds) with the StripLuLa lets me load a 30-round Pmag in less than 10 seconds.Quote:
Originally Posted by BrigandTwoFour
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLCRJka3CN0
USGI mag pouches work.
Also Bandoleers, Ammo on strippers, with spoons, if your mag stash is limited.
Pull the string on a 4 or 6 pocket bando to hold as many 30 Rd mags.
Use the safety pins to keep Bandoleers in place.
A buddy of mine has these and they work well.
http://www.skdtac.com/searchresults....length&Submit=
I use Raven Concealment's AR mag holders and they're good, too.
stop worrying about what others think and run what you already have and plan to use in a real incident
if you have enough time to put mag pouches on your belt, you have enough time to run a chest rig or whatever tacticool gear you have/want to run
only thing that matters is that you train with it often and have worked out the kinks for the way you shoot, especially in awkward positions
I wore plates to a level 1 class recently and got a ton of snickers and comments, jabs at my "tacticool" setup. I didn't give a damn. Especially when they all went tromping back to their cars over and over to simply reload while I just kept pulling from my "mag bag" of preloaded mags or pulled from my plate carrier on the line.
Couldn't give less of a damn what a bunch of people that forget they have a safety on their gun and can't hit an IPSC sized target at 15 yards think of me.
I run a single Raven AR mag pouch (20rd M3 pmag) on my support side behind a double pistol pouch. Works great for me.
run the dark red aluminum snap cap things for malfunction drills with both pistol & rifle; the black plastic ones look good but I've never owned one
I want to weigh in about dummy rounds/snap caps:
Do not buy anything like this: http://www.marklsupply.com/bSAF-T-Tr...ulk_p_815.html regardless of who makes or sells them. They get chewed up and rims get chipped away to easily, especially with dirty weapons.
I use these: http://www.stactionpro.com/223-cal-5...ounds-p-6.html they are higher priced initially, but they last much longer. They do get bent/creased when practicing bolt overrides and charging handle impingements, I solve that by using the same ones over and over until they are done for. IMO they are also the best for differentiating between live and dummy rounds.
These are also good, but a little pricier: http://www.primaryarms.com/a-zoom-sn...2-pack-az12222 Plus they have the disadvantage of no bright color to help you differentiate them from live ammo, or find them in the grass. They need to be brighter/glossier IMO.
These are pretty much the gold standard, but Lawdy are they pricey: https://www.amazon.com/Tipton-Snap-C.../dp/B0048KGWKU They are red, translucent and have the spriny thingy to reduce firing pin peening. Unknown how they work on double feed, bolt overrides, etc. because I've used them.
I know the thread is old, but I really like the Wilder Tactical AR mag pouches. Work great for both metal & polymer mags.
Their pistol pouches are great because they work with almost ANY pistol mag. I prefer dedicated pouches for pistols personally, but have the Wilder pouches on my "flexible" rig. The med kit is the best thing they sell btw (amazingly small for what's in it).