How many rounds is enough?

[Business_Casual]

As highlighted in the thread in the Pistol Forum on the XDm compact:

anything over 13 is cool with me.

So how many rounds is enough for the typical CCW? Police? Soldier?

Ken Hackathorn speaks of 1-3 assailants. Others speak of the "average" number of shots in a gunfight. I know what makes me comfortable. What are your thoughts?

Mine are: G19 with 15 rounds, spare 17 mag with 16 rounds. I always download Glock mags per LAV.

M_P

[Zhurdan]

I carry at least two spare magazines (1911). Why? because if there's a malfunction/misfeed/etc. a reload may be part of the solution. I probably won't have a need for 29 rounds (1 8rnd in the gun and 2 10rnd spares) at any given time, but it's conceivable that I'll need a spare magazine to either refuel the pistol or to solve a malfunction. It kind of makes me shudder when people don't carry a spare magazine/reload.

[Erk1015]

I'm somewhat confused by the question. Are you asking about handgun capacity, like a 1911 (8 rounds) vs a glock (15 or so) or are you asking how much ammo to carry total (in the gun and extra mags), or is it how many rounds to put down a threat?

I'm assuming the second question based on Zhurdans' response, for me I carry at least one extra mag (total of 31 rounds), two whenever possible (46 rounds). That's mostly just because I realize that I'm the unluckiest person I've ever met and I want to be prepared for the worst. It makes me a little bit happier knowing that I have one less problem to have to think about in a fight.

[David Thomas]

I'm somewhat confused by the question. Are you asking about handgun capacity, like a 1911 (8 rounds) vs a glock (15 or so) or are you asking how much ammo to carry total (in the gun and extra mags), or is it how many rounds to put down a threat?

I read the post as asking how many total rounds do you carry and in what capacity, i.e. as a leo, ccw, etc...

For ccw I carry 16 rounds of 45 acp for a 1911, and 5 in a S&W 442 BUG.
8 in the 1911 (7 round mag + one in the chamber) plus one spare 8 round mag.

Is that enough? depends on the situation.

[Business_Casual]

Erk1015,

What is your pistol's capacity and what process did you follow to determine that was "enough" ammunition available to be "adequate" for carry? The point is to examine how you did the mental exercise and your rational decision making process. Perhaps someone will be able to share something from which we can learn. But whatever you want to post is fine as long as it is relevant.

M_P

[David Thomas]

It kind of makes me shudder when people don't carry a spare magazine/reload.

I never understood the logic behind carrying a gun with no spare mag, either.

[ToddG]

The capacity and carriage issues have to be looked at separately. Having 100 rounds on you in nifty 2-round magazines isn't as good as having two 50-round magazines.

m_p alluded to the most important factor, which is personal comfort. You have to do the math:

How many BGs do you think you may need to deal with?
How many hits do you think you may need to deal with each?
How many rounds do you think you'll need to fire (under stress, while moving & being shot at) to get that number of hits?

My magic number is 13. And because I'd rather not be reloading while rounds are incoming, I'd like at least 13 (12+1) in the gun as a starting condition.

FWIW, my math is two guys, 5 hits, 75% hit rate. Thirteen is close enough. Of course, that's all just a bunch of guesswork which is why it's a matter of personal comfort rather than science. Could it be more than two attackers? Of course. Could they need more than five hits before they've been "stopped to death?" Sure. Could my hit rate be less than 75%? Absolutely.

It's almost enough to make you think being in a gunfight isn't a sure thing...

edited to add: And I always carry a spare mag.

[JSantoro]

I think less of how many rounds I have so much as I try to recognize that I'm not an arsenal ship, and that I need to do some critical thinking somewhere around the halfway mark of my on-person supply. I.e., I need to think about resupply/assault through/hide/skedaddle/sob uncontrollably, instead of getting stuck on the first iteration of A in the OODA loop.

Whatever your load-out, be it your everyday concealment crap or a full assault load, think about how long it takes you to go rounds-complete with it if you shoot nonstop all in one big noise orgy.

Concealment (to me)= 11 in the gun, 20rnds in 2 spares. Call it 25-40sec to expend.

Assault laod = NLT 5 carbine mags, more likely 7; M9 with total of 4 mags. Call it 3 minutes, tops.

How much ammo you carry depends first on your gun(s), your mode of dress, and how much you CAN carry and still go about your day-to-day stuff. You don't get to decide how many adversaries you confront, the Fickle Finger of Fate will do that for you, unbidden. Ergo, the rub to me is not getting sucked into the tube of simply shooting by the time the initial reoad is done. Something else besides trigger-pulling needs to start at that point, regardless of whether or not you're Ultraviolet and pulling rounds from a pair pocket alternate dimensions attached to your wrists.

[ToddG]

Whatever your load-out, be it your everyday concealment crap or a full assault load, think about how long it takes you to go rounds-complete with it if you shoot nonstop all in one big noise orgy.

16rd in the gun, 15rd reload, including concealment draw & slidelock reload: ~10sec

edited to add: That's assuming no movement with all hits on an 8" circle at 7yd.

[MarshallDodge]

Rule #1. Have a gun and know how to use it.

I carry a 1911 with an 8 round mag and a spare for a total of 16 rounds. There are times when I carry my little Kahr with 6 rounds and a spare mag. The main reason I carry a spare mag is in case of a malfunction, not necessarily for more ammo.

If you want to carry more then that's alright by me, just never let me hear that you were in a gunfight where 80 shots were fired and there were only two hits on the bad guy.