Why Do I Need Extra Ammo?

I hear this question on occasion from students: "Why do I need to carry spare ammo?  I'm a great shot, and I don't go to bad parts of town, that just seems like too much trouble."  So, in this post I am going to try to shed some light on why I believe it is prudent to carry spare ammunition for your defensive sidearm.

The first reason is that you really do not want to run out of ammunition in a gun fight.  That is one of the worst things that can happen.  If you are already developing a defensive mindset, and becoming aware of your surroundings, and carrying a pistol for defense, concealing an extra magazine or two really isn't any harder.  Especially if you are carrying a snub nosed revolver, or a sub-compact semi-auto that has a capacity of 6 or more, this applies.  You may be able to put all of your shots in the 10 ring at a static range, and that shows you have the fundamentals of shooting down very well.  But life gets a lot different when there is someone shooting at you, with bullets cracking over your head, and your body gives you a massive dose of adrenaline and other chemicals into your blood stream.  You get tunnel vision, you lose fine motor skills, you focus on odd aspects of what is going on, your heart-rate increases, you get out of breath easily.  You should be moving, and your target is likely moving.  That makes it significantly harder to be able to put your bullets where you want them.  Additionally, you don't know how many threats you may face, it could be a sole attacker, but criminals rarely work alone.  And there is no guarantee that one or two rounds will stop each threat, and you should shoot until the threat is stopped.

This is one of the reasons that you should push yourself in training, and take yourself out of your comfort zone.  If your range lets you practice draws, shooting on the move, magazine reloads and malfunction drills, take advantage of that.  Don't just stay static on the range and punch holes in paper.  That way you can learn how to do complex things while under stress.

So, maybe you have a high-capacity semi-automatic handgun you carry, and you read that last paragraph thinking "If 17 rounds doesn't get me out of the situation, nothing will."  Well, that is your opinion, however, with any box-magazine fed gun, the magazine is usually the weakest link in the cycle of operation.  Magazines are mechanical and work based on springs, which means they can fail.  And with a non-working magazine, your semi-automatic just turned into a single-shot pistol.  The majority of malfunctions in a semi-automatic are magazine related.  Or what if your magazine release latch somehow got pushed in during all the stress, and your magazine goes flying onto the deck?  It is a lot easier to grab a new magazine from your waistline than scrambling in the mud for it.  Or if the base-plate got knocked off of your magazine while grappling on the ground, and the spring, follower and bullets are now in the mud too?  If for some reason your magazine or ammunition has failed, often the best solution is to replace it. So, having a spare magazine or two to reload with is an excellent idea.

So, maybe after that paragraph, you are thinking "I carry a revolver, so that doesn't apply to me!"  In which case, refer back to the earlier paragraph, because you probably have a 5-6 round capacity.  If you are in the revolver category, it is probably also a good idea to carry your spare rounds in some sort of device made to hold them.  There are speed loaders, speed strips, and moon clips, and you need to find what works best for you, but all of them make the loading process much faster and easier.  You don't want to be fumbling around in your pocket for loose rounds while you are reloading in a threat situation.  For a revolver spare ammo is usually carried on the strong side, in order to facilitate a proper reload, as was taught to the military and police for decades.

For semi-automatic carriers, usually just taking a magazine and throwing it in your pocket is not ideal.  The reason for that is that it means the magazine will not be in a consistent position when you grab it.  Having your magazines in a consistent position will help make your reloads a lot faster.  That way you can build solid muscle memory and know what your body needs to do in order to reload quickly.  So, your magazines should be in a magazine carrier, preferably on your weak side, to facilitate a smooth reload.  I usually buy double magazine pouches, and carry two spare magazines.  That is a personal choice, and I decide if I am going to conceal one magazine, I can conceal two.  But there are single magazine carriers available.  An additional advantage of having the spare magazines on the weak side of the waistline is that it helps balance out the weight I am carrying, and actually makes it more comfortable for me to carry a full sized pistol.  With just the pistol on my belt in a holster, after half a day or so, sometimes it gets uncomfortable, with the magazines opposite the pistol, I don't notice the weight all day.

I believe it is prudent for someone who takes defense seriously to carry at least one reload for their firearm.  I don't think that as a civilian I need to carry the hundreds of rounds that I used to carry as a Marine infantryman in combat zones, however, a spare magazine or two still makes a lot of sense.  If you have any comments or questions about this, please feel free to contact me or leave a comment.

EDIT:  As a response to a comment below, questioning the viability of situations that would require more than 8 rounds, here is an addendum:


Steve,

Thank you for taking the time to read and respond.

Maybe it isn't the far fetched scenario of having to stare down 9 guys like Snake.  Maybe it is one guy that is high on some strong drugs, like PCP, or a determined attacker.

The man who was supposedly on bath salts and eating another man's face was shot 4 times before the threat ended.  And since a police officer shot him, it is fairly safe to assume it was with a service caliber weapon and modern hollowpoint ammo.

In the 1986 Miami FBI shootout, one suspect was shot 6 times, the other 12.  That event is what prompted the FBI to go to more powerful, higher capacity pistols than the .38 revolvers most of their agents carried.

David Brown Jr, in Dallas Texas, killed one police officer and a bystander, before he was shot 9 times and killed by another officer.  He was high on PCP.  Once again, multiple rounds from a service caliber and defensive ammo.

I am aware that all of those examples are police shootings, and maybe you think they don't apply because of it.  But, for information about performance of modern defensive ammo, that is one of the best sources. But one, or two determined attackers, or attackers high on something that makes them feel no pain, can easily take multiple shots before the threat is over.

Shot placement is key, but it is very hard to put a shot in the right place while moving away from the threat and towards cover, and with all that physiological stuff I mentioned before going on.  The areas of the human body that need to be shot for instant incapacitation are rather small.

Some states do have a duty to retreat, and those requirements differ from state to state.  And since I am not a lawyer and can not give legal advice, I am not going to comment on what the law may or may not say.  Lethal threat scenarios are too dynamic and fluid to make a judgement call on something like that unless you have all the information.

But, I think that assuming the 6,7,8, rounds in your pistol is enough may be wishful thinking with the behavior some drugged up criminals exhibit.

I do agree that other sorts of training are very valuable as well.  As a trainer, I am constantly looking for ways to improve my own skills.  "If the only tool you have is a hammer, pretty soon everything starts to look like a nail" applies here.  Beyond all the firearms disciplines, firearms retention, open hand skills, defensive knife skills, and improvised weapon skills are all excellent additions.  And of course, developing an acute defensive mindset is the more important defensive training of all.

Thank you for your response.  If you like what you read in my blog, feel free to share it with your friends.  Hopefully this helped clear up any issues you had.  Take care.