How many Rounds do I need for Concealed Carry?

Am Shooting Journal ^ | 10/3/2017 | B Scott

[Safetgiver]

One. If you are serious.

[dsc]

45 caliber: like a 9mm, but for men.

Become accurate with a 45; carry it until arthritis makes it impossible.

[buffaloguy]

The longer distance is for two reasons:

It rapidly decreases your angle of dispersion. You shoot more accurately.
You find ways of shooting more accurately and stop the bad habits.

[Reno89519]

"Killing someone takes years off the life-expectancy of a non-psychopath, whether-or-not it was justified."

Based on what? I seriously doubt it. We are not snowflakes, killing in self-defense is a momentary event. Get over it and move on.

[buffaloguy]

Most shots that land on an 18x24 inch target have passed through a 7 inch circle. Every shot that is within 18 inches of target center has passed through a six inch circle at 15 feet.

[buffaloguy]

This years project is to put six consecutive shots into a six inch target at 15 yards.
Then I move move out to 25 yards and delete the bad habits I picked up at 15 yards. Lol.

[Paal Gulli]

The fastest reload ...is a back-up gun (BuG).

The old "double-tap" (or 'controlled pairs') philosophy was based on LEOs mostly armed with 6-shot revolvers and anticipating two perps. With the advent of autoloading pistols with well more than six shots available, the philosophy has changed. Now the first rule is the same as at your mother's dinner table. Nobody gets seconds until everybody has been served once.

The second rule, in the words of HHDL:



And the third rule, in the eminent words of Clint Smith, is to keep shooting until the target changes shape or catches fire. Make them walk through a wall of lead to get to you. If they manage to kill you with your own gun, they should have had to beat you to death with it because you ran it dry before they got to you.

Police miss by some estimates as much as 80% of the time. And a Y2K study published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine found that 80% of GSW victims survive. Based on those numbers, any single shot you fire has about a (20% of 20% is) 4% chance of killing the assailant (and death is the ultimate form of "neutralization").

So bring extra bullets.

[upchuck]

I’ll take that under advisement in making decisions. :)

[AlaskaErik]

I carry at least one spare magazine for my Glock 23, although I’m in the process of procuring a two magazine carrier. That will give me 40 rounds total. Right now I only have 27 rounds. But, that’s 21 or 22 more than the wheel gun guys have.

[MPB]

You need exactly as many as are needed to stop the threat from one or more attackers.

What... you don't know how many you'll need? Well, carry as many as you're comfortable carrying. Maybe that's a 5+1, maybe it's even a single-shot, or maybe it's a full size Colt 1911 with an extended mag that you "conceal" under rolls of fat, LOL

The point is, it's a kind of silly question because nobody ever knows what they'll need. Kind of like asking "what's the best gun if you're being attacked", and the answer is "the gun you have". Something is always better than nothing. :)

Short answer: If you're LEO then you're more likely than the average Joe to run into bad hombres, so you're probably packing larger magazines with several reloads handy. If you're an average Joe, carry what you're comfortable with.

[AlaskaErik]

My Glock 23 has never had a misfire. My Colt Trooper, on the other hand, totally jammed up when I went to put a .357 through it. But, the real reason I carry a Glock is I have a lot more opportunities to neutralize any threat.

[Magnum44]

Good advice in your post.

I would only add...

And practice, practice, practice ;)

[AlaskaErik]

.38, 5-shot for me. That should account for 90+% of all defensive engagements.

I prefer the odds in my favor as much as possible. If my house were on fire, I wouldn't want the fire department to respond with just enough equipment to handle 90 percent of house fires.

[Terry L Smith]

The old military school of thought, and practice when we carried guns of steel, were a loaded firearm, plus two “charges”, since the term was “to charge your weapon’.

So, “for those in Rio Linda”, that equates to ‘whatever number fills your particular piece, plus two times more’.

That could be the MAGAZINE plus two for your semi-automatic pistol or, the FULL OR HALF MOON CLIPS, plus for two more full times, for your Smith and Wesson Model 1917 revolver.

For those not using CLIPSin their revolver, this would mean Two each of a DADE reloader, an HKS reloader, a SAFARILAND reloader, a FIVE STAR reloader, a SPEEDBEE reloader, or a QUIKSTRIP. A QUIKSTRIP is just that - a plastic reinforced straight strip that holds cartridges for the cylinder reloading process.
(For further, and better explanations, see Michael DeBethencourt on YouTube.)

[BDParrish]

I appreciate all the thoughts on the thread. With a 5-shot 44 special (and 2 speed loaders) I have never felt naked. But there are some reasons: one is my marksmanship, and the other is all the other tools I have at my disposal in any situation.

If you would consider the subject of self defense beyond our normal preoccupation with firearm, I have a suggestion. I have totally enjoyed Marc “Animal” MacYoung’s website on “No Nonsense Self Defense”. Let me know if you enjoy it as much as I have.

[kitchen]

Hopefully I'm not misremembering, but Jeff Cooper's original Standard Test of Controllability was 6 rounds, 6 seconds, 6 inch circle, at 25 yards. Of course that was with a 1911 and ball ammo.

When you can't get to the range pick up a copy of the Army manual TT 23-71-1, a Daisy Red Rider (knock off the sights) and start instinct shooting training. Skills should carry over if you want to master the Israeli (sort of a formalized Col. Askins technique) hip shooting method.

.

[Hugin]

Quite true. Most criminals are looking for an easy score, not a gun battle and a possible murder charge if they win.

[Hugin]

“Two in the chest, the face gets the rest.”

Great advice if you want a murder charge.

[21twelve]

I recall reading an article - or maybe a post by a freeper.

They got to Afghanistan and were told to carry as much extra ammo in their humvees as they could. They put a bunch more in. After they got back from their first fire-fight they got a bit more serious than just tossing in an extra duffle. They removed various panels to get to the interior holes to stash magazines, found every nook and cranny and filled them up with mags.

[Yo-Yo]

When I carry my Glock 26, I carry 10 in the flush magazine and a Glock 19 15 round magazine for a reload.

When I carry my Glock 42, it is one 6 round magazine in the gun, and two 6 round magazines for reload.

When I carry my J-Frame, it is 5 rounds in the cylinder, and two 5 round speed strips.

So that is 25, 18, or 15 rounds depending on the firearm.