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How Many Spare Magazines Do You Need?
Ever ask a woman how many pairs of shoes she needs? Or a guy, how many cars does he need? Both will probably earn you an interesting look and a sarcastic response.
But if you ask a gun owner how many spare magazines they need, you will likely be met with answers ranging from several to “never enough”. All joking aside, having spare magazines is extremely important regardless of the type of firearm(s) you own.
Is this enough? We’ll let you decide. Source
The question doesn’t come down to “if you should”, but “how many”. At the end of the day, of course, it’s up to you!
Why You Should Have Spare Magazines
Everyone will have an opinion on this, but I’ll share mine as a 25-year firearms and tactics instructor and a student of a long list of nationally recognized firearms trainers. I won’t play hide the ball, but first, let’s talk about magazines.
Magazines, unlike firearms, degrade with use. To give you an idea, the military considers their standard-issue aluminum AR-style magazines to have a 4,000-round service life. That’s about 130 loadings. After that, the military considers them expended, and you should, too.
Followers and springs are also common failure points.
Why do magazines eventually fail with use? More often than not, because their feed lips can become deformed or even broken with use over time. Especially with hard use in training. Additionally, springs eventually weaken from loading/unloading cycles, but not so much from “taking a set.” They can remain fully loaded for years at a time.
One of the most common causes of malfunctions in semi-automatic firearms is a defective magazine. This is why you should use a Sharpie marker to number your magazines. That way, while training, if you start experiencing malfunctions from your magazine #X, you can put that one aside.
If you experience multiple malfunctions with any magazine, mark it prominently, such as with orange paint, and use it only as a malfunction-clearing training aid. Or dispose of it. Just make sure it doesn’t stay among the working gear you depend on for personal defense or serious competition.
Lastly, you can preload magazines to save time at the range or to stash away strategically to remain prepared. It’s better to have extra magazines and not need them than the opposite!
Handgun Magazines
Semi-auto handgun owners should have at least three magazines for each semi-auto handgun. This allows your handgun to be loaded for self-defense and provides two spare reloads. Three magazines also make a nice complement for recreational shooting.
Make sure that all of your pistols are covered. Source
Additionally, if you shoot regularly or train even occasionally, you should buy three additional new replacement magazines. These will replace any of your initial magazines that fail over time from use or abuse.
AR-15 and Rifles Magazines
Owners of America’s favorite rifle, the AR-15, or other semi-automatic rifles should have at least three working magazines, along with three spares for a total of six magazines. Frankly, for those who will train or compete with their semi-auto firearms, a dozen or more would serve better in the long run.
Get yourself a nice variety!
What about the bolt-action rifle owners? As above, make sure you have at least three magazines. If your bolt gun sees a lot of action, consider keeping three spares on hand as well.
How Many Magazines Is Too Many?
I don’t know that anyone can really own too many magazines. Just make sure you have at least a couple of spares, at the bare minimum, for every magazine-fed gun you own.
You’ll thank yourself in ten or twenty years. And maybe sooner.
