5 in the mag and one in the chamber plus a spare 7rd mag is what I use with my XDs in 45acp. More important though is can you stay calm in a shoot and make your first couple of shots good hits.
4
5
6
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9
10-12
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19+
5 in the mag and one in the chamber plus a spare 7rd mag is what I use with my XDs in 45acp. More important though is can you stay calm in a shoot and make your first couple of shots good hits.
^^^^Indeed!
If we could tell the future, we'd know whether to buy life insurance now or later, marry this girl or that, which job to take and a host of other life choices which can be ill or beneficent could be made with confidence. But we can't.
However, in the awful chance where we get caught up in violence, having confidence in our skill and preparation can make all the difference. I consider 5 to be the minimum, as that is the capacity of the smallest guns I consider capable of service in the gravest extreme.
Actually, though, I consider that whatever the capacity of the gun, a reload is a good thing. It is very easy in the initial panic of the situation to shoot your gun empty. Being able to reload allows you to respond, should your assailant(s) resume hostilities.
Last edited by rintinglen; 07-25-2022 at 11:45 AM.
_________________________________________________It's not that I can't spell: it is that I can't type.
I voted “6” because I’m comfortable with a full size short barrel revolver AND at least two reloads. I don’t normally leave home without them.
For semiauto pistols 8 +1 and at least one reload is my minimum comfort level.
Actually, That study is incredibly biased, but not the way you think.
The study looked at all police reported instances of gun shots in a home. THEN it looked at how many of those the owner of the home was injured by gunfire. Its called cherry picking your data. What are the odds that if a gun fight happened in a house, a (legal) occupant of the home owned a gun? High crime areas, drug dealing, etc.,
So it is improper sample selection to predetermine outcome. The PROPER data set for that analysis is ALL GUN OWNERS, not just the ones that specifically for whatever reason had a shooting in their home. It is incredibly flawed science that never should have made it past peer review, other than it was a result the publication wanted to make a case for.
This is how I roll. None of my CCW pieces are powerhouses, and I carry a .380 90% of the time. But all of them are reliable and accurate, and offer me the best possible chance for stopping the bad guy or at least hurting him enough to effect my escape. I also use plain 8.5x11 paper for targets. If I can quicly put them all in the center of that area then I am doing what I need to do.
Currently casting and loading: .32 Auto, .380 Auto, .38 Special, 9X19, .357 Magnum, .257 Roberts, 6.5 Creedmoor, .30 WCF, .308 WCF, .45-70.
Unless you are a sworn officer you only need enough ammo to escape and be the worlds best witness. When I started out as an officer we carried 5 shot snubbie with 5 spare rounds and thought we were well armed. My current CCW is either a 6 shot snubbie or my Browning hi power as i can't shoot my 1911 as well due to Uncle Arthur. Remember your job is just to survive an armed encounter no to stop a robbery or fend off charging hordes. If you can put them where they need to go 5 or 6 will do it and if yuu can't mother nature will clean the gene pool.
I'm pretty sure no one has ever said they wish that they had less ammo after a gunfight.
43X with Shield Arms 15 round mag.
762
Hope for the best, plan for the worst.
My amendment can beat up your amendment.
No, but there have been many sighs of relief when a shift ended and a 8 pound gun belt came off. Now more is more, that can't be disputed. But that is not what was asked.
The question was, "how many shots is enough for concealed carry;" not "how many is plenty". As I see it, it is a balancing act between the rest of your life, and being armed. Truth to tell, I'd be much better armed with an M-1 carbine and two or three 30 round mags. But that would make grocery shopping, purchasing gas and visiting the bank a bit sketchy. Not to mention being somewhat hard to conceal, unless I were to wear a poncho all the time like the Man with No Name in an Eastwood movie.
_________________________________________________It's not that I can't spell: it is that I can't type.
After watching this thread and viewing the poll results, which show 5 rounds chosen by the majority it seems that there really is no answer that will suit most people. It parallels the Stopping Power threads of which there is never any consensus on.
I know no one will answer me but does it seem like some subjects are designed to be an open ended subject to which there will never be an answer?
Or am I mistaken again?
Yep
Some people consider they will enter a war zone, others a quilting bee, and everything in between.
It really is like fire extinguishers. Keep one of the little 'spray bombs' or a 20lb?
I voted 5 because I carry a S&W model32 24/7 365 days a year now that I am retired and don't go to big cities on any regular basis . My load is right at 1000 fps with a GD 110 . Gives good penetration , classic mushroom and retains its weight. I can put five in the palm of my hand at 20 yards under stress. I have been in a few SD situations and the last one was settled with a .380 Winchester Silvertip. Never been in a Miami type shootout in this country and don't expect to be in one. One or two shots usually ends things one way or another, most thugs are cowards and get gone when they realize they don't have the only gun in the fight. I do carry two reloads on J strips just incase.
One of those situations was at home , the other two were in places I should have avoided to begin with but didn't. It's been over 30 years since I had to even show a gun , mostly because I learned to avoid situations I don't need to go in to. That said, bad things do happen in good places to be so I always carry and stay aware of what's going on around me .
Grumpy Old Man With A Gun....... Do Not Touch !!
100% correct. Everyone should carry what they are comfortable with, there is no one size fits all carry piece. Mine now is a J frame but I have carried 1911's, PPKs .380, Browning HP, Beretta 81BB, Kahr .40 and several large caliber revolvers. I carried what made me feel the most safe and well prepared at that particular time in the known situation I was going to be in. Regardless of what you carry, how well prepared mentally you are , how much you practice things can still go sideways . You just do the best you can with what you got at the time.
Grumpy Old Man With A Gun....... Do Not Touch !!
Yep, this is what I expected when I asked. However, the data did not fall anywhere like I expected! I was completely surprised by the overwhelming choice of 5 rounds, since I believed most folks would opt for 6 or 8 as the minimum and 5 would be an outlier.
Despite the fact that there can be no absolute right answer, I feel like it's an exercise worth doing. At the very least it tells us about the poll respondants' perception of risk in their lives and their ideas on what action is realistic to take in difficult situations. Note, though, that there is a pretty consistent shape to the data. The peak at 5 falls off fairly smoothly, so that you could almost create an asymptotic curve as round count increases. It didn't have to work out that way, but very interesting that it did.
The other thing is, the poll asked for the minimum number, it didn't ask for the preferred number. I expect different phrasing would have resulted in very different responses.
I'm a big fan of data-driven decisions. You want to make me smile, show me a spreadsheet! Extra points for graphs and best-fit predictive equations.
5 is what I would have expected. Why? 99% of the revolver carriers will have 5 shot pistols. And in this forum I suspect the number who might carry a revolver is quite high. And of those who don't, most recognize that the small revolver is still a potent CCW.
Biggest problem for me is, my accuracy can vary considerably day to day even with the same gun and ammo. On sunday, I was putting them all in the same hole at 10 yards. Yesterday I was getting patterns the size of my hand. Been shooting and hunting for 37 years and I've come to accept that I'm never going to be a bullseye shooter. So, I'm going to carry the gun and cartridge that reduces the inconsistency as much as possible. So far, that is the .380 Auto in my Glock 42 or Kimber Micro with two reloads.
Currently casting and loading: .32 Auto, .380 Auto, .38 Special, 9X19, .357 Magnum, .257 Roberts, 6.5 Creedmoor, .30 WCF, .308 WCF, .45-70.
I'm a big fan of data-driven decisions. You want to make me smile, show me a spreadsheet! Extra points for graphs and best-fit predictive equations.
While I sometimes carry an auto, with its increased capacity (Sig P365), my usual side arm is a Model 60 Smith with 5 rounds of .38 Spl +P 135's. Thankfully, I've not had to use a weapon against another man since returning from Vietnam in 1970...but I have used an increased level of 'social' awareness over the years (acquired in those two tours in my youth), to avoid several encounters that threatened me and my wife.
I keep my eyes and ears and BRAIN working, I avoid potential problem locales and feel comfortable with the 5-shot Smith. Others may have different needs and I would never question their choices. YMMv, so PAY ATTENTION out there. Rod
Rod
This, 100%. If a situation doesn't feel right just leave if possible. Last year while waiting in line at a store the guy in front of me was giving me the evil eye while overtly putting his hand on his wife/girlfriend/whatever's butt. I guess he thought I had the hots for her or something. You never know what people are going to do and a confrontation never turns out well. When he looked the other way I just quietly went to another line out of his view, problem solved.
Currently casting and loading: .32 Auto, .380 Auto, .38 Special, 9X19, .357 Magnum, .257 Roberts, 6.5 Creedmoor, .30 WCF, .308 WCF, .45-70.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |