There’s a ratio of magazine:gun that makes me feel comfortable. For a pistol that I plan on shooting and having as an integral part of my long-term plans, I like to have a ratio of at least 20:1. For rifles, thats more like 40:1. That’s not an unattainable goal and, in my opinion, it’s a realistic quantity of magazines if you operate under the guide of “will what I have right now last me the rest of my life if I can’t get any more?”
Having acquired recently two Ruger PC9 carbines that take P-series magazines, my ratio of mags:guns took a bit of a hit. So…off to GunBroker……
Once in a blue moon I can find someone selling a bunch of Ruger mags as a single lot. (Which is how this absurd collection of P-series pistols got started.) I just happen to stumble across someone selling a fistful of law-enforcement restricted P-series mags and, since the guns aren’t exactly terribly popular, managed to nail them down for $100 for the lot…or $12.50@. Good deal for gen-u-ine Ruger mags.
Although it’s not something we usually think about, mags are a consumable. They are disposable. They have a limited usage life compared to the pistol. The person who says “Oh, I’ve got five mags for Beretta 92…I’m all set!” is a short-sighted, ignorant, and unimaginative fool. I’ve covered this elsewhere so I won’t rehash it here, but it’s really hard to have too many spare mags.
Anyway, these will get distributed amongs the pistols, and a couple pistol mag pouches will be set aside for the carbines. And, unless a smoking deal comes along, I think I’ll be pretty much done on this particular front.
Yes, they are consumable, as they can fail, be dropped on the run, etc. Barter off extras for butchered meat, canned goods etc. The having pouches and a holster for each one as a kit is very important, set aside a small sealed up ammo/reload amount of ammo with each kit and store/preposition away and good to go. I even use food saver to vacuum seal up gun-mags-ammo in kit/baggage and it is lifetime – plus secured. Some lucky bugger in the future will thank the gods for your foresight and wisdom.
Looks like I need more magazines. I only have around 30 for the rifle. Now if pistol magazines weren’t so expensive!
well…no. It’s subjective. What *I* want to have for the mag:gun ratio may not be the same as what you want. I’m only mentioning the policy I go by, your guidelines may be just as valid or better than mine. It’s what works for you, man.
Rule of thumb No 1; If it all fits into a semi T&T; it’s not enough. No 2. If your wife doesn’t think you’re nuts ; It’s not enough. No 3. If you are starting to think your nuts, you are getting close. No 4. If the local National Guard unit comes over and wants to borrow stuff, you have enough.
Remember the scene in the movie Jericho, the undercover fed (good guy, kinda hunting deep state) rolls up with a vehicle full of guns he ratholed in storage. There may be an occaision were a gray man type will come into the scene and have the weapons,ammo,equipment to make a difference. Something to aspire to.
Back in the day, I never used to think much about it. A gunny friend of mine even warned me, “they’re going to make this stuff illegal, you need to buy some now!”. My response was “meh, so what?”
That was in 1992 and look what happened. A few years later I went looking for an extra mag for my Ruger P85 and couldn’t believe that 10 rounders were all that you could get.
Moral – get while the gettin’ is good. The next time they come for all this we can’t count on a 10 year sunset. And the gettin’ is Golden-Age good right now.
We often get too fixated on the purchase price of a firearm, not realizing that we may spend more on mags and ammo than on the gun (at least I do that). The price of mags, parts and ammo would be a big factor for me if starting over and buying a firearm.
I think that’s one reason Glocks have become ubiquitous: mags are cheap, and there are good-quality, non-OEM mags available, in addition to the excellent Glock mags. Ditto with parts.
The Ruger P-series mags are excellent. I bought a handful of those Law Enforcement only mags from CDNN some time ago for $10 each, with some light surface rust on them. My only regret was that I didn’t buy more. Lesson learned!
On the one hand, magazines are a wonderful thing to have spares of. They get lost, dropped/bent/dented, worn out…
On the other hand, If you get in enough firefights to wear out a pair of magazines, you are probably going to get shot at, and eventually hit and killed, long before normal wear and tear renders even a single magazine unservicable.
For all but the most intense shooters, a pair for practice, a pair (or three) for carry, and a spare, should be plenty for any non-military, non-hot-combat-zone lifetime. Any more than that and you are buying supplies for your heirs.
Youre saying that you’d feel comfortable going through the next, oh, thirty years of your life with just those six magazines with no chance of replacement or repair? That’s thirty years where a feedlip doesnt crack, a spring doesnt fail, a mag body doesnt get dented, a mag catch doesnt get goobered up, you don’t drop a mag at the range and forget about it, you never have one get stolen or misplaced, and they all function perfectly over the next thirty years? Is there any item you own a quantity of six of that you’ve managed to keep functional and intact for thirty years?
And this doesn’t take into account the other headaches and events life throws at you..you have a car accident and lose a mag, youre house burns down and you lose a mag, your brother needs a spare mag because he managed to find a gun but no magazines, your son is heading off into the dangerous world and you want him to have an extra magazine or two ‘just in case’.