How Many Rounds for your EDC?

[chemcal]

What reasons do you believe justifies your EDC round count?

 

[jasmith85]

I'm happy with the 10 rounds in my p224. If I ever have to use it I doubt it would be for more than one or two shots.

 

[BarryLee]

For me it’s a bit of a compromise between large enough for adequate capacity and small enough to carry. So, currently I’ve settled on eleven rounds in a GLOCK G26, but not afraid to move up or down as needed.

 

[TunnelRat]

What if I want 12 + an extra mag? It's next to impossible to account for all the options out there.

 

[Limnophile]

Can anyone document an instance where someone emerged from a gunfight complaining he had too much ammo?

 

[HistoryJunky]

Lately I've been carrying my .40 Shield with 6+1, 7+1 spare magazine. I usually carry my M&P .40 with 2 spare mags, but my wife no longer has a gun so I leave it home with her.

 

[Webleymkv]

I carry a S&W J-Frame more often than not so 5 rounds or more is enough for me, though I do always carry a reload. While capacity should be considered, it isn't the only or necessarily most important consideration when choosing a EDC handgun.

 

[BCGlocker]

I carry Glock 23 with 13+1 and 2-3 Glock 22 (15-round) magazines. I don't (hope) think I will ever need these rounds, just like auto insurance, it is better to have it not need it, as oppose to need it not have it.

 

[pilpens]

7+1 in my Kahr K9.
I would not say 8 is plenty but it is a compromise (size/weight and capacity).

 

[Ocraknife]

I carry 7 with no spare mag.

 

[Pilot]

I often carry a single stack 9x18 P-83, or 9x19 P7 pistol with 8 + 1, and no extra mag.

 

[Grant D]

I carry a 5 shot J frame on my hip, but also have a Ruger LCP in my back pocket.

 

[DMK]

As Limnophile said, ask anyone who's been in combat or a gunfight. Nobody will ever say that they had too many rounds on them.

You can't know the situation where you will need your gun. It could be one guy at 3 yards that stops their attack at one shot or it could be three or four guys at 3 to 20 yards that require multiple rounds each to stop. You might be wounded and are trying to shoot from cover with your off-hand and blood in your eyes.

I like to carry as many rounds as I can easily and conveniently conceal. That's 15rds in my CZ PCR and another 17rd mag in a Snagmag holder in my pocket.

Obviously, it's best to avoid trouble in the first place or to try to escape and evade if a bad situation develops. But it's always better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.


"Witnessed a robbery today NO MORE SINGLE STACK CCW":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwjaPIPG0_s

Denny's robbed by five men:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc3f9JBQ9pI

 

[Targa]

Seven in my CM9.

 

[BigMikey76]

My EDC holds 12+1, and I have an extra 12 round mag, as well. I may decide to carry something smaller when summer comes around, and I am sure I will feel just as safe if I do.

 

[ttarp]

I don't expect I'll need any of them, so I feel fine with 8. I suppose my complacency could get me killed one day, but I've done pretty well at avoiding such situations so far.

 

[adamBomb]

I carry 10. What is enough? As many as you can and will comfortably carry. I would rather have 1 round than no rounds. This spring I plan to get a smaller gun for summer carry that will have 5-6. But those 5-6 are much much better than nothing.

 

[Glenn E. Meyer]

We've discussed this about 8 million times.

1. Cliche - if you can't do the job with 5 rounds or one mag, you ain't a manly man.

2. Folks say the average gun fight is 2 to 5 rounds and thus assume it will always be two to five rounds. Go to stat class.

3. Folks only plan for the one mugger be gone scenario.

4. I don't go to bad places. This assumes that a gun fight in a nice place will be nice. They assume that you only need more ammo if you go to Zombie land, a slum or urban riot. In a nice play, you don't need more ammo as the bad guys are nice.

Other viewpoints:

1. While rarer, you can get into some intense critical incident where the more rounds the better. Of course, then we will get the folks who think they are totally helpless in something like San Bernadino. If they think that, they probably are.

2. An extra mag with a semi is as much for malfunctions as for extra ammo. Oh, someone will say that they shoot their Tarum or Gluger 500 rounds and it never jammed. Shoot enough - everything jams. Magazines go bad. Mags drop out of guns when you don't notice that the release got pressed. Oh, it won't happen to you. A friend of mine dropped a 1911 mag and when it hit, it unloaded all the rounds like a zipper.

3. You plan for not the average but a reasonable cut off on a incident intensity continuum. It's like the significance level in hypothesis testing or other risk analyses. Most folks think a semi and an extra mag is a good cut point for EDC.

 

[subhuman]

SR9E 18 & 2 17 round mags
SR40 16 & 2 17 round mags
Sig 1911 9 & 2 8 round mags
Shield 9& 2 8 round mags

notice a pattern here

Oh yeah my reason I would hate to be found lacking

 

[Evil Monkey]

From what I've seen in regards to civilians getting caught up in deadly scenarios in gas stations, convenient stores, etc, a pistol with a minimum of 10 rounds is ideal.

It's a balancing act between concealment and firepower.

Personally, I find that double stack polymer framed pistols are pretty thin already.