In certain states, we’re limited on magazine capacity by “the man”. They sometimes quote old FBI data, when people carried revolvers, and claim, “People never fire more than six rounds in a defensive situation.” They ignore the more recent incidents where a car rolls up and four or five thugs jump out. They tend to scatter when bullets fly back in their direction. But more and more, they seem to be traveling in groups and getting bolder (e.g. showing up in places you don’t expect and in daylight). I’m no longer convinced that 10+1 (CA limit) is going to keep me alive. Reloads become important.
And ammo capacity aside, clearing a type-3 malfunction also has reloading elements to it. I put a few thousand round through my Beretta 92 without a single issue. Then, one day at the range, the extractor spring decided to go limp and I had three type-3 malfunctions out of 100. As much as I want to say that the gun in my holster is ultra reliable, I know that something could go wrong when I need it most.
Training for things like this doesn’t cost me anything. But not training could cost me everything.
One thing that stands out to me with drills like this or clearing malfunctions under time pressure is ergonomics and the controls on your handgun of choice. They’ve caused me to abandon certain guns in my safe as “range guns”, or make modifications to others. I have to admit that I’ve never liked practicing reloads & malfunctions. At one training facility, we practiced them so much that I even fractured a metacarpal and my left/support hand swelled up like a balloon. All it took was an instructor behind me yelling, “Make sure you’re seating those magazines firmly before releasing that slide”, and I started to really slam those single stack magazines (1911) into the well. Ouch!!!
But I’ll still practice them to make sure I stay smooth & fast and only carry the handguns where I don’t have to break my grip to do it.
Interesting topic, as it also relates to other important subjects. In honor of the lady practicing firearm loading, for those not aware, she is a professional award winning firearms marksman and daughter of The Jerry Miculek, some say the most accurate and fastest revolver marksman to date.
As long as you continue to practice and learn safe handling, I respect even if you “only” have 5-6 capacity on you. But any more beyond that to me, seems like a personal choice, and none is right or wrong. Where and when one travels could affect one’s needs, but even still, a personal choice, not up to me, but yours alone.
Carry extra capacity? No objections on my part. Someone close to me was accosted, and his attackers shot at him with revolvers. My relative had a semi auto with more capacity. His theory was they gave up and took off when he fired back from a semi.
I’m lucky to own both versions, though I normally only carry one, for personal reasons, I’ll rotate between them. I regret I’m slow to reload, when at the range.
In a story which made some news, circa late in 2020. The retired fire fighter was just going to a gourmet popcorn shop to bring his family some treats, when a group of four tried to steal his nice car, when they used guns.
In the Marine Corps, the 30-round magazine is a standard magazine. It is not high capacity. The M-249, SAW was a high-capacity weapon with a 300 round belts. To the point of needing an extra barrel to keep from burning out the barrel. The idea of only needing one magazine seems like a nice thing to happen in a situation. Yes, that Crackhead pumped up on drugs and his friend will take a good amount to stop them.
