Extended Magazines as Spares for Compact Handguns
Rob PincusDescription
Rob Pincus explains the advantages of carrying extended magazines or longer full-size magazines as spares when carrying a compact or subcompact gun. It’s not just the extra rounds, but also the gun handling aspects of a larger magazine.
WHAT’S YOUR CONCEALED CARRY HANDGUN?
If you carry a subcompact gun or a gun with a chopped grip as your everyday concealed carry handgun for defensive use, you know you’re giving up some capacity in exchange for comfort, carryability, and concealability. But with most popular guns, you don’t need to give up the capacity of your spare magazine.
Spare magazines are usually carried vertically inside a pouch, inside the waistband, or in a pants pocket. Rob is wearing 5.11 Tactical jeans that have a pocket designed specifically for spare magazines, including extended magazines. The magazine is a little more concealed than if it were in a regular pocket, yet is easy to get out.
But Rob has a compact magazine holding seven rounds instead of nine in the gun itself, making the gun easier to conceal. Your spare magazine(s) are important self-defense accessories, so it’s vital to think through and practice how you carry and handle them before finding yourself in a situation where you need them.
TACTICAL RELOAD
The other consideration with extended magazines as spares is gun handling. If you’ve engaged a threat and have only a couple of rounds left in your magazine, after assessing the area for additional threats, you might want to insert the backup magazine so you will have (in Rob’s case) nine rounds on board instead of the two remaining in the carry magazine.
It is also easier to handle and manipulate extended magazines as opposed to compact magazines. When doing a tactical reload — inserting the backup magazine in the magazine well of the gun and placing the original magazine in the pocket or pouch — it’s going to be easier to do with an extended or full-size magazine as opposed to a compact one. This is an important factor considering our dexterity and fine motor skills may degrade in a fight or its immediate aftermath.
If you carry a subcompact gun or a gun with a chop grip like I do for concealed carry for defensive use, then you know that you're giving up some capacity in your defensive firearm for that comfort carry ability and concealability. Or the fact is that you don't need to give up with most popular guns, the capacity of your spare magazine. Remember spare magazines your second magazine or third magazine they're going to be carried usually vertically, right? And that means vertically inside of a pouch, inside the waistband or inside of the pocket. So with these five 11 jeans, they've obviously gotta special magazine pocket, pretty convenient. I can throw that in there. I can still have my phone, my wallet whatever else I might wanna have inside of the regular pocket. This is a little more concealed and it's still relatively easy to get out, but I've got a compact magazine. In this case, we go from seven rounds to nine rounds in the gun itself because that allows me to conceal it much more easily. Obviously if I untuck the shirt. So what's the scenario here. The idea is that you're in an engagement. And if you run dry obviously we're going to go to the spare magazine. But the other thing we talk about is that tactical reload. So now, if I have had to shoot and use the gun I come back in, I assess maybe I change positions whatever it is I'm gonna to do. If I think that there's still the potential for another threat, it's just a good habit from a training standpoint, in this scenario. If there is an active shooter situation, multiple attackers, I get to a position before I engage in other threat. I'm gonna look for that other magazine, not only do I get two more rounds, it's also easier to handle and manipulate this long magazine. So when I go to do my tactical reload and top that off and pull on it, put this one back there. So I know where my spare magazines are. Of course, in the same place. that's gonna be easier to handle, easier to get that load done. And that's a factor also we think about the way our dexterity changes and our fine motor skills might degrade in a fight or immediately after a fight. So there is an advantage to carry an extended or longer full-size mag with your compact gun. And it's not just the extra rounds. It's also the gun handling aspect of a larger magazine.
I decided that I would be willing to give up a small amount of concealability, in exchange for 2 more rounds and a better grip right at the start of a problem, by carrying an extended magazine in the gun.