"How Much Capacity Is Enough For Private Citizen Gunfights? (ASP Compilation)" video and POLL

It really depends on why you carry. If you are carrying to defend yourself against an armed robbery or car jacking and, If you plan on bugging out if you encounter a school/mass shooter with a long gun then small 6-10 round gun is more than enough. If you’re planning on defending children or victims in the case of a lunatic with a rifle, a mid to large sized pistol with at least 15 and a spare mag would obviously be better. Realistically most people don’t carry full sized duty guns. And unfortunately a lot of people carry guns that are so small they probably couldn’t get good hits if they had to anyway. Life is all about balance.

Methinks it’s all environmental. Here in my area of Michigan I feel perfectly comfortable with carrying a Smith 442 w/ speed loader back up in my pocket for summer carry. Now, in other parts of Michigan, I would be carrying my P229 year round w/ a mag backup.

Situational awareness (part of the self defense course my late freind taught) can help you avoid a situation where you need to defend yourself.Some people, because they are carrying will purposely put themselves in bad situations.

I carry 31 rounds minimum in my P320 Compact (16 in the gun, 15 round spare in a dedicated belt carrier) today, and perhaps even 35 rounds depending on how much I like the P365 Macro grip module.

Some people have a perception they will only have one opponent, at close range, that they won't miss, and who will be incapacitated with just a few rounds. These are the same people who carry small guns with 3" barrels even though duty ammo bullets are all designed to be effective out of a minimum 4" barrel. This low capacity short barrel approach may work really well, but it may also leave something to be desired.

While that single opponent close range encounter may happen, it's also very likely that where there's one bad guy there's multiple bad guys because nowadays they bring friends to the party.

15 rounds in the gun gives you 5 rounds per perp before reloading. Something to consider.

SIG Sauer said:

Situational awareness (part of the self defense course my late freind taught) can help you avoid a situation where you need to defend yourself.Some people, because they are carrying will purposely put themselves in bad situations.

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100% agree with everything you just said, but what does that have to do with this thread?

RWLawrence said:

other parts of Michigan, I would be carrying my P229 year round w/ a mag backup.

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LOL "other parts of Michigan" is code for Detroit.

I think the poll question should be re-worded to "What is the minimum number of rounds you feel safe with carrying?" For me, it's eleven. That's one cylinder full of ammo in my S&W 642 plus a full speed strip of six rounds. Anything above the minimum is great. If I'm carrying my P365 XL, the minimum becomes 30, 14+1 in the pistol (I use the Maggutts kit) and a 15 round spare magazine.
My purpose in concealed carry is to escape the threat; considering the DHS slogan (Run-Hide-Fight) that means I might have to use defensive/suppressive fire to make my escape (Run), or I may have to engage the threat directly (Hide and Fight). As said above, situational awareness may help you avoid the threat before it reaches you (do you really need to stop at the convenience store at midnight?).

People need to listen to people who preach most self defense situations only involve 2-3 rounds and that you don't need to carry and extra mag, with a grain of salt. People love quoting decades old BS so that it mentally soothes them while knowing they are willfully complacent and just damn lazy. My advice, if you're not carrying enough to be in a sustained fight against a pack of democrat inspired domestic terrorists, either on the street or in your home, you are not carrying enough. My advice is no less than two 15 or 17 round mags. I've played cat and mouse before and sometimes it takes an intentional miss to get someone to move right into your sights. Have fun playing that game with your revolver or your 6 shot micro whatever. lol A lot of that video is over overseas encounters but if people haven't noticed, the USA has always been dangerous and now more so thanks to the democrats inviting the 3rd world to our country.

Happiness is a belt-fed weapon.

I dip my bullets in Holy Water, so I'll only need one.

10 rounds. that's the capacity of my 10mm. a couple things we know nothing about in that video.
1. what caliber are they using? are they using defense rounds or ball ammo?
2. training. a couple of the guys pretty clearly had some training, but the majority, not so much

in a couple of those shootouts, the BG took rounds but still were mobile, which is reinforcing my belief that bigger is always better. those guys that took shots to the legs and torso were probably lucky in that they were hit by a small round looking at you, 9mm, and those rounds were probably not hollowpoints. I was thinking as i watched, if that dude had taken a .45 or 10mm, he would not be running away

The odds of having an altercation (requiring the need to pull your weapon) is incredibly low even considering the current atmosphere in today's society. The number of rounds would depend heavily upon the individual's training/readiness involved. Personally, I only carry 6 rounds in my Ruger LCP2 loaded with Federal HST 99grn. I have found this gun to be much more convenient/concealable to carry in the summer months than my Springfield EMP 1911 that I carry in the winter months.

I think Glock model 20 takes 15 rd magazine of 10mm. So large capacity does not need to be 9mm

Well, I've often said that if I need more than 12 rounds, I feel I'm in trouble. Thankfully I live in Georgia and no limit on rounds per magazine. In these videos most people panic, and I do understand that and they just empty their guns. I'm a laid-back person in spirt and I live in situation awareness always. I don't go where I'm not supposed to go so in itself helps keep me safe and from drawing my weapon.

Home break-ins and being at a restaurant or store when they get robbed I can't control that, just hope my P365 and 12 rounds magazine will be enough and I do have extra magazines but its hit or miss with using them.

IMHO it's better to have too much than not enough. I got my P365x because it has 12 rounds before a reload. Depending on clothes & type of carry, I have a minimum of 12, 24 with 1 spare magazine and 36 when I carry in my Galco Miami Classic II. I carried a 5-shot J frame and a speedloader for years. In today's crazy world, just doesn't meet my comfort level. 12 initial rounds lessens the need for a mid-confrontation reload, especially if you're covering a strategic withdrawal. With literally millions of illegals pouring over our borders and a definite decrease in levels of competent law enforcement, combined with society in general seeming to be constantly disintegrating, the likelihood of being in a fight or flight situation seems to be increasing. As being both retired law enforcement and a Boy Scout, I believe in being prepared, learning to anticipate worst-case scenarios and increasing situational awareness.

Read where that young guy who took down the would-be Wisconsin (?) mall shooter did it in under 10-seconds with an 8+1 1911 in .45acp

So my range buddy Jimmy, a hard-core 1911 dude from down at the club, says nobody really needs more than 8-rounds “if they know how to run their gun.”

Like I said, Jimmy’s pretty hard core. Loads up with 230grn ball ammo only.

Something driven home by the various gunfight videos,

is the amount of rounds shot often has a lot to do with the associated adrenalin dump.

Gunfights are not the same as shooting paper or even action pistol sports.

Real gunfights are loud, fast and scary especially when people are shooting back.



When bullets are flying, people may be tempted to mag dump, without ever counting the rounds they are expending.