How Many Magazines Do You Need?

How many magazines do you need?

Isn’t that the big question we all ask at the gun store as we peruse the aisles and aisles of magazines? Do I have enough mags for my handgun? What about my rifle?

What about my hunting rifle? Oooh, do they have a magazine for that ancient M1903 Colt Pocket Hammerless my Uncle left me?

While I will usually say more is better, I want to provide a logical explanation and actual counts of how many mags you might want.

Why You Should Trust Us

I’ve spent a lifetime shooting that started in a family that hunted every season they legally could. From there, I joined the United States Marine Corps and spent five years as an infantryman. In the middle of my Marine Corps career, I began writing and have never stopped.

I love shooting, and I love guns — weird guns, old guns, new guns, tactical guns, and sporting guns. I’m a continual student of firearms, and I strive to educate myself to provide the best information possible to the readers of Pew Pew Tactical.

How Many Do I Really Need?

The answer isn’t as simple as you need X number of magazines for every gun.

You have to consider what the weapon is and what it is used for. That will more or less guide you on what you’ll need to have on hand to rock and roll with your gun.

To answer the entire premise of this question, we have to break down the entire premise, gun by gun and purpose by purpose. You could turn that into a book’s worth of advice, so I’m just keeping it to the most common purposes and firearms.

Also, more than giving you a number, I want to explain why I chose that number over another.

Defensive Guns

Concealed Carry Pistol

Two Minimum - Four Optimal

Concealed carry pistols typically come with two magazines, and that will typically work for a lot of people.

Two magazines allow you to carry a spare magazine as well as practice reloads, malfunction drills, and other maneuvers.

With smaller guns, you might also have a magazine with a finger extension or extended capacity alongside a smaller, easier-to-conceal flush-fitting magazine.

The reason why four is optimal comes down to training. Four magazines make tons of sense if you are hardcore into your training.

First, if you take a training course, having only two magazines means you will be constantly stopping to load magazines. Four will get you rocking and rolling, letting you spend more time shooting and less time loading.

Outside of practice, four magazines allow you to have a dedicated pair of training magazines. Training can be rough on magazines, especially when they hit the dirt during reloads. You can keep two mags for hard use while keeping the other two fresh for carry to avoid potential malfunctions.

This also saves you from having to constantly unload your defensive ammo to load FMJs to train.

Defensive Carbine

Three Minimum - Nine Optimal

Reloading when using a standard capacity magazine in a home defense scenario is very unlikely. However, most of us have a carbine for more than just home defense.

It could be the disaster weapon for the apocalypse, alien invasion, or the zombies. Whatever the reason, you should have a minimum of three standard-capacity magazines.

Three magazines give you a dedicated home defense magazine and two spares for training and just-in-case scenarios.

While three may work for most people, I suggest six as a personal minimum. Six is a standard combat load of magazines.

Admittedly, six mags are more or less a habit from my days in the Corps, and I doubt anyone would run through that many in a domestic situation. Plus, six mags fit perfectly in most chest rigs and plate carriers with twin mag pouches.

However, I suggest a few extras to be optimal. A total of nine allows you to have three magazines dedicated to training.

This makes it easy to preserve the quality of your magazines and enables you to get some good training to hone your skills with the platform.

Defensive Mag Fed Shotgun

Two Minimum - Four Optimal

Magazine-fed shotguns are getting more and more popular. Designs like the Mossberg 590M, the Saiga-style shotguns, and various AR-type shotguns are certainly finding a spot in people’s home defense arsenals.

Much like a carbine, you’re unlikely to reload during a home defense encounter. However, that doesn’t mean you only need one shotgun magazine — you need at least two.

Shotgun ammunition isn’t made for magazines. The plastic hull will deform from the pressure of sitting in the magazine, and that can cause feeding issues with your shotgun.

You will need to cycle the ammo from the mags; I suggest every two months. Load your second magazine with fresh ammo and go out and get some training with the ammo that’s been sitting for a few months.

Four magazines will allow you to practice reloads, malfunction drills, and the like. Shotgun magazines tend to get beat up more easily, so a few training spares will keep your primary mags ready for defense.

Competition Pistol Shooting

There are a few different types of competition out there. I am covering the most common action shooting sports for the various platforms.

But remember that the best way to figure out how many magazines you need for any shooting sport or match is to reach out to the organizer and just ask. 

3-Gun (Pistol)

Three to Five

3-Gun is a fast-moving and fun sport. Handguns are one of three guns you’ll need to compete. With that in mind, you’ll rarely need more than two magazines per run on your belt.

Three is always safe, just in case you get a malfunction or have a bad sub-optimal where you consume more ammo than expected.

The other two magazines are to replace a magazine which might be malfunctioning. They can be stored in your range bag in case they are needed. Five mags give you a wide safety net to be prepared for anything.

IPSC

Five to Seven

The IPSC website specifically says you need five magazines minimum to compete, and I think that’s pretty good advice to take.

Seven magazines allow you to compete just in case a magazine goes down or you’re left feeling the consequences of a bad malfunction.

USPSA (Pistol)

Four to Six

USPSA is a big sport, with the handgun divisions being the most popular. Most matches will have a course or two that might force a reload or have you simply run dry if you aren’t shooting just perfectly that day.

Four magazines are enough to cover various divisions, allowing you to compete in production or open classes with enough ammo for either. Having one mag in the gun and three on the belt will allow you to sail through most courses of fire.

Six mags will help to cover your butt if you have a magazine go down for any reason.

Competition Rifle Shooting

The two most popular action shooting competitions that involve rifles are 3-Gun and PCC. With that in mind, let’s take a look.

USPSA PCC

Two to Four

Most USPSA PCC stages don’t require a ton of ammo. Since most PCCs hold 30 to 35 rounds with standard capacity magazines, it's easy for shooters to dive into the sport with only two magazines.

It’s unlikely you’ll need spare magazines due to a lack of ammo, but stuff breaks. Four magazines are great if you want to carry two on the belt or have two in reserve due to cover malfunctions.

3-Gun (Rifle)

Two to Four

3-Gun rifle categories won’t force you to shoot a ton during the rifle sections. Like the PCC stages, two magazines can get you through most stages. A few extras allow for extra ammo or spares when necessary.

Other Guns

Hunting Rifle

Two

Many hunting rifles have an integral magazine, but not all of them. If yours sports a detachable magazine, I always suggest having two.

You won’t be carrying a spare to the field in most cases, but it's good to have near in the event of a magazine breakage.

Antiques

As Many As Possible

As a collector of centenarian guns like my Savage M1907, Colt 1903, and FN M1922, I can tell you magazines can be tough to come by.

If you get a chance to pick up a magazine that works for an antique firearm for a reasonable price, I recommend doing so. Discontinued magazines only get more expensive and harder to find over time.

What About Legislation Concerns?

One of the primary targets of anti-firearm legislation is magazines.

Legislation typically targets magazines that hold more than ten rounds. If your firearm holds more than ten rounds by design, it’s a wise idea to invest in a few spare magazines regardless of their use.

I recommend focusing more on the important weapons than the fun guns. Also, consider grabbing magazines that are less common.

AR-15 magazines are everywhere and are typically easy to get. Other options, like the 15-round P365 magazines, are much more likely to disappear quickly.

A Word on Training Magazines

We’ve talked about training magazines quite a bit throughout this article, and I want to talk a little about magazines designed for training and give you a few thoughts on the subject.

I don’t think your dedicated training magazines need to be OEM options. They can be aftermarket mags from KCI, ETS, Mec-Gar, etc., and be perfectly suitable for training.

Going a little cheaper is okay because these aren’t meant for critical, life-saving events.

You also don’t necessarily need to match the capacity for training magazines. Five-round magazines are the cheapest for the Saiga shotguns, so just use those for training. Heck, I even picked up five CZ 75 Mec-Gar mags pinned to 10 rounds for only $5 each.

I also suggest marking all of your magazines, especially if they are identical. Numbering the magazines with a paint pen lets you track which mag is which. If mag three is giving you problems, it’s easy to identify and put away until you can investigate.

Final Thoughts

The removable box magazine is one of the best firearms innovations ever.

They are quite convenient, and that’s why more magazines are always better than less. Hopefully, we’ve given you a rough idea of how many magazines you need.

How many mags do you think you should have? Let us know in the comments below! Speaking of mags, check out the Best AR-15 Magazines or the Best Aftermarket Glock Magazines.