Gun winter is coming: winterize yourself

[Totem Polar]

A reasonable, and reasonably best-practice article from the gun mag gurus. Presented for your pleasure.


https://gunmagwarehouse.com/blog/gun-owner-preparation/

[RJ]

That’s a pretty good article. I like the last part, about increasing your self awareness,

[Suvorov]

Agreed, good article. It does seem that mags are still relatively available for those fortunate enough to live in free(er) America. I doubt that will be the same in a month.

[LittleLebowski]

Agreed, good article. It does seem that mags are still relatively available for those fortunate enough to live in free(er) America. I doubt that will be the same in a month.

I was mildly shocked to see Gen3 PMAGs at Palmetto for $12.30 and Glock OEM mags for standard prices.

https://palmettostatearmory.com/magpul-pmag-30-5-56x45-magazine-mag571-blk.html

https://palmettostatearmory.com/brands/glock/magazines.html?caliber_multi=9mm&stock_filter=Show+Only+In+Stock

[blues]

I didn't check, LittleLebowski, since I have sufficient mags for my purposes...but I wouldn't be surprised if the run is on lower capacity mags. I know that the last two orders I made for AR mags were 10's and 20's respectively.

I've always tried to keep a healthy number of OEM Glock mags on hand for all my double stack 9mm pistols.

[5pins]

I'm surprised that the price of mags has not skyrocketed.

Number 7 is my favorite. Everyone thinks that reloading will magically fix the problem until they try to find primers or powder. Have you looked at the price of them on gunbroker?

CCI small pistol. Price as of this post $1082 for 5000. https://www.gunbroker.com/item/889162361

Alliant Unique one pound $85. https://www.gunbroker.com/item/888818785

[scw2]

I'm surprised that the price of mags has not skyrocketed.

Number 7 is my favorite. Everyone thinks that reloading will magically fix the problem until they try to find primers or powder. Have you looked at the price of them on gunbroker?

CCI small pistol. Price as of this post $1082 for 5000. https://www.gunbroker.com/item/889162361

Alliant Unique one pound $85. https://www.gunbroker.com/item/888818785

For the sake of comparison, what were normal or sale prices the past few years for the same quantity of primers and powder?

[Shoresy]

For the sake of comparison, what were normal or sale prices the past few years for the same quantity of primers and powder?

In very general terms... roughly $35/1000 primers. $25-35 for a pound of powder. (Those will vary with specific products but pretty accurately illustrate most of what was on the shelf the past couple years.)

[RancidSumo]

Question becomes how many Glock mags are enough? For those of you who have been at this longer than I have (pretty much everybody here), have you actually worn them out?

[RJ]

Question becomes how many Glock mags are enough? For those of you who have been at this longer than I have (pretty much everybody here), have you actually worn them out?

The best (read: Snarkiest ) answer I've heard is "too many to count". :)

Hypothetically, if you shoot USPSA, you might want up to 5 for use in matches, maybe with special basepads. You might also want some relatively low-use ones, maybe three, in the original box, "in case" you want to unload the gun. And then maybe some for range use, if you hate to load mags at the range.

For a strictly carry gun, you might want a couple carry mags (one in the gun, one reload), a "Barney" mag that you use to load up. and whatever "extras" you might want for range visits, so you aren't loading and unloading carry ammo in the primary mags.

I find Glock mags are pretty robust. Hell, you need a Jaws of Life just to take one apart. I've never worn one out.

[RancidSumo]

The best (read: Snarkiest ) answer I've heard is "too many to count". :)

Hypothetically, if you shoot USPSA, you might want up to 5 for use in matches, maybe with special basepads. You might also want some relatively low-use ones, maybe three, in the original box, "in case" you want to unload the gun. And then maybe some for range use, if you hate to load mags at the range.

For a strictly carry gun, you might want a couple carry mags (one in the gun, one reload), a "Barney" mag that you use to load up. and whatever "extras" you might want for range visits, so you aren't loading and unloading carry ammo in the primary mags.

I find Glock mags are pretty robust. Hell, you need a Jaws of Life just to take one apart. I've never worn one out.

I think I'm sitting on ~15 practice G19 mags (split roughly evenly OEM and PMAG) and ~10 practice G45 mags with the same split. Plus 3 OEM carry mags for each. Realistically, I think I'll never need more than that (I don't shoot on concrete so they don't get abused), but I can't help but think I need my Glock mag boxes to mirror my AR mag boxes . . .

That is good to hear though that they don't really wear out. I've been kicking around stocking springs/followers/base plates as a cheaper alternative, but don't know if they would ever get used.

[Suvorov]

Question becomes how many Glock mags are enough? For those of you who have been at this longer than I have (pretty much everybody here), have you actually worn them out?

The age old question of “how many mags?”

I suppose we are all about to find out in the upcoming years......

I’ve worn out Beretta mags as well as USGI AR mags before - barring damage due to handling it takes a lot to wear them out. I try to use the guidelines of 6 per pistol and 10 for rifle but I suspect that is prepper logic. I would say 2x your basic load would probably outlast your need.

[RJ]

I think I'm sitting on ~15 practice G19 mags (split roughly evenly OEM and PMAG) and ~10 practice G45 mags with the same split. Plus 3 OEM carry mags for each. Realistically, I think I'll never need more than that (I don't shoot on concrete so they don't get abused), but I can't help but think I need my Glock mag boxes to mirror my AR mag boxes . . .

That is good to hear though that they don't really wear out. I've been kicking around stocking springs/followers/base plates as a cheaper alternative, but don't know if they would ever get used.

I'm FAR from the guy to ask about stocking, but I have found the basepads of Glock mags to be very robust indeed. I've only got through 14 USPSA matches, varying between gravel/rock and sand and dirt. All have been dropped full or partially full, without any care, several times a stage.

I will say the only mag-related shenanigans I've seen took place with a P365XL. Not to bag on Sig, but during one match when I went to reload my rounds, the follower had barfed out the top of the mag body somehow. I stared at it for a few seconds, then just stuffed it back in and carried on. (I had no spare mags; flipping Sig mags cost an arm and a leg, and I only bought 3 extras with the two they give you.). Later I did some comparisons between the Sig follower design and the Glock 48 follower. I was able to nudge the follower out of the Sig mag fairly easily with the end of a plastic Tipton pick; the follower in the Glock mag refused to budge.

This contributed to my conclusion that the P365/XL while a useful carry gun, was not robust enough "for me".


Glock 48 on left, Sig P365/XL on the right. The Sig follower is shown after light pressure on the front, I was able to lever it easily out of mag tube from above.
66018

[GyroF-16]

The age old question of “how many mags?”

I suppose we are all about to find out in the upcoming years......

I’ve worn out Beretta mags as well as USGI AR mags before - barring damage due to handling it takes a lot to wear them out. I try to use the guidelines of 6 per pistol and 10 for rifle but I suspect that is prepper logic. I would say 2x your basic load would probably outlast your need.

I have also deadlined a few Beretta 92 mags in the last few years. They were my oldest mags, and eventually the feed lips got a bit bent, causing malfunctions.

As to minimum numbers, I’ve settle on 5 per handgun type - 2 for carry, 3 for training.

[farscott]

Question becomes how many Glock mags are enough? For those of you who have been at this longer than I have (pretty much everybody here), have you actually worn them out?

Based on living through the 1994 AWB, I remember $20 Glock 17 magazines becoming $100-$150 magazines. And that was with the factories basically running 24/7 cranking out "pre-ban magazines" between the AWB's passage and its effective date. I also remember LGS swapping normal capacity magazines for ten-round magazines. Or just taking one of the two supplied magazines and claiming, "That is how Glock shipped it".

As such, my not-so-snarky answer is, "As many as you can afford." This is especially for double-stack 9x19 magazines as the ten-round 9x19 restricted magazine has a well earned reputation for not reliably feeding.

[Flamingo]

I jumped on several webpages to start buying magazines, but then I decided to count how many mags I have for my Glocks. I don't NEED more, but the hoarder in me wants to get more. I have a bunch of factory 17 and 19 mags, and the Magpul versions as well. I only have a few of the 30 rounders, but I really don't think those really offer much.

I don't have a G48, which is one I want, but I am not going to pay +$300 over MSRP for one. I would buy a couple of the Shield mags just to have them.

[lwt16]

Question becomes how many Glock mags are enough? For those of you who have been at this longer than I have (pretty much everybody here), have you actually worn them out?

I have one that is from the 90s marked for the absurd AWB of the Clinton era. That mag is WELL used and I placed an orange base plate and orange #7 follower in it along with a fresh spring. I use it for dry fire practice. One day I was heading out to shoot (back when ammo was an easy thing to find) and decided to give it a try.

It runs like a champ. No issues whatsoever.

I prefer six mags per pistol and have way more than that now as I have been buying new OEMs for a while now.

Regards.

[FNFAN]

I have a couple dozen Glock mags. The two that I've had any issues were good to go after cleaning and a new spring and were re-marked as range or dryfire mags. I do have a micrometer measurement of the spread between feed lips on new G19 and G23 mags somewhere and had thought of making a check gauge of that width. Just never became that big of an issue. As an aside one of the nice things about the EDC X9 is the top notch magazines. Talk about some smooth feeding!

[Robinson]

I wouldn't feel good having less than a dozen mags in good condition, in each caliber for my 1911s -- and having more is better. I have about twenty good mags each for 45ACP and 38 Super.

[TGS]

Bare minimum for any gun I own is 5.

For me, ideal is 15.....10 for practice, 5 for carry (1 in the gun, up to 2 on my belt, 2 on my armor or go-bag). I like having 10 for practice because I go to the range to shoot, not load mags......so I fill a pouch that holds 10 mags and shoot all of them in the hour I'm allotted at the indoor range.

[Suvorov]

Based on living through the 1994 AWB, I remember $20 Glock 17 magazines becoming $100-$150 magazines. And that was with the factories basically running 24/7 cranking out "pre-ban magazines" between the AWB's passage and its effective date. I also remember LGS swapping normal capacity magazines for ten-round magazines. Or just taking one of the two supplied magazines and claiming, "That is how Glock shipped it".

As such, my not-so-snarky answer is, "As many as you can afford." This is especially for double-stack 9x19 magazines as the ten-round 9x19 restricted magazine has a well earned reputation for not reliably feeding.

I started my immersion into the gun culture right before the 94 AWB so know where you are coming from. That said, my concern with the “buy as many as you can afford now” plan is that I doubt that the next law is going to allow transfer of standard capacity magazines if they don’t actually achieve their desire of making them NFA items. I’m beginning to think the goal is to have “enough.”

[Borderland]

In very general terms... roughly $35/1000 primers. $25-35 for a pound of powder. (Those will vary with specific products but pretty accurately illustrate most of what was on the shelf the past couple years.)

Agree on the primers. That's the number I use when calculating my per round cost. I buy powder in 8 lb containers to minimize the cost. I use $20/lb as a rough estimate. Bullets is harder to get a handle on because there are so many options. 55 gr Hornady (5.56) could be found for 0.10 not long ago. My brass is free.

I can load a rd. of 5.56 for $0.21 using those numbers. 0.15/rd. for pistol hard ball. 0.25/rd for good SD ammo. I don't load for SD though, I buy that.

But none of this matters now because components are no longer available or in short supply.

[ranger]

Based on living through the 1994 AWB, I remember $20 Glock 17 magazines becoming $100-$150 magazines. And that was with the factories basically running 24/7 cranking out "pre-ban magazines" between the AWB's passage and its effective date. I also remember LGS swapping normal capacity magazines for ten-round magazines. Or just taking one of the two supplied magazines and claiming, "That is how Glock shipped it".

As such, my not-so-snarky answer is, "As many as you can afford." This is especially for double-stack 9x19 magazines as the ten-round 9x19 restricted magazine has a well earned reputation for not reliably feeding.

Those of us who lived through AWB times probably have our fair share of stuff so we do not ever go down that path again

[RevolverRob]

Pretty good piece here by my buddy.

Reminded me to go pick up some more STI mags.