How many magazines per gun?

[Tamara]

G19 and G17 I have about ten factory mags for each as well as few assorted Magpul and ETS mags.

Guns that I'm unlikely to take to gun school or use for heavy shooting, I'm generally happy with four or five.

AR mags...I have no earthly idea how many of these things I've stacked up, but having lived through the Ban Era of '94-'04, I am not entirely rational about them.

My mom's parents got married in the middle of the Great Depression. They had a lovely late-19th/early-20th Century bungalow in Chicago with cut-glass doorknobs on half the doors. Every single one of the doorknob shafts was covered in rubber bands because they wouldn't throw any away. I'm like that with AR mags.

[blues]

So my question would be is that ridiculously high or ridiculously low?

Compared to what? Most people can (and do) go through a lifetime with much less. I like having a few more than I think I'll need just in case of future bans or worn out springs / followers etc. I don't doubt that, speaking for myself, a dozen for each firearm is overkill but I like knowing I have 'em and they didn't set me back more than I was comfortable spending.

[Malamute]

In your position, Id consider buying 10 rd mags for range use. A local shop had a few 10 rd mags several years ago, nobody wanted them. I paid $5 each for them and have used them for most of my practice shooting ever since. They've always worked for me, though others have problems I understand. Still, in your case, legally available and affordable, so buying a few for range mags might be a good investment.

I still keep them in the truck, besides practice use, if I ran through my regular mags for some reason (alien invasion?), theyd be handier than shooting single rounds in the gun or trying to load mags with loose rounds. Having spare springs on hand is a good idea also.

The 10 rders are also handy to keep loaded with birdshot loads in the summer.

[Suvorov]

Second, this isn't about "load out" it's about having enough to keep the gun in service for my life time and the life time of my grandkids.

Well, by "load out" I mean just that. Say that when you play your gun games at the range or wherever you use 3 magazines. Then 6 magazines would "probably" be sufficient for the average shooter to last them their shooting life and have some to donate to grand kids (of course the laws here in Kalifornia prohibit my children from inheriting my standard capacity magazines -- one more example of the "intent" of the law). If you are preparing for the Apocalypse deJure and say will wear the standard GI loadout of 7 30 round magazines - then 14 will probably last you for all you 3-gun matches/gun games and when the Apocalypse comes will more than likely last you until a) you are able to replenish or losses through battlefield "pickup" or b) you are zombie-food.

Obviously if you shoot tens of thousands of rounds per year then you will wear out a magazine sooner, but I can honestly say in all my time being a sub 10K/year shooter, that I have never worn out a quality factory new pistol magazine.

[Nephrology]

As a fellow CO resident, I think I have 25 17 rd G17 mags (pre-ban), another 8 15rd G17 mags, and about 20 OEM 15rd G19 mags plus another ~8 15rd Magpul G19 mags. I think have about 9 or so 10rd mags for my G17 that I use exclusively for practice.

I am planning on just buying them more or less as part of my ammo budget, i.e. indefinitely and as I find good deals on them

[rcbusmc24]

There are 4 milk crates full of AR mags sitting in my gun room, along with two training rocket crates filled with unopened p-mags and unopened brown follower AR mags
There are 2 milk crates full of ak 47 mags, one polymer and one metal
There is a milk crate full of Steyr AUG mags cause I'm a lefty and NATO stocks don't work for me
There is a milk crate filled with glock 33 rounders and MP5 mags for my 9mm toys
There is a mixed milk crate with S&W M&P 15-22 mags and Magpul AR-10 mags
There is a milk crate full of 17 round Glock 9mm mags
I have a large bin full of M-1 Garand clips and 15/ 30 round M-1 carbine mags, there are also about 350 Swedish mauser stripper clips in there as they work great for .30-06 milsurps as well.
There is a small mountain of .308 AICS mags.
I have a chest filled with Sig, M&P9, Beretta M9 and APX, FN FNS, CZ P07, 1911 (both .45 and 9mm), HK p30, 45c, P7psp, and others, some I have at least 30 of and at the minimum 5 of each type
I don't even want to think about the box of revolver speed loaders and speed strips.
And
This doesn't include the couple of mags for things like my Beretta AR-70 (3) or the HK-93A3 (4) cause I just can't bring myself to pay the stupid money they want for more of those....

Honestly, I'm not really sure how many mags I have for the various guns at home right now, But I have a gun buying problem, as of last week I'm up to 19 AR's in 5.56 alone, there 13 different 9mm glocks (4 G34's alone)

Some might say I need help........

[Nephrology]

Some might say I need help........

Well, definitely.... no way can you lift all of those boxes alone!

[45dotACP]

I'd probably get ten of the OEM glock mags...and then just buy a magpul glock mag every time you get a gallon of milk or a box of ammo. They're what...fifteen bucks?


Problem solved

[critter]

Well, definitely.... no way can you lift all of those boxes alone!

LoL.. yeah really. I'm obviously not holding up my end of the Patriot Supply Stock.

I have 10 mags for most pistols except the safe queens (those have either three or even one). For the rifles I have 20.

[vcdgrips]

Pistols,
Bare minimum 6 per pistol platform 3 for practice and 3 for carry, never the twain shall meet.

I tell people who say they want to get serious, 6 and 6 following the same logic. Presuming that they are a fully functioning in their career field adult, if they do not get the 12 mags, I pretty much know all I need to know re their commitment to the art.

Rifles
I would say 3/3 or 7/7 as per the above.

CAVEAT-Embrace the fact that mags are consumables. You number and initial them. If they fail you 2x, they go to the practice pile or trash (almost anything can happen 1x).

YMMV Greatly