Is 10+1 Rounds Enough?

[mmc45414]

One think I like about a 15+1 gun is that I can carry it without a spare magazine and feel well-prepared. When I carry lower cap guns, I always have spare ammo.

I will admit to this also. If I decide to carry a 1911 I am pretty diligent about the spare ammo, M&P (typically) not so much. I say typically because when people are rioting or going batshit for TP or otherwise being squirrely I get a little more squirrely, or is that spider sense?...

And another thing about being more standardized is I have plenty of magazines that fit all three sizes of 9mm M&P I would be carrying and there is a spare in a carrier with a simple quick clip in both vehicles.

And yeah it is important for more than just ammo capacity, but I am just an aging suburban schumk going about my life. If I actually meet my demise from running out of ammo when I stopped for beer you can make fun of me, I won't care if I am dead.

[feudist]

Someone mentioned it earlier that a significant reason for carrying a spare mag is malfunction reduction.

Another use case for high capacity is that in the zero sum compressed time competition of a gunfight the only rounds that will affect the outcome are those

in the gun. Stipulating those two conditions, a strong argument can be made for a hi-cap pistol and a spare mag together.

But that's simply not possible for a lot of people all the time.

Hence the near unanimous response in this thread that skill, awareness and a cool head will trump most anything.

Also, the primary attribute of a handgun is it's presence.

Rule 1.

[SwampDweller]

I'm going to stick with the HK45C for now. This weekend I'm going to go out with a shot timer and IDPA targets and do some Bill Drills with the HK, Glock, and Beretta.

[GAP]

I'm going to stick with the HK45C for now. This weekend I'm going to go out with a shot timer and IDPA targets and do some Bill Drills with the HK, Glock, and Beretta.

They’re all fine weapons!

Run a bunch of El Presidente if you can. The transitions should give you more data than just straight Bills.

[spinmove_]

They’re all fine weapons!

Run a bunch of El Presidente if you can. The transitions should give you more data than just straight Bills.

Bill Drills and El Prez is good. I’d also do B8s at 25yds to see what you can do as well as run The Super Test. If you have some ammo left over, Ben Stoeger’s Doubles Drill definitely shows you what you can do to better fine tune your grip.

[SiriusBlunder]

I'm going to stick with the HK45C for now. This weekend I'm going to go out with a shot timer and IDPA targets and do some Bill Drills with the HK, Glock, and Beretta.

Maybe add some one handed shooting with something simple like the failure drill if you have enough time/ammo. Shooting SHO and WHO on a timer and comparing the results between .45/.40/9mm runs was also very revealing to me.

[Jason M]

Add some one handed draws (not using support hand to clear the cover garment) and one hand stoppage clearance on the timer too.

[SwampDweller]

Maybe add some one handed shooting with something simple like the failure drill if you have enough time/ammo. Shooting SHO and WHO on a timer and comparing the results between .45/.40/9mm runs was also very revealing to me.

I think I know what was revealed to you, but would you mind elaborating? Just curious. One thing is that I frequently deal with medium sized animals.

[SiriusBlunder]

I think I know what was revealed to you, but would you mind elaborating? Just curious. One thing is that I frequently deal with medium sized animals.

My group size and times with multiple shots/target transitions with the larger calibers really sucked compared to 9mm one handed, as opposed to just sucking two handed. :-)

BTW, I'm not saying an HK45C is a bad EDC choice, especially since I don't know all the details of your situation, just that there's multiple components to "shooting better" when deciding what to carry that many overlook, myself included. Compromises and trade-offs. Your concern about multiple attackers made me think you are primarily concerned about carry in an urban/suburban environment, but that may be completely off.

I live in a relatively safe suburb, but spend 20+ hours hiking/week outside of town in either the desert or mountains. The largest 4 legged animal threat in the wild here is mountain lion. I usually carry my EDC 9mm with barrier blind ammo from DocGKR's list. I'm basing this on DocGKR's advice:

In the lower 48 states, any good duty handgun load which works against auto windshields should be fine for most threats.

I sometimes use my MP40 FS with 180 grain Gold Dots as my outdoor gun for "reasons", mostly feelings/economic ones.

I see no issue having a different outdoor handgun or load if situation dictates. Mission drives the gear train and all that. Having said this, there are folks here that have way more experience defending against animals. There are outdoor guns/ammo load threads here that can provide lots of good info and insight.

[Hunter Rose]

I'll say no, capacity matters. I love 45,I love the 1911, and I love HK USPs. I tried all last year to convince myself capacity doesn't matter, as long as it was around 10rds total in the gun. But when the P30 is the same size as the HK45C, yet the P30 holds 9 more rds in a loaded pistol (and all those rds have less recoil), I think that is significant.

I'm back to a 9mm P30 over 45 for carry.