Thread: Hanging on to your Magazines in SHTF

A co-worker of mine brought up a good point during SHTF. Many of us, like myself, practice dumping our empty magazines on the ground before inserting a new one. But as my coworker states, if you do this enough times, you'll end up with an overly expensive single shot rifle.

So, I ask, what are all your thoughts on this?



Dump the mag and worry about it later? We all know how cheap magazines are, and having an abundance of spare parts of anything is always a good idea (repairs, barter, or replace). I suggest keeping a surplus of at least 20 mags of every rifle and at least 10 for every pistol...sometimes this isn't always feasible due to cost, but you get the idea. You can never have too many mags.

Save the mags in a pouch or drop bag? Many of us hardly train to keep a magazine, and I won't argue that putting an empty magazine back in a pouch is nothing less than poor practice. However, throwing an empty or even a partial mag in a pouch on your non-firing side is not a bad idea...but you'll need extensive training to do this and this already adds to the reload time. Maybe we should only practice this technique behind cover? Even though you might only save a mag or two, you'll at least be behind cover when you do it.

Attach mags so they cannot be lost? I recently saw a S.W.A.T. magazine where the cover guy attached the magazine loaded in the weapon (via 550-cord) to the trigger well of his rifle so when he dropped the mag it was still attached. A nifty idea (one that I have yet to test) but I can already see the problems associated with this. Although this particular technique might not be perfect, it opens a realm of ideas. Bungee cord the mags to the sling? It sure gets the brain ticking about the possibilities.


So, what are your thoughts? Do you think you will run out of ammo before you lose all your mags? Do you think that if it got to that point, you would be acquiring other guns and magazines from the firefights so this problem is negligible?

Personally speaking, I dumped the rifle fetishism. Most plausible SHTF scenarios do not require shooting, let alone 180 rifle round load outs. A Mossberg 590A1 with ghost rings is my SHTF primary. With slugs I'm good out to 100m. Any shooting longer than that is probably a grand jury inquiry when the law comes back.

The weapon carries its mag with it.

I do practice handgun magazine retention drills because I've busted up too many floor plates over the years. If you train to keep the mag, you can always opt to drop it without trying to retain it but doing the reverse is harder without the practice behind it.

Large dump pouch on your weak side. There is no sense in throwing away a tool and hoping that you'll be able to replace it with another, properly working, example. The act of dropping my mag on the ground is an absolutely alien concept to me.

1) Buy lots of mags.
2) Without Medevac, firefights will be exceptionally deadly. I'd do everything in my power to survive, so I'd just be dropping them.

I am a firm believer that training to drop your mag on the ground is the correct move. If you have just expended 30 rounds or have a malfunctioning weapon during a fire-fight you’re in a bad place and there is only one priority, get it back up and running, not save a $15 mag for later (should have a metric sh!t ton of mags in the first place). After ensuring your survival, retrieve the mag(s) if possible. Now if you have hard cover or there is a lull in the lead throwing that is different, by all means, perform a tactical reload and stuff the empty or partial empty in your cargo/back pocket, down your shirt or in a dump pouch. My belt and large chest rig do have dump pouches, I use them as general purpose pouches including mag retrieval. Not a fan of the tether option either, too easy to get hung up.

ROFLMAO

If it's truly a SHTF situation then drop the magazine and get your weapon up and running again.

I'm with Mark W on this one.

OK if you are protecting your homestead,it obviously doesn't matter now does it? The mags will fall where you can pick them up later.

And if you are out and about and get into a fire fight,(yeah right) do you really think you are going to think about it?
If S has HTF and you are driving around for some reason,whatever,wouldn't you only take what was expendable? ASSuming you have a home to go back to
Knowing you may have to drop most stuff to be able to move quicker and return home?

Then if you are in a bug out scenario,with out a home base,you had better keep all the mags you have,unless all the ammo you have is in those mags. Even then you will want the mags if you happen on more ammo.

If you are planning on fire fights and bugging out, in your future,you will need hundreds of magazines and a spare mule to carry them.
I mean,what good is that gun without magazines.
That expensive single shot lol

My SHTF gun is a old ruger 10/22 Carbine from 1970.

I can tape 2 25-round mags together, and if you need more than 50 rounds of .22 in a firefight, then you my friend are in big trouble.

Siege warefare is no joking matter, and unless you have truly heavy weapons (i.e a M1919-A4, FN MAG, etc) you simply can't wage one-man "Rambo" attacks against enemies.



As for mags, just clip two mags together, and hope that's good enough.

Here's a wise word from a "Novice": "Make every round count.".

In SHTF, everyone's fair game, including you.

Commonsence is the one dictating what your doing.

Have the time?... Keep the mags and dump pouch handy, but Drop it if needed!

Getting weird about it?... More chance for getting hung up IMO.

The last thing I would want is a pendulim swinging from my trigger guard, it ruins your aim, will get tangled in your legs, maybe smack you in the face.
I have a dump pouch and am smart enough to know when to use it

I forgot to mention that I would drop empty mags and retain partial mags. You can always get your empties back when the fight has won.

Oh to clarify, that's if I'm in a firefight id drop.
If situation dictate I have low mag count and can't replenish then retain if possible (no time retaining if getting shot at)

Heck I'd have to break my habit of policing my brass long time before I would worry about loosing a magazine. Them things cost MONEY.

What if I actually lived through multiple mags changes during a firefight. That would flippen awesome. Jus sayin.

Originally Posted by fry

What if I actually lived through multiple mags changes during a firefight. That would flippen awesome. Jus sayin.

Everyone wants to be in one...until they've been in one.

Ok, here's a good example, Take your "wonderful" AR-15, throw it in the mud, let it sit for a month, and then pull it out of the mud, and try firing it.

I HATE AR-15's! YOU WILL NEVER SEE ME OWN OR SHOOT ONE!!!

I Honestly do not care what the Army is using, or what anyone else says. I have and never will trust an AR-15. and you can't make me.

Try carrying 2,000 rounds of .223

maybe the new AR's are better, but even the best AR can't stand up to the most basic AK-47.

In the AR VS AK, I am AK ALL THE WAY.

They each have their pros and cons...either way this particular thread isn't about ARs vs AKs....it's about whether or not you have a plan for retaining your magazines- or if you even are worried about it.



Thanks for all the replies thus far...

Originally Posted by unionguy

1) Buy lots of mags.
2) Without Medevac, firefights will be exceptionally deadly. I'd do everything in my power to survive, so I'd just be dropping them.

If Medivac is curtailed so will all fuel/weapon sales but drugs and booze will be readily available.
For those that think that a Mad Max world is impossible go back and watch the 1st Mad Max movie.
There is a large sign along a hwy warning that the area beyond the sign is dangerous, full of outlaws etc. Film critics refered to that as a Dystopian Future fantasy.
The USA has those signs NOW!
There is a gun battle ongoing on the TX border NOW!
PPL are being beheaded in AZ NOW!
Think of Somalia and the "Techinicals", they evoulved from PPL that "Occupied Mogadishu"
Plan on having no resupply of mags and ammo, plan on real firefights

I voted other.

Buy a rifle that has inexpensive - not cheap - yet effective magazines (see pmags).
Spend no more than 15 per mag.
Avoid pistols that use magazines that cost over 30 dollars (HK...)

Best way to avoid this issue altogether is this:
Buy an AR-15 or AK-47 variant.
Buy a Glock.
Why?
Those three are extremely common.* You'll sooner find parts and mags for those than you will for a M1A, AR-10, "uncommon weapon name" here, etc
But this is just my humble opinion. If there was a massive flood of inexpensive HK91s on the market and PTRs, this also might not be a problem since magazines are insanely inexpensive.

Ideally you would want to retrieve these magazines at some point, and if you can't, make sure you have more at another location.

*Note. I don't own any of those three (yet) , but they ARE common and therefore you could find mags more easily.

Dump pouch on all our web belts

Originally Posted by Blitzkrieg

Dump pouch on all our web belts

Pics?

I've made Dump pouches out of old snow boots, the kind with nylon tops and draw strings. I riveted a belt loop on one side as well as riveting across the bottom to close it. 7.62 SAW pouches work well and you can now find the actuall dump pouch for $15 on the web get one that is deeper than your mag by two inchs or more.
You can make one out of salvaged materials and install a looped section of bungy cord at the top so it closes automaticaly and keeps the mags from falling out when your running etc.