Over at gunsmagazine.com, legendary gun guru Massad Ayoob tackles the contentious question How Many Rounds Should A Pistol-Packer Pack? A Peck! OK, I added that last bit. As you might expect, Mr. Ayoob is not a great fan of the J-Frame-related reply . . .
In those Internet debates, you’ll always find the guy who says, “If the five rounds in my J-Frame aren’t enough, I’ll get the heck out of there.” Unfortunately, if getting the heck out of there had been an option at all, the J-Frame would probably never come into play in the first place.
With all due respect, most snubbie owners would use their guns to help them get the heck out of there, rather than try and find out if their rounds are “enough.”
As you might expect, Mr. Ayoob doesn’t finish his article recommending a specific number of “spare” rounds:
A gun without spare ammo is a temporary gun! We all have to face the fact we might need to fire the darn thing. High-volume events are indeed on the far end of the bell curve of likelihood, like house fires. Think of spare ammo as analogous to your fire insurance: “It’s not about the odds, it’s about the stakes.” Extra rounds are like the gun itself: “better to have and not need, than to need and not have.”
No matter what gun I carry, I have one reload on board. Do you carry spare ammo? If you do, where and how do you carry it? (Hopefully not like the boys above, who keep it in their hair.)