Twice this week I found magazines I'd been looking for and unable to find. My general policy is that I want to have about six magazines in my possession for any gun that I own, but just my luck I don't buy Glocks or Sheilds or Beretta 92s, so my magazines are a little harder to find.

On both the occasions that I found my hard to find magazines, when I saw them I took every one off the shelf and bought them. One set put me just shy of my half dozen standard, the other took me well over it, but they were such hard to find magazines that I didn't care.

Both times I thought about that next person who will walk in, see the sticker on the shelf for the magazine they need, go up to a clerk and be told "sorry, we're sold out." Both times I thought "they'd buy them all too." But would they? Do you?

If a gun has a rare magazine, it is probably a less common gun, therefore one that I probably won't be shooting a lot. An example of that is my Sig 230 or the Zastava M70A that I recently sold. If I only have one magazine for it, I will definitely get another if I can find it. But I just don't see the need for a stack.
For the rest of my guns, mags are pretty easy to find.

You know what I can't find? Speed loaders for my 7 round Ruger Revolver in .357 magnum. Other 7 round .357 speed loaders, even modified not to hang on the cylinder's center post, don't really work, banging into the frame and not releasing easily.

For the rest, even with NJ's new 10 round limit are easy to find--H-K, Sig, Beretta.

Sure I leave magazines on the shelf. Looking at the shelf I see copies of Sierra, IEEE Spectrum, ACLU Magazine ...

OK joking aside, I tend to only buy one or two magazines at a time because I just don't want to spend a big chunk of money all in one go. But I also have all the magazines I want right now, so I've got no reason to go looking for more.

YankeeTarheel wrote: Fri Jan 18, 2019 9:59 am You know what I can't find? Speed loaders for my 7 round Ruger Revolver in .357 magnum. Other 7 round .357 speed loaders, even modified not to hang on the cylinder's center post, don't really work, banging into the frame and not releasing easily.

For the rest, even with NJ's new 10 round limit are easy to find--H-K, Sig, Beretta.

That is why you should sell your Ruger and uy a S&W 686 plus.

TrueTexan wrote: Fri Jan 18, 2019 10:56 am

YankeeTarheel wrote: Fri Jan 18, 2019 9:59 am You know what I can't find? Speed loaders for my 7 round Ruger Revolver in .357 magnum. Other 7 round .357 speed loaders, even modified not to hang on the cylinder's center post, don't really work, banging into the frame and not releasing easily.

For the rest, even with NJ's new 10 round limit are easy to find--H-K, Sig, Beretta.

That is why you should sell your Ruger and uy a S&W 686 plus.

Nothing like a "Throw out the baby with the bathwater" solution!
(It's a super-nice shooter for a revolver! Good-looking, too!)

In my area, magazines at the local gun shops, if they have the one you're looking for, are about twice as expensive as they are online. I can't say I've every wiped them out at those prices.

Six per firearm...that rational would put me upwards of...maybe I should not speak of such numbers on an open forum.
Nonetheless, three is where I like to keep it. At what point to you need a special closet to store all those mags.

I usually like to have at least enough magazine capacity to hold a whole standard box of bullets for the weapons caliber. For My CZ-527 in 7.62x39 thats four. For my 7.62x39 AR it's several 20 rounders. For my full size 9mm it's three 16 rounders.

30 rd 5.56 AR magazines seem to breed in the darkness of my safe.

featureless wrote: Fri Jan 18, 2019 11:06 am In my area, magazines at the local gun shops, if they have the one you're looking for, are about twice as expensive as they are online. I can't say I've every wiped them out at those prices.

Interestingly, most of the gun shops in my area run sales websites, so they keep their prices pretty competitive. Generally if they're more, they compensate for what shipping would cost.

I dunno if it counts but what the hell, I'll tell my story.....I have a Beretta 89 which comes with 8-round mags. I bought four Beretta 87 mags which are 10-round but have this giant base plate that won't fit in the grip of the 89. I swapped out two of the base plates and 3D printed another two.

I still saved money this way AND increased the mag capacity because finding Beretta 89 8-round mags are super expensive.

Rarely see magazines at local gun shops in my area and they are never what I need. I always order online.

highdesert wrote: Fri Jan 18, 2019 7:07 pm Rarely see magazines at local gun shops in my area and they are never what I need. I always order online.

Same here. Ammo and mags online. LGSs have all the normal, common mags. Never something I need or cannot find online for a much lower price.

I had been on the hunt for Beretta Cougar 9mm magazines for years. Found some expensive online ($37) and bought one years ago. Never saw them again until recently - bought three more. I did try some pro mag $16 mags for my Cougar pair, but wanted Beretta mags for the resale value (and for whatever reason I believe I need a bunch of mags for every pistol).

When I buy a new pistol, I first check on mag prices. What seems like a great deal isn't always a great deal if they come with one magazine. I learned that lesson with my Beretta Cougars and Cheetahs.

No matter how horny I am for a magazine, I'll not pay ridiculous prices. For my primary carries I like to have 8-12 spares; six is minimum for any pistol. And, yes, if I ran across a stack of mags that I'd been searching and price not ridiculous, then the next guy may not get one - I'm republican in that matter - me, me, me, me, first. LOL

highdesert wrote: Fri Jan 18, 2019 7:07 pm Rarely see magazines at local gun shops in my area and they are never what I need. I always order online.

This. I’ve actually never bought extra magazines. My CZ 75B and 85 Combat both share the same 16 round magazine and I ended up with five to share between them. The others have two magazines each and I’m not seeing a reason to buy more yet.

sikacz wrote: Sat Jan 19, 2019 12:40 pm

highdesert wrote: Fri Jan 18, 2019 7:07 pm Rarely see magazines at local gun shops in my area and they are never what I need. I always order online.

This. I’ve actually never bought extra magazines. My CZ 75B and 85 Combat both share the same 16 round magazine and I ended up with five to share between them. The others have two magazines each and I’m not seeing a reason to buy more yet.

As long as you have extra springs... or something. Mags don't last forever.

I am just lazy and want a bunch of loaded mags to bring to the range to save time.

K9s wrote: Sat Jan 19, 2019 12:47 pm

sikacz wrote: Sat Jan 19, 2019 12:40 pm

highdesert wrote: Fri Jan 18, 2019 7:07 pm Rarely see magazines at local gun shops in my area and they are never what I need. I always order online.

This. I’ve actually never bought extra magazines. My CZ 75B and 85 Combat both share the same 16 round magazine and I ended up with five to share between them. The others have two magazines each and I’m not seeing a reason to buy more yet.

As long as you have extra springs... or something. Mags don't last forever.

I am just lazy and want a bunch of loaded mags to bring to the range to save time.

Springs would be online items. So far all springs are available and I haven’t noticed if any are failing. I shoot slow and relax. LOL. Loading gives me a chance to think.

I don't pay attention to magazine prices - they are always much cheaper than the gun, and they last a long time, so I'm not really picky about them.

For the pistols I shoot most often, I like enough mags to load 2 boxes of 50 rds at home. Then when I'm at the range I can spend my time more efficiently, shooting rather than loading. Some ranges charge by the hour, so it's even more incentive to be loaded up and ready to go. I also keep a mag or 2 loaded full time with self defense ammo if it's one of my carry pistols. So 8 mags for most of my 9mm pistols with 15 rd capacity is the sweet spot for me. I like to number my mags so I can track malfunctions that may be associated with a specific magazine. I tend to find better pricing online vs a brick and mortar gun store.