One Accessory You Can Never Have Too Many Of

When you purchase a pistol from most retailers, you will normally receive the firearm and two pistol magazines.  With the regulations in Canada which control cartridge magazine capacities limiting you to just 10 rounds, you quickly find that pistol magazines are the one accessory you need more of.

Whether your handgun is a rimfire calibre, such as .22 long rifle, or a full bore centre-fire calibre, such as a .45 Auto, you may not have a magazine designed to hold more than ten cartridges.  However, most boxes of pistol ammunition you purchase are 50 rounds.  Once you spend any amount of time on a range, you quickly discover that you are constantly reloading your pistol magazines.

The time spent reloading could be better used by getting rounds down range, and so a wise early investment is in pistol magazines.  Lots of them.

On our Canadian Restricted Firearms Safety Courses, we feature a Smith & Wesson M&P in .40S&W calibre as one of our training firearms.  This wonderful pistol is designed with law enforcement in mind, from the modular grips, the loaded chamber view port, to the sleek polymer frame featuring an accessory rail, and more.  In order to maximize our practice time on our courses, we have loads of additional M&P magazines for our students to practice loading and unloading prior to our testing and handling practice.

For shooters interested in getting into pistol shooting disciplines such as IPSC, IDPA, PPC and others, you will find that you need at least 3 magazines to compete in most competitions.  Many IPSC competitors regularly carry up to five magazines.

Additional pistol magazines are also helpful for dry fire practice.  For law enforcement officers, and even competitive shooters, the duty or competition magazines need to be reliable and function 100% of the time.  Constant dry fire and stoppage practicing can ruin magazines over time, as they repeatedly get inserted, tapped, and dropped on the floor, over and over again.  Having extra magazines specifically for practice is another way you can prolong the life of your duty or competition magazines.

Don’t make the mistake of leaving yourself short when it comes to pistol magazines. If you plan on owning pistols, pick up a few extra magazines.