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building my first belt - how many mag holders?


Blindhog25

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I am gearing up to try my hand this fall with uspsa pistol shooting and wanted to know if three or four mag holders are needed.  I am shooting an X5 legion which came with some large capacity magazines but I'm ordering the mag holders now so not sure if I need three or four.

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Kind of depends on the division and your confidence in shooting steel without many makeups. I started with Production (10 rounds in mags) and got four holders. After cycling through limited and now CO with full capacity mags, I rarely need more than two mags a stage. You always want more than the minimum in case of mag malfunction. An X5 with no dot would be minor limited. So at least three.

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If your in Limited or CO, based on my own experience and what I've seen, I would recommend 2 pouch type holders and 1 magnet holder.  If you don't want to spend the money on 1 magnet holder (they are a little more expensive) then get 3 pouch holders.  The magnet holders aren't a must have, but they can provide a little faster mag grab or quick mag stow in some circumstances.  For example, I've seen stages start with no mag in the gun, some required all mags on a barrel(s).  So, with a magnet holder you can sometimes grab a mag and load quicker, or grab an extra mag off a barrel then run the course while stowing the extra (until you need it) on a magnet holder quicker and easier than inserting in a pouch.  Just some tips I've learned after a few years of USPSA.

Edited by ShredderTactical
Clarification.
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Years ago I took a shooting course from Mike Voigt who was a great USPSA  shooter. He felt the rule of thumb for any stage was always carry 2 more mags than you think you’ll use. Hope that helps. 

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For Production, I typically run 5 pouches plus a start mag. That lets me have the 4 mags I would need for an unloaded start plus an extra on the belt. For a typical 32 round loaded start, I never touch the back 2 mags unless something goes wrong. 
 

For Carry Optics, I run 3 pouches. Sometimes I run a separate start mag. I Barney from the middle mag, then load the back one and go, or Barney from the back mag, load the extra mag from a pocket, and go.  I usually end up with 1-2 extra untouched mags on my belt. 
 

I am not running a magnet currently because I haven’t bothered to update my belt since they allowed magnets in more divisions, but having one up front to carry the start mag and pick mags up on “mags on table” stages is a good idea. It also makes a convenient place to hold a can of paint for resetting steel :)

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I have 6 on my belt because I started in production.

 

I just left them on there even though I shoot CO now and don't use them all.  I haven't made changes to my belt either since the rule changes a couple of years ago.

 

Maybe I should, but I also haven't shot any matches in the past 2 years.

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2 hours ago, DKorn said:

For Carry Optics, I run 3 pouches. Sometimes I run a separate start mag. I Barney from the middle mag, then load the back one and go, or Barney from the back mag, load the extra mag from a pocket, and go.  I usually end up with 1-2 extra untouched mags on my belt. 

 

Ok what's Barney?

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19 minutes ago, Blindhog25 said:

 

Ok what's Barney?

 

It's a mag that you use to load the chamber and then eject and stow, and then load a full mag so that you're all topped off for the start of a stage.

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48 minutes ago, CClassForLife said:

It comes from the TV character Barney Fife in which he kept a single bullet in his pocket.

 

I forgot about this in the TV show.  I had no idea where Barney came from until you mentioned it.

 

😆🤣😂😆

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1 hour ago, Blindhog25 said:

 

Ok what's Barney?

As people said, it’s using an extra mag to get the +1 in the chamber. 
 

There’s 3 basic ways to accomplish getting the +1:

-if your mag holds more than your division allows (I.e, shooting Production with mags that can hold more than 10), just add a round to your start mag. Don’t forget to take it out on an unloaded start, or you’ll end up in Open!

-Use an extra magazine, either one that you plan to keep on your belt as a spare or an entirely separate one, then load your actual start mag. 
-Load the first round, eject the mag, top it back off to full, then reinsert the magazine into the gun. 

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1 hour ago, DKorn said:

-Load the first round, eject the mag, top it back off to full, then reinsert the magazine into the gun. 

Which makes everyone waiting on you sooooooooo happy. 😀

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36 minutes ago, GigG said:

Which makes everyone waiting on you sooooooooo happy. 😀

Yep, that’s my least favorite method. It’s really only useful if you can’t use one of the other two, which should be pretty rare. 
 

If you plan for it and have the extra round handy, it doesn’t take too crazy long, but it’s definitely slower. 

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