How many pistol mags does a so;ider carry when on the battlefield. I was reading amagazine article the other day and the solider said that he was carrying 8 to 9 M-16 magas and only 3 full mags for his M9 Beretta. I just thought in a war situation you would have wanted to have more than 3 mags for your pistol.

Thanks

sounds about right

why carry more mags for you pistol (secondary/backup weapon, PDW), when you can carry more ammo for your  primary/bigger gun?

extra weight is a biatch.

In Iraq, 3rd ID in 2005 had a thing called "ABL" or "Authorized Basic Load."  Apparently the powers at be felt you only NEEDED a certain number of rounds in sector.  This applied to all forms of ammunition.  This was the ruling passed down to our battalion.  At one point we were Authorized only 15-rounds (1 mag) then it went to 30 rounds or two mags for our M9s.  This rule was ignored often and I had 5 mags minimum available to each of our M9 issued soldiers.  Problem was getting 3rdID supply to give up more ammo.  We were stationed in Southern Baghdad so your 3ID unit may have had different rules.

F.A.S. Out

There has been a basic load since soldiers got firearms.  I carried 96 for the Garand, 21 for the 1911.  Then 4 loaded mags for the M-14 plus a bandolier of ammo in 5 round clips.  Then 4 20 rounders for the M-16 in pouches and as many as I could stuff in my pockets and 2 or more bandoliers.  Then 4 30 rounders, all I could stuff in my ruck and pockets and stashed in the track.  I never had more than 3 mags for an issued handgun.  I didn't care, my rifle was my life. Oh I had a 31year career with several breaks in service.  This is the first conflict I'm not part of, Yet!!!!!

Standard MTOE is 3 mags per handgun.  Smart and savy pistoleros secure as many as they can get.  I had about 20 for my M9 all load and stashed around various battle rattle.

CD