A magazine holster is an essential piece of gear for responsible gun owners. It lets you carry an extra magazine while keeping your hands free. It’s far quicker to grab a spare magazine than to chase a dropped mag skittering across the ground during a stressful defensive encounter. This exercise is a fantastic way to learn drawing, changing targets, and reloading under pressure.
Training
In addition to training on your weapon, it’s a good idea to train with the magazine carrier you intend to use. This will help ensure that you are comfortable with it in both concealment and accessibility positions and will allow you to practice reloads under stress in the same place and in a similar manner to when you will carry the gun in a real self-defense situation.
Many gun owners who don’t invest in a magazine holster place their spare mag in their pockets. This is not an inherently bad solution, but it makes it difficult to find if you need the extra round.
Muscle Memory
A magazine holster is a pouch designed to hold an extra magazine for your self-defense handgun. They can be worn on the belt or in your pocket and are typically designed for left- and right-handed shooters.
In a high-stress self-defense situation, it can be easy to make mistakes. In the heat of a fight, you might forget to depress your mag catch or accidentally drop a loaded magazine on the floor and cause a jam. A spare magazine can prevent these problems and give you more rounds on tap.
Concealment
Many gun owners will stick an extra magazine in their pants or jacket pocket. That’s okay, but a mag holster lets you keep your spare ammunition easily accessible and concealed.
There are several magazine holsters, some designed to be IWB and others intended for OWB. They can be made out of leather, Kydex or some other type of polymer. You can modify them tighter or looser based on your preference and needs because they are often retainer-adjustable.
While training, try to draw your magazine holster in every position possible. This will assist you in developing muscle memory and guarantee that you can execute it under pressure when self-defense is involved. You must be able to clear the area and draw your weapon in the dark, as that is when many violent crimes take place. It’s also much easier to deal with a malfunction if you have a spare magazine ready.
Safety
While many people choose to carry their spare magazines in their pockets, they can be difficult and uncomfortable to access if you need a quick reload in a high-stress self-defense situation. A mag carrier eliminates this problem, making it far easier to have a spare magazine ready.
If you’re not used to carrying a mag holster, you may be unsure how to position it for maximum concealment. Ideally, it should be worn in your front support side pocket and be held vertically against the outside seam, facing forward. This will allow you to use your index finger to “snag” the magazine from the pocket, keeping it secure while drawing.
The best way to familiarize yourself with your mag holster is to train regularly in dry and live-fire scenarios. You’ll also need to work on reloads and clearing malfunctions under stress, so you’ll want to practice in various positions and strategies.
