I realize in my earlier posts on the subject of carrying blanks in a defensive gun that I haven't been entirely clear about my reasoning.

If you ever draw a gun in earnest, whether it's to defend yourself against predatory bears, armed robbers, or invaders from Mars, it's likely to be the worst day of your life. You'll be under a great deal of stress. Physical symptoms of stress in life-threatening situations often include tachycardia (very fast heart rate), tachypsychia (altered perception of time, where events seem to move very quickly or very slowly), tunnel vision, auditory exclusion, and loss of fine motor skills.

Even if you're very experienced and/or have had significant stress inoculation training, you're likely to find even simple tasks that you're well accustomed to accomplishing very difficult to complete.

Trying to remember in a situation like this how many rounds you've fired, and how many remaining rounds are blanks, strikes me as being ill-advised.

There are two other big reasons in my mind. One, your first shot may be the only shot you get. It sure would stink if that first shot ended up being a blank. Second, you may need every round. In a fight for your life, capacity may be critical to your survival.