Armory Sponsor
Posted: 7/29/2002 7:18:55 PM EDT
|
I've always figured if you need to reload a pistol you grab the full mag with one hand while ejecting the empty mag, let the empty mag fall out and stuff the full mag in, which I guess is called a "speed reload" However there is apparently also a "tactical reload" where "in a lull in the fighting" you switch a partially full mag in your gun for a full mag from your belt, but you don't drop the partially full mag, you grab it with the same hand you are putting the new mag in with-here are some photos from a website I found-    The gentlemen who put up this website offers what he says is a simpler and better version of the tactical reload on his website idpa.gunsnet.net/tacload.html I certainly don't claim to be knowledgeable in this area so don't jump all over me, but my impression is that this "Tactical Reload" was sort of spawned by IDPA type competitions. I can see professionals, like police officers or bodyguards, getting into a drawn out gun fight where there might be lulls where you are behind cover and where you cannot just run away; but how likely is a regular guy to get into this kind of mess. And even if you do, are you really going to practice this second kind of reloading enough to be proficient with it? It seems to me that for most of us it would be smarter to just train to pop the mag out since we have probably shot the gun empty at that point anyway & in other circumstances just hope that the mag doesn't fall into a pile of mud or something else that will screw up the partially full mag (which I think we are unlikely to eject anyway). I found another website with a differing view that I'll post below so give me a second to post that. |
|
"Tactical Reloads: A Waste of Time? You have to wonder sometimes about the guys who write for the gun magazines. I mean, it seems like a great job—opening the mailbox each day to a host of freebies, from handguns to holsters—but every so often I stop and ask myself, "Who made you the expert?" I had one of those moments just the other day. I was reading an article by one of the gun writers that explained his common sense approach to gunfighting: keep it simple. Sounds good to me, but in this case, one of the ways he simplified things was to ignore the ‘tactical reload’ in favor of the speed reload. His reasoning went something like this: In a fire fight, you have to keep your actions as simple as possible, but the tactical reload is complicated. In a fire fight, everything happens fast, but the tactical reload is intended for ‘lulls’ in the combat. If you reload at all during the fight, you should eject the magazine, let it drop, and ram a fresh one into the gun immediately. Then, if you have time, you can fish around for that dropped magazine. There is no point practicing the tactical reload, since you will never have the opportunity to do one in the field. I consider myself to be a beginner. I will probably always think of myself that way, because I have never actually been in a fire fight, and I hope I never do. With so much to learn, it would be comforting to be able to scratch a complex, unnecessary technique from my to-do list. More than anything, I would like this gun writer’s advice to be sound. But it isn’t. Let’s look at your options. The fire fight has begun, and for some reason you have to change magazines. Maybe you’re out of ammo and your slide is locked back. Maybe you’ve experienced a jam or failure of some kind, and you need to switch magazines to insure reliable feed. Or maybe you’re behind cover in one of those ‘lulls’ for which the tactical reload is intended. The goal of the ‘tac-load’ is to top up your gun, so you have the maximum number of rounds available. Instead of throwing away the rounds in your used magazine, you will retain them in case you need them later. So there are three scenarios: From slide lock, use a speed reload. If there are rounds left in your magazine, and you can safely perform a tactical reload, do it. If there are rounds in the magazine, and you cannot safely do a tactical reload, keep shooting and do a speed reload from slide lock. Now, the gun writer I mentioned before agrees with the first statement, but not with the other two. He isn’t advising shooters to only reload from slide lock. What he really advocates is a simpler form of tactical reload, in which the loaded magazine is ejected and allowed to fall as if it were empty, and the fresh magazine is inserted. Then, if there is time, the shooter can retrieve the magazine on the ground—if there isn’t time, abandon it. Hold on a minute. If there isn’t time—i.e., the fire fight is still hot—why would you be ejecting a magazine that is still loaded? The only sensible reason to reload the gun before slide lock is that you are not under fire, or you have hard cover. If speed is an issue, keep firing until the gun is dry. Instinctively, you will probably do this anyway. The magazine you drop on the ground will be empty. You can come back for it when the fight is over. |
|
So the question is, when performing a tactical reload, should you retain the used magazine, or let it drop to the ground and retrieve it once the gun is charged? The only reason to retain or retrieve the magazine is to use the remainder of the ammunition later in the fight. If you perform the standard tactical reload—after practicing to get the movements right—you can re-insert the retained magazine later if the need arises. But if you drop the magazine to the ground like an empty, you may not have that option. Just the other day, I was shooting an IDPA style scenario at a local gun range. The scenario called for a tactical reload before engaging the second target. I performed the tac-load quickly and efficiently, then put two rounds on the target’s chest and one on the head. Afterwards, once the range was safe, I advanced on the targets along with the folks who were taping up the bullet holes. As I did, one of the magazines I was holding, which still contained five rounds of ammunition, dropped from my fingers and landed in the sand. I snatched it up immediately, but the damage was done: the inside of the magazine was caked with sand, so thick that when I pressed on the top round, the gritty friction was louder than the spring. There was no way I was putting that magazine into my gun again! Well, that experience got me thinking, and I was reminded of the advice the gun writer had given. If I had attempted his tac-load variation on this terrain, then inserted the sodden magazine into the gun without realizing it was inundated with sand, that may very well have been the end of the fight—and not the kind of end we hope and train for. Later that night, while I was tying dental floss to a washcloth and trying to draw it through the disassembled magazine, I decided to write this little piece. Sometimes simplicity can backfire on you. Let’s face it, if you even get into a fire fight, you’ll have enough to worry about without having to be concerned about where you drop your magazines. If you eject a mag onto the ground and it heads into sand or dirt or mud, you might as well abandon it, and the whole point of a tactical reload is to hold on to that precious ammunition. So a tactical reload that involves dropping a loaded magazine into unknown territory isn’t a tactical reload. It’s potentially throwing bullets away. Retain your magazine and you have no such worries. To me, that’s simplicity itself." This is the link to the website where I found this www.sarpedon.com/handguns/tacloads.htm |
|
State of the art reloading, (ok......) is when you decide to reload, physically pull the mag. out of the gun with your weak hand. Do not grab the full mag. until the mag. in the weapon has been removed. The thinking is, that Murphy is also a weapon designer, and that if a mag can hang up if you try to drop it be just hitting the mag release, it will hang up, when you are in the fight of your life. If it hangs up, you will probably already have the next mag in your weak hand, and you don't have a free hand now............ Competitive shooting techniques use techniques best reserved for competition. So in real life if you want to be 100% sure your reload goes without a hitch..... 1) Get behind cover, if no cover concealment, if no concealment don't stop moving. 2) Hit the mag release with you srtong hand, while stripping the mag. from the weapon with your weak hand. I suppose if you want to get fancy you could put the "old" mag in a pocket, but throwing it to the ground will work too. 3) Index, insert the new mag. 4) if it was a "slide back" reload, reach over the rear of the slide with your weak hand. Grasp the slide in a "cupping" grip, and pull the slide back releasing it as it goes to it's rearward most travel. If this was an in battery reload skip step 4. |
|
As a LEO, My department stresses tactical reloading. Some people are proficient at it, others are not. It is all about one thing.... TRAINING and PRACTICE. You can never be sure you are going to do something in a stress situation unless you practice it until it is second nature. Everytime I shoot, whether at the range, in the desert, or during qual shoots, I practice both. Same thing with drawing out of a retention holster, or clearing a weapon. Practice, practice, practice. I do not plan on being the guy in the after action photos where I got dead because of a stovepipe round, and I monkeyf*cked with the weapon and got killed because I couldn't clear it in a stress situation. Tap Rack!!!! (Seat the mag by hitting it up into the weapon with your palm, and then racking the slide. Will clear just about any malfunction.) Tactical reloading works. You have to practice where you are going to place that magazine after you reload, it is just as important. I am a Highway Patrol Officer, and help could be a 1/2 hour away. Every round may count. Of course, I will be fighting my way back to the trunk, where my AR-15 is waiting to rock and roll... Or back to the Remington 870 in the passenger seat... But you have to practice reloading those too. Tactical reloading is only good if you practice, and can do it without ever looking at the weapon while doing it. keep your eye on the target while reloading. That round in the chamber may be the one you have to put down range, if you do not have time. There is a time for an empty weapon reload, and a time for a tactical reload. Next time you are shooting, have someone else load your rounds, and have them load them full, or a couple missing, and then have them yell "Threat" when you are in a holstered position, not ready. Multiple targets, 2 to the body, one to the head. And tactical reload some, and empty reload some. You will see why it is important. |
Actually, you need to get that fresh magazine in your hand before removing the not-so-fresh mag. Otherwise, if you have to go to it right then, while you have no mag, you only have a single shot weapon, that will NOT lock back when fired, or in worse case senario, you have a weapon that will not fire without the magazine home. (My issue weapon does, but some models and types do not.) We get ripped up by the instructors if we start without the fresh mag. |
|
I don’t know that a tactical reload (which I prefer to more descriptively call a “magazine exchange”) is really all that complicated. Granted, it does take fine motor skills, which can be in short supply. Admittedly, unlike a “speed reload”, you do have the extra motion of retrieving and holding the partially loaded magazine. On the other hand, unlike a speed reload, you don’t have to send the slide forward – it’s still in battery. I don’t know about IDPA, but in real life you can keep the ejected magazine in your weak hand and still return fire, though putting it in a pocket when you get a chance is a good idea. I’d suggest always using the same pocket and putting the magazine in oriented the same as if it were in a pouch (to make it easier to find and use later). However, if you’re out of fully loaded spare magazines anyway, I’d suggest you put the ejected magazine back in a magazine pouch – properly oriented. I agree with you re: dropping a partially loaded magazine with the idea of retrieving it later. I see additional problems. Obviously, if you’ve moved – the magazine didn’t go with you. Also, most gunfights occur in dim light – good luck finding the thing. Once you’ve found it, there’s a good chance you won’t know the top from the bottom and the front from the rear. (Forget using your fingers for this – in a high stress situation you loose your fine motor control and sense of feeling.) While the magazine butt plate will keep an upside down magazine it from entering the magazine well to begin with, a right side up but backwards magazine will probably go in the magazine well part of the way and then get stuck. You’ll think it needs a harder push, and, using the enhanced gross motor skills which also result from a high stress situation, you’ll firmly wedge the magazine in there, taking your pistol out of service!! (I guess this is where I should rave about the idiocy (IMHO) of competition shooters who put partially loaded magazines backwards in their pouches to indicate the magazine is partially loaded! That might make sense in the relatively relaxed atmosphere of a range, but it is a formula for disaster on the street.) However, if you know you’ve only got one or two rounds in the magazine in the gun and you’ve got two or more fully loaded ones available, simply loosing the magazine in the gun may make sense. Alternatively, if it’s just you and you’re surrounded by a motorcycle gang, you may decide you might need those one or two rounds. All that being said, generally shooters run their guns totally dry in gunfights before reloading. (When the FBI carried revolvers, they taught a fire two rounds, reload with two, type of shooting – using a 2+2+2 ammo pouch. But in the Miami gunfight, everyone shot their guns dry!) Still, while you probably won’t need it, being able to do a magazine exchange is a skill you really should have “just in case”. Get two empty magazines and simply practice swapping out – pretty soon it will be second nature. |
Yeah, and if the mag in the weapon hangs up, or you get a nasty stoppage just as you start that reload...... with 1 hand full of gun and 1 hand full of magazine you will have a very tough time pulling a "hung up" mag. out of the mag well. Often times in gun fights the participants will focus on the threat, the other persons gun. If your gun gets hit it may still be functional, but very hard to reload. I read about a lawsuit against Glock, the officer took one between his second and third fingers of his gun hand. It damaged the frame of the gun and disabled the mag. He was able to remove the destroyed mag. and put a fresh one in to get the gun back in action. That would've been tough to do with a "tactical reload". He sued saying the Glock reiceiver shouldn't have been damaged by a bullet hit, and lost. If I decide I must reload, the mag in the weapon must come out no matter what....... I carry 3 13 round mags, +1, if I reload a half full mag. and need those 6 rounds.......... hey wait if I couldn't knock down the threat with those other 34 rounds I doubt 6 more will help me. (I also have 2 more 10 round mags. in the car). I think that if you use 2 mags, which is a lot of rounds, you should be planning to use the 3rd mag to get to a long gun, or finding good cover because what you are doing isn't working. Not to mention that most LE shootings are at very close range with something like 5 rounds fired. I think the tactical reload is good if you are focused on every round be needed, but rquires a lot of small, detailed movements. The method I described, I think is a quicker reload, and works even if the mag in the gun decides not to come out. |
|
I understand what you are saying, but if you look at the way the fresh mag is indexed, it gives you the finger and thumb to strip the old mag. I was never taught to assume that the spent mag would fall out. You want to grasp it before you release it, so that if you are in darkness, it will not just hit the ground. If you look at a usual gunfight, not a whole lot of Officers hit what they are shooting at in a stress situation. I will be the first to admit that. Shooting at another human being is not a normal reation. Most people would rather not. I know I would rather not. You can imagine that if bullets are flying to the point where you have to reload, both you and the other shooter probably have cover, and you are not going to get a clear shot, i.e., many more expended rounds than usual. I will agree with you that an Officer should be thinking about the next upgrade of weapon in his arsenal in the car or wherever immediately. I have been taught that the handgun is a defensive weapon anyway. You should be using it to get to your shotgun, or rifle, which will be your offensive weapon. I understand your points, and do see what you are saying. All I am saying is I have been taught tactical reloading a certain way. If the SHTF, and my hand is wounded, or the weapon is rendered useless, well, I will have to make sh*t up after that. But if you train a certain way, and train hard, I am saying that it will work, because it becomes a reflex, rather than a thought process. Thinking in a firefight, as in war, can get you killed or wounded. Reacting with training and reflexive action in a critical time, like a shooting, can and I believe, will save my life. And that is why everyone trains. |
Armory Sponsor