There are always skills we can develop and training drills we can learn so we are best prepared to defend ourselves and our families. And while working one on one with an instructor is a huge advantage, sometimes we don’t have that luxury.
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Should I bother learning a “Tactical Reload” I ran by the term on a video and practiced it a bit. The idea was reloading to a full fresh mag before your magazine is empty. It keeps you at higher ammo capacity, and you hold on to old rounds.
In the past I’ve always just practiced dropping the mag at empty and reloading. My CHL instructor emphasized always dropping the mag for the sake of efficiency and speed.
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Any practice you conduct dealing with magazine reloads is time well spent in my personal opinion. Reloading is a skill in itself! Practice it until it’s done smoothly and effortlessly like the rest of your tactics. While Emergency reloads (drop the mag to the deck, insert a fresh mag and push on), are much easier than tactical reload, ”topping off” has it’s place. It’s essential because when SHTF and you have to discharge your weapon to stop a threat, 9 times out of 10 you won’t remember how many times you fired your gun. Hell, if someone is firing back at you, most of us won’t even realize the slide locked back until we keep pressing the trigger and the gun isn’t going BANG! So whether behind cover, or when safe to reload, we don’t always want to automatically drop that mag on the deck. We most likely have a limited amount of bullets on our body. We might need that mag with those 3 extra bullets! Tactical reloads should be practiced every time you get a chance to practice until it becomes smooth and second nature. I’ve seen some guys conduct one in the same amount of time it takes to do an exchange. Plus you get practice reps indexing that magazine from your mag pouch without looking down or taking your eyes off the threat. Build that muscle memory!
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Awesome! Thank you!
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One thing if you are planning to do Tactical Reloads is to ensure that you can get the magazine to seat fully charged on a closed slide. I have seen too many times where a full mag was inserted the next round was fired and the magazine fell out the bottom of the gun or backed out 1/4" or so. This goes for ANY button type magazine release to include AR’s. It is worth the time on the range to practice this and figure out which mags will seat fully when topped up to full capacity.
Cheers,
Craig6
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How to manage multiple attackers having 1 handgun and 3 Family members behind you. What is the best procedure to win the fight.
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Find / Retreat to a “Fatal Funnel”. Force the bad guys to follow you down a narrow corridor, row of cars anything. Do your best when the bad guys are in the funnel, then cut and run to the next one or solid cover. The key to multiple attackers is to stay mobile and keep moving. Stop long enough to engage and then break contact and move. Keep verbally pushing your family ahead of you.
The “Scatter” plan may work well for adults but not too well for kids.
In general Bad guys do not like having guns fired at them and unless there is a REAL need to attack you the odds are they will break and run. There are 10,000 scenarios and if you think for a minute you will come up with more. Overwhelming firepower is usually a good start if it is accurate and FIRST.
Cheers,
Craig6
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Well said Kiest!
When I was first introduced to tac reloads years ago I thought there was no way I could ever learn to do this fast!! After a short time of practice practice practice I got it down. And over time the speed at which this can be accomplished will become lightning fast, guaranteed!
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John Lovell of Warrior Poet Society did a recent clip on the AR magazine 29 versus 30, addressing tactical reloads and the embarrassment of looking down to see the 30 round loaded magazine on the ground. Tim Kennedy of Sheepdog Response also has a youtube video out there addressing tactical reloads. Thinking tactically, and not in panic mode, one is always more likely to do a tactical magazine exchange than running the gun dry. People who do not practice in the calm of day tend to land in the panic group, wondering why the gun is not running, only to focus on the locked back slide. So…practice magazine exchanges…
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I personally feel magazine changes are a required skill for someone who carries everyday. I don’t worry so much about needing to reload due to running out of ammo as I worry about a malfunction such as a double feed that requires a mag change to get the gun back in the fight. That is the primary reason I carry an extra mag. I don’t care what the brand name of my gun may be,any of them can all fail at anytime.
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If it’s going to fail it’s going to fail at the worst possible time.
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The best way I’ve found to practice is to load 2-4 rounds in each mag, mix em up, put them in all your mag holders (2-6) and then shoot till your dry, reload, and repeat until you’re out of ammo. And yes, drop the mags.
Work on accuracy, speed, and consistency on each part of the drill and watch for improvement.
When that gets easier, add some snap caps in to the mix and work on including misfire drills.
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Don’t I remember training in the Army to slap (hit it hard) the bottom of the magazine after inserting it into the weapon? If not I do not know where I learned it but it is a bit of a habit for me.
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I guess my question is. What to focus on when you are trying to learn to shoot with both eyes open?
I’ve been trying different things and I am about at the point where I am just going to point shoot when necessary and when finer aim is needed I will just accept the the temporary loss of SA.
The reason is, I’m a good point and shooter out to 10 yards, I am better than average when aiming. But the keeping both eyes open is starting to affect my confidence, sort of I just can’t place my shots as accurately
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@DBrogue SLAP-PULL-OBSERVE-RELEASE-TAP-SQUEEZE. SPORTS. I still remember it to this day
Maybe you were thinking of the Muzzleloader Days? 
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@Zavier_D Focus on the target, impose your slightly out of focus front sight onto the target while looking through your out of focus rear sight. It took me several years to figure this out but I finally
learned hunting grouse with a shotgun and one day it clicked. 
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What is the best way to overcome eye dominance problems? I am right handed, but my left eye is my dominant eye. So when I ADS, I always have to turn my head to the right so that my left eye is looking down the sights. What is the best way to make my right eye as good as the left so it is easier to aim?
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Welcome, Jonathan–we just discussed this–look in New sights differeent grouping
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@Jonathan46 Try to learn to shoot with both eyes open as described above.
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This weekend we had 25 people from 3 of our church campuses completing annual firearms qualifications. As we were shooting, a deer starts walking by the creek down range. Of course someone had to ask, can we shoot the deer? Instructors immediate answer, it’s not deer season here.
All 25 shooters met their qualifications which far exceed the Kentucky standard for law enforcement officers. Training included head shots from 1-15 yards with a hostage.
The lesson was to know your capabilities. Almost anyone could make the shot at 1-2 yards but you better be damn good under stress at 15 yards if you are going to make the shot.
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