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Thread: Dominant Hand AR Reload

  1. #11
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    Going back when the old LBE (Vietnam era) gear was in use, mag pouches on the web belt were on either side of the body...so...loading with shooting hand might have been needed.

    Support hand held the rifle

    Shooting released old mag and withdrew and inserted new one.

    Shooting hand back on grip

    Support hand closed bolt

    I would bet you could find some old DoD training vids on Youtube showing how it was done
    Last edited by Redhat; 07-05-2018 at 11:56 AM.

  2. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by HCM View Post
    All of that is true, but it’s not what the OP is referring to. He is referring to a training scar from high power rifle competition.

    If my support hand is too injured to execute a reload I’m either gonna be cradling the rifle with my support arm or if that is not feasible loading the rifle while hanging on the sling, using my legs or even reloading while it’s laying on the ground, what ever I need to do. What I won’t be doing is maintaining my shoulder pocket and cheek weld.
    That's what you're referring to, but thanks for the lesson in reading comprehension.
    Whether you think you can or you can't, you're probably right.

  3. #13
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    Mar 2015
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    Central Virginia
    I was in the courthouse this AM and saw one of our county police officers with an AR magazine pouch directly behind his holstered Glock which, to me, would indicate a strong hand reload. Is this a new trend? My agency does not issue nor authorize any rifled long arms so I have minimal first hand knowledge of what is current in the LE AR world...

  4. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by deputyG23 View Post
    I was in the courthouse this AM and saw one of our county police officers with an AR magazine pouch directly behind his holstered Glock which, to me, would indicate a strong hand reload. Is this a new trend? My agency does not issue nor authorize any rifled long arms so I have minimal first hand knowledge of what is current in the LE AR world...
    Sounds to me like somebody who hasn't thought things through or done any testing with his set-up...unless he was just out of space on his gear.
    Last edited by Redhat; 07-05-2018 at 04:33 PM.

  5. #15
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    Idaho
    It's possible, but much more likely that that officer is cross dominant, and shoots rifle from the "weak" side.
    TY83544

  6. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Talionis View Post
    It's possible, but much more likely that that officer is cross dominant, and shoots rifle from the "weak" side.
    Thanks. Didn’t think of that. My nephew, who is the Sheriff in a rural VA county, shoots pistol left handed and long guns right handed.
    The officer’s magazine was situated for a “beer can” grip with the strong hand.
    Last edited by deputyG23; 07-05-2018 at 05:45 PM.

  7. #17
    I watched a new PCC shooter load strong hand a month ago at a match, and it was ugly.
    Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.

  8. #18
    Here is my thought- based on a lot of thinking back to my infantry days.
    First scenario is in the woods and engaged in a combat scenario. You are trained to lay in the prone and take cover behind an object- pretty much trees wide enough to protect your torso. Your strongside is slightly out of cover as you point your rifle at the enemy and engage. We trained to slightly roll (for lack of a better term) onto your weak hand side- so if I am in the prone and a right handed shooter, my body during a reload is now on its left side and fully behind cover. Our ammo, which was attached to LBE, would have been near our belt buckle area on our waist. You reach in the ammo pouch with your shooting hand, pull out a magazine and put it in the rifle, hit the release, bolt goes forward, you roll back into the full prone position and continue to engage the enemy.

    In order to load your weapon in this type of scenario with your shooting hand- you would be in the prone behind cover, roll onto your strongside, which exposes you to incoming rounds from the enemy.

    Second scenario in urban areas- plenty of experience from Iraq bearing this out. You get behind cover and do your mag swap. In urban areas- there is plenty of time to get this accomplished safely in a building or behind a vehicle. Also remember- this isn't a one man fight when in the military (referring back to the OP) but you have a squad, platoon, company, etc providing rounds down range while you do your reload. Typically- you have at least one buddy- you yell out reloading and he ensures to put rounds down range while you are firing.

    Also- to me (and maybe only to me) your non-shooting hand is grasping the handguards of the AR/M4, while your shooting hand is on the pistol grip. I personally have a more secure grasp of my weapon (and again IMO much nearer the center of gravity) with my non-shooting hand on the handguards, than I do if I am holding onto the rifle by the pistol grip.

    I feel bad for the wounded Marine in the article- but based on my combat experience- he wasn't wounded because of a slow reload. He was wounded because instead of getting behind cover- he got behind concealment. Bullets go thru concealment.

    Anyway- just my two cents based off 8 years in the infantry. Which 10 years later after I got out- that and 3 bucks gets me a small Starbucks black coffee.

    Edit- I reread the OP's comments- I get that he wasn't necessarily talking military usage after re-reading. However- I did want to provide an example of reloading with the shooting hand and the reasoning behind it. I have done this thousands of time- I was actually blown away when I read people didn't use their strong hand. In @GJM example- a PCC- I can definitely see a difference between a PCC and an AR.
    Last edited by holmes168; 07-05-2018 at 06:15 PM.
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  9. #19
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    Feb 2011
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    Idaho
    Quote Originally Posted by deputyG23 View Post
    Thanks. Didn’t think of that. My nephew, who is the Sheriff in a rural VA county, shoots pistol left handed and long guns right handed.
    The officer’s magazine was situated for a “beer can” grip with the strong hand.
    It's something normal people don't have to think about. I grew up shooting rifles left handed and pistols right handed, even though I'm completely ambidextrous with a rifle these days as shown by the timer. I have at least one belt setup that looks just like what you described on that officer, except I have a mag on the opposite side too, which really confuses people.
    TY83544

  10. #20
    I was taught that "old way" in the old days.

    I don't do it that way anymore. It's called evolving.

    Ample testing and usage shows that the fastest method is to bring the gun in close and use the support hand to reload. It's also why most of us don't carry our ammo in those shitty pouches anymore.

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