A discussion on reloading practice practicality

[Sal Picante]

I don't think Gabe White covers reloading at all in his coursework.
Neither does John Krupa from Spartan.
I think Bill Rogers glosses over it, except the strong hand-only reload (v-block in the legs, etc)

I think competition-oriented folks dwell on it more because it is part and parcel of competition.

I guess, I'd turn it around and say, if you had 15 minutes to dry fire, why wouldn't you practice some doing the reload?

[JodyH]

I guess, I'd turn it around and say, if you had 15 minutes to dry fire, why wouldn't you practice some doing the reload?

And if you're at the range anyway... do every load/reload like it actually means something.
Don't just pull a magazine out of your range bag and load up your pistol casually, put it in your mag carrier, lock your slide open, aim in, press the dead trigger and perform the slide lock reload like you mean it.
Turn every reload into a training opportunity.
I do something similar when I load and make ready in matches.
I also take the free aimed dry fire opportunity when I unload and show clear.

What's the Musashi quote? Something like, "Every time you unsheathe your sword do it like you're going to cleave a man in half".
Basically, never turn down a free opportunity for a training repetition.

[Chain]

And if you're at the range anyway... do every load/reload like it actually means something.
Don't just pull a magazine out of your range bag and load up your pistol casually, put it in your mag carrier, lock your slide open, aim in, press the dead trigger and perform the slide lock reload like you mean it.
Turn every reload into a training opportunity.
I do something similar when I load and make ready in matches.
I also take the free aimed dry fire opportunity when I unload and show clear.

What's the Musashi quote? Something like, "Every time you unsheathe your sword do it like you're going to cleave a man in half".
Basically, never turn down a free opportunity for a training repetition.

Ya, I used to grumble when instructors would admonish me for doing administrative reloads like swapping mags with my gun still in the holster in-between drills, but then I came to realize that, ya, I was just robbing myself of a "real" reload.

[John Hearne]

You can also use reloads to create other internal pressures that will make you better.

My favorite drill right now is the Hateful Eight by Bill Blowers. Shot at 8 yards using a B-8 repair center as a target. Gun is set up with four rounds and you have two reloads of two rounds each. You have eight seconds to draw and fire all eight rounds. There are three standards:
- All eight in the 8 ring
- All eight in the 9 and 10 ring
- At least 76 points

At first, this sounds like a reload intensive drill that has no marksmanship benefit. What I've found is that the number of reloads creates a lot of mental pressure to go faster than one can hit the black of the bullseye. It is a great drill for making you focus on the task at hand. If you're drawing and shooting, you can't think about the reloads. If you're reloading, you can't be thinking ahead to the shooting, as soon as the gun is reloaded, you must make a 100% shift back to shooting.

I'm probably a simpleton but I find the mental discipline required for this drill to be very high and hard to generate from any other easily conducted drill.

In the day and age of 15 round service pistols, the reload is a rarely necessary skill. However, if you have an empty pistol, there is no such thing as a "too fast" successful reload. Also, you're going to reload you pistol any way, you might as well practice it in a serious fashion.

[GJM]

It was interesting watching the Vickers video in the M4 thread — he sure reloads like a USPSA shooter.

I think it makes sense to vary your reload practice. On one end of the spectrum, we will draw and fire two shots to a two inch dot at 7 yards, reload and shoot two more to a two inch dot. Same drill, but we will use eight inch steel at 25-30 yards. That really forces you to work your grip and trigger and separate reloading from shooting. On the other end of the spectrum, I believe equally important, there is no substitute for working full on speed closer, like this.

[GJM]

Did some accuracy oriented reloading practice today. What is obvious is that it is a shooting drill not a reloading drill.

[UNM1136]

One thing reloading does is gets you off the sights and then back on them. It interjects a bit of thought, even if that thought is only the order of the drill. Lots of things you should be doing pre and post shooting require you to get off of your sights and back on them again, or vice versa.

I don't believe that a reload is likely to save my butt in a confrontation. I DO believe that I don't want to be the statistical outlier. It is an easy enough skill to work on, a bit. No sense in missing reps if you are loading or unloading anyway. Especially since we are seeing Tap-rack-lock-rip-rack-rack-rack-reload being replaced with "unload-reload".

I am not and never will be one of those guys with a sub 1 second 2+2 reloading drill. I am able to consistently reload my carry piece, in the dark, in less than one pay period, and am confident that I have and do practice reloading enough.

And then again, you never know....

pat

[Cypher]

Ya, I used to grumble when instructors would admonish me for doing administrative reloads like swapping mags with my gun still in the holster in-between drills, but then I came to realize that, ya, I was just robbing myself of a "real" reload.

There is a poster here who says he doesn't do administrative reloads. He simply reloads as needed throughout a given course of fire because that's how it would happen in real life.

His idea made sense and I've adopted it as well.

[Sal Picante]

You can also use reloads to create other internal pressures that will make you better.

...

What I've found is that the number of reloads creates a lot of mental pressure to go faster than one can hit the black of the bullseye. It is a great drill for making you focus on the task at hand. If you're drawing and shooting, you can't think about the reloads. If you're reloading, you can't be thinking ahead to the shooting, as soon as the gun is reloaded, you must make a 100% shift back to shooting.

I'm probably a simpleton but I find the mental discipline required for this drill to be very high and hard to generate from any other easily conducted drill.

I think this is one of the reasons it is kind of fun to do in dry fire. It takes a singular focus point away from just shooting and makes you shift gears mentally to something else, then come back to it.

I do think that 2-R-2 and 1-R-1 is more of a parlor trick than anything else...

[Eli]

Basically, never turn down a free opportunity for a training repetition.

That.