Reloads with little guns (G43)

[miller_man]

Anyone have any good tips or techniques for doing reloads with little guns, like a G43?

Been working a little bit trying to improve my reload times - like getting below 3-4 seconds for a reload. It's pretty infuriating.

My first problem was my weak hand grip riding the slide lock lever and not allowing the slide to lock back - fixed that pretty easily with grip adjustment.

Now my real struggle is getting the mag to drop when pressing the mag button.

The bottom of my strong hand interferes with letting the mag drop. I've been experimenting with taking most of my strong hand off the grip when pressing the button but not getting good results still - plus rotating my hand causes my index finger to move over the other side of the mag release button interfering with the button pressing enough to release the mag.

I've ran them ripping the mag out of the mag well and while it works, it is time consuming - add that to grabbing the little mag from mag well, grabbing little mag from belt and hitting the little mag well with new mag - my time from shot to shot is running over 3+ secs. Am I just spoiled by ~1.3 reloads from my full size guns?

Would love any input from the hive.

[YVK]

Am I just spoiled by ~1.3 reloads from my full size guns?

Yes.
Small gun is a small gun, you can only do that much. I stopped practicing reloads with them anymore, flirting dangerously with being killed in the streets.
I have alleviated the problem a bit, though. Sold the 43 and now only have 48 and 365xl.

[BobM]

Chuck Haggard did a block in pocket pistol techniques a couple Tac Cons ago. I was shooting a J frame in that block so I don’t recall much of the semi auto specific things he went over. Perhaps someone here could offer more details.

[runcible]

Copy+paste from elsewhere:

With pocket pistols trending towards single-stacked magazines (G43, Shield, PPS) and more recently stack-and-a-half (G43X, P365), they generally have shorter and narrower magazines than full frame options. Fundamentally the reload methodology doesn’t have strong cause to change given interoperability; though, those that run the smaller guns full time may find advantage in reloading with an alternative set of indexing.

If traditional double-stacked magazines are indexed from stowage with an index finger along the leading edge, and the third-finger and thumb clasping near to the baseplate; then after the magazine has been brought near to the mag well, the upper portion of the magazine’s rear face (where it tapers from a double-stack down to a single round) is indexed just inside of the mag well and in positive contact with the corresponding back wall of the pistol’s frame. This is through the support hand’s index finger pressing backwards as if to touch the wrist, though the magazine and pistol frame prevent that actually happening. Driving from the elbow until palm touches palm completes the motion. With single-stacked magazines there is no taper at the top of the magazine and in the absence of that some shooters find it more intuitive to index off of the thumb and side-walls instead.

Alternate indexing for single stack magazines involves indexing them from stowage as before, with the third-finger and thumb clasping them about the baseplate and the index finger against the leading edge; but as the magazine is drawn free, the index finger joins the third finger in clasping the magazine body simultaneous to the thumb gliding up to full extension at or near to the topmost round. After the magazine has been brought near to the mag well, the upper portion of the magazine’s shooting-side face is indexed against the corresponding inner wall of the frame, just inside of the mag well. This is through the support-hand’s thumb pressing laterally (relative to the gun’s bore axis) as if to touch the lower edge of the shooting-hand’s palm, though the magazine body and pistol frame prevent this. Driving from the elbow until palm touches palm completes the motion. I don’t fully grok the why, but the performance difference has so far been most distinct with those that have lengthy and sausagesque digits. Alternate magazine indexing pairs well with the L-shaped magazine exchanges that I teach; whether with single-stacked pistol magazines, double-stacked pistol magazines, or AR magazines.

Short version: if running a single-stack gun full time, there may be benefit to indexing with the thumb and against the sides, rather than with the index finger and off of the backs.

[runcible]

On the magazine release button aspect, turning the weapon within your shooting hand with the support hand before it detaches; such that the shooting-hand’s thumb is fully seated upon the button prior to pressing it, may give you a more consistent and definitive release. You should be able to feel the pinned register of your trigger finger shift as the weapon is turned, but it should still be definitively engaged upon the slide and/or into the ejection port as the reloading process continues.

[M2CattleCo]

I live by the Jason Falla mantra on reloads. No mag drops free. Ever. Rip it out.

I reload the 43 just like anything else, just have to be careful to not pinch the heel of your strong hand, and make sure to smack the mag in all the way. I like a +0 base plate for the spare mags for that purpose.

I use the slide stop to drop the slide. It's little and hard to hit, but the slide is little and hard to grab, so pick one.

[TGS]

Am I just spoiled by ~1.3 reloads from my full size guns?

Yes, and you're not alone. My agency approved a new course of fire for the Glock 26 which involves two combat reloads, and 10 round mags are required to be used. 7 yards, 2-reload-2 in 8 seconds, and 3 yards 2-reload-2 in 7 seconds. We're seeing almost a quarter of agents fail the G26 qual, mostly related to being unable to reload fast enough and dropping points for failing to fire the entire string.

My take:

Index the mag off the sides as @runcible described......I actually do this for full size mags as well, but I find it's required for short, stubby mags if I want consistent reliability.

Also, hit the mag release button with your support hand thumb while your hand moves to rip the mag out.

[GJM]

Reloads and draws are areas the 43X has an advantage over the 26 for me.

[Redhat]

Yes, and you're not alone. My agency approved a new course of fire for the Glock 26 which involves two combat reloads, and 10 round mags are required to be used. 7 yards, 2-reload-2 in 8 seconds, and 3 yards 2-reload-2 in 7 seconds. We're seeing almost a quarter of agents fail the G26 qual, mostly related to being unable to reload fast enough and dropping points for failing to fire the entire string.

My take:

Index the mag off the sides as @runcible described......I actually do this for full size mags as well, but I find it's required for short, stubby mags if I want consistent reliability.

Also, hit the mag release button with your support hand thumb while your hand moves to rip the mag out.

I would be interested in how they came up with those time limits for reloading. Is it the same for your full size duty pistols?

[miller_man]

Also, hit the mag release button with your support hand thumb while your hand moves to rip the mag out.

Will give this some reps, that sounds like it could be efficient and solve the mag not dropping. Also, will work on indexing with sides of mag.

Guess I will have to see what I can do. Was hoping to get around 2 seconds - will have to get consistent first, then see what time frame I can get to.