In search of sub-second reloads from slide lock

[NoTacTravis]

@Caballoflaco And you can stop worrying about getting your reload under 1 sec because there are so many other more important things to work on.

To clarify, it's not like I'm just working on reloading in under a second. On any day that I've done 100 reloads as a practice session, I've already done an hour of dry fire spaced out through 5-10 mini sessions. I understand there may be better choices for my time but but personality-wise, after that aggregate hour, I still have the focus and drive to work on the gun handling aspect and not so much other stuff. Typically on those days I've also hiked 5 mountain miles at medium elevation with a 12 pound pack, done 15 minutes of yoga, and 20 minutes of hand, wrist, and shoulder rehab work. On the alternate days I lift and fit my grip work in then. Although there may be some shooting benefits to port work from yoga, I'm sure it's not exactly a best focus for anyone either.

As a new shooter with pretty strict limits to the amount I can live fire, I would like to at least be the new guy that is safe and has good gun handling at this point. What I've been liking about the reload work is that I am also able to focus on the 180 and muzzle discipline with all the moving around picking up dropped mags, my index is improving from reacquiring the sights, my grip has been evolving to fit the Glock hump and reach the controls better, and its pointed out that my dryfire grip had been getting lax previously.

So, if I'm going to be spending all that time on it, I figured I'd look maximize the results from the time I've been devoting to it and look for measurable benchmarks.

Today, I didn't feel super excited about reloads so I broke out the Mastermind Belt, JMCK OWB holster, and worked reloads from concealment under a button down shirt (again, I've already down an hour of other dryfire drills). Probably not applicable to either sport and not the the way that I typically carry. Although definitely not perfect training for either sport my "don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good" mindset of doing extra training that I do have the drive for is generally a big factor for me when working on improving in a hobby.


I definitely appreciate the input and direction from those of your experience. I just thought I should clarify a bit lest i give the wrong impression of my training and competition plans. Generally afraid it sounds too much like "big talk from a new guy" though so my apologies if I've instead just foot my foot in deeper.

[NoTacTravis]

I will also add that classifications can be deceiving, and looking at people on YouTube and seeing their classifications may not be strictly representative of the norm. Last year a "B class" guy became infamous for placing 4th at CO Nationals. It's an extreme example but I have noticed a trend in my area for shooters being under-classified. The club nearest to me doesn't shoot classifiers except in classifier-only matches that seem happen 2x per year, so a lot of people shoot 6 classifiers, get into C or B class, and then when we hold a major match they place in the middle of the class above them.

Understood. I communicated poorly in my post. There aren't many C and D class vids on youtube that came up in my quick search. Generally B class on up. Mainly I meant to convey "Holy sh!t those guys are good". The speed of USPSA reminds me a bit of when I was new to "nogi" grappling where the game just moves faster than in the Gi. At the time, I couldn't keep up with the flow of moves for the position I was grappling from until the game had already passed to the next position. After some time of getting used to it, it was pretty simple to see the next five grappling positions while simultaneously grappling in the current position. I had to attain a certain personal level of comfort to compete in that context but I made a point to get comfortable and follow up with competition.

Generally I am for more afraid of not following through on competing and achieving goals than I am of the actual events or workload.

[NoTacTravis]

Figure with all my babble I better follow through and post a clip to confirm that I am definitely all talk and no skillset still. Hopefully I've gotten the youtube kinks worked out. I'll try to upload two vids from the same session to give an accurate portrayal of what this section of my dryfire currently looks like. Par timer is set at 1.7

https://youtu.be/r0dZDJf08AA

[GJM]

Figure with all my babble I better follow through and post a clip to confirm that I am definitely all talk and no skillset still. Hopefully I've gotten the youtube kinks worked out. I'll try to upload two vids from the same session to give an accurate portrayal of what this section of my dryfire currently looks like. Par timer is set at 1.7

https://youtu.be/r0dZDJf08AA

You might try turning the gun less than 90 degrees, when you insert the magazine. Mags drop better when the gun is vertical, and if you only turn the mag well so it is line with your mag pouch, it is less motion off and back on target.

[NoTacTravis]

Second verse, slow as the first. Par timer still at 1.7 in these.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjPk5xHQvmA


Two things I've noticed. I have a facial reaction each time I start to move. Clearly I must have a lot of unnecessary tension for this to happen. Second, my strong hand thumb flags up more than I'd realized. Should I make an attempt to correct that?

[NoTacTravis]

You might try turning the gun less than 90 degrees, when you insert the magazine. Mags drop better when the gun is vertical, and if you only turn the mag well so it is line with your mag pouch, it is less motion off and back on target.

Thank you! That makes sense on both counts.

A follow up question to that. I think the rotation of the gun at mag insertion is a result of me trying hard to "look" the mag in to the well. Is that incorrect or am I missing something with respect to what "look the mag in" means?

[Eyesquared]

I think you will benefit a lot from changing where you point the magwell before inserting the mag. Blue arrow is the angle most people recommend. Ideally the magwell will be pointed right at where the new mag will come from, so you can grab the mag from the pouch and move it in a very direct manner into the magwell instead of bringing it up and then in. The frame I took is from one of the more egregious examples, some of the other reloads aren't quite this extreme.

[NoTacTravis]

@Eyesquared -thanks for taking the time to work up a screenshot like that! It really drives the point home on my poor mechanics there.


This might be a stupid question.. I understand the concept of "point the magwell at the mag pouch for the shortest reload path and I'm clearly not doing that well.

Does this make the reload mostly by feel then via index finger on the first bullet and general muscle memory? Somehow I've gotten hung up on this notion of "slap the mag to grab it" and then "look it into the magwell". Most of my bobbled reloads that slow me to the 2.0ish mark seem to happen when I'm not making a point to totally looks the mag in by staring into the hole,

Any thoughts?

[Eyesquared]

@Eyesquared -thanks for taking the time to work up a screenshot like that! It really drives the point home on my poor mechanics there.


This might be a stupid question.. I understand the concept of "point the magwell at the mag pouch for the shortest reload path and I'm clearly not doing that well.

Does this make the reload mostly by feel then via index finger on the first bullet and general muscle memory? Somehow I've gotten hung up on this notion of "slap the mag to grab it" and then "look it into the magwell". Most of my bobbled reloads that slow me to the 2.0ish mark seem to happen when I'm not making a point to totally looks the mag in by staring into the hole,

Any thoughts?

I think you will find that whether or not you can see the inside of the magwell also depends on how high you hold the gun and how far away or how close to your body you hold it. The way I do it, I can just barely see the inside edge of the magwell with my left eye but not my right eye (I am a right handed shooter). I think it's also fine to look at the outside edge of the magwell even if you can't see inside it.

[Clusterfrack]

@NoTacTravis, your reload is pretty good. @GJM and @Eyesquared have already provided some good feedback. Here's some more.

1. A consistent reload is more important than trimming another 0.3s, and it needs to work while you are moving, during transitions, etc. Yours seems consistent, so good job. But, as GJM points out there's room for improvement in where your grip is pointed.

2. Your movements are all at a similar speed. The next level is being able to accelerate and decelerate during the motion.

3. You can get to the new mag faster. Isolate that, and practice picking that mag FAST and getting it to the magwell parallel to the grip. But the mag pick needs to be light as well as fast. No big impact on the mag carrier.

4. Inserting the mag can't be speeded up too much without risking consistency or fouling up the return (see below). I used to hold the gun very high, and that worked great on static reloads. Now, I bring the gun down and in because that works under all conditions and I can return the gun up to target just like for a draw. I can't see inside the magwell, but I can see my hands so that's all I need to make sure the mag is lined up with the gun.

5. Returning the gun to target is where a lot of people lose speed--or worse--lose points. I notice a bobble in your muzzle when you push the gun out after the reload. Pay attention to your sights and make sure they return smoothly to where you're looking. This is a very important, but neglected part of the reload. I recommend working on this in isolation: seat a mag and return the gun over and over to make sure your index following the reload is fast and smooth. See how @Gio does this really well in his video.