Tactical Pistol Reloads, which technique works best?

[ST911]

Additionally, coming from a police training background, I don't know of anyone who advocates returning a partially loaded mag to a mag pouch.

Depends on who/where taught and the gear in use. Everyone (esp LE schools and agencies particularly) seems to have "the one true way." Been corrected on a variety of ranges for doing it "wrong."

Always put your mag in the pocket, that's where partial mags go.
Never do that, you don't know what position you'll be in / it'll drop to the bottom and be inaccessible.
Use your back pocket, not your front pocket. Use your front pocket, not your back pocket.
Always put your mag in the mag pouch, that's where you know to go for a mag.
Never do that, it's a "fine motor skill" / only full mags go in pouches.
Hold your mags between these fingers, not those.
Don't do it at all, it's a "fine motor skill" you'll fumble anyway.

Most seem to teach by process, not principles.
when you have a lull in a fight or opportunity to do so
rapidly exchange a partially expended mag for a full one
retain the partial in a place you'll know to retrieve it

Hand size and dexterity matters.
For uniforms, open top mag pouches are more viable for a return than flapped parade pouches.

Rate of return on the time some spend training it is also questionable. I think we have a thread here somewhere looking for examples of LE or CCW fights continuing after execution of a tactical reload.

[rob_s]

In an ideal world, the shooter has a subconscious competence level with their gun and load-carriage and they aren't stuck in one dogmatic approach.

When I was shooting carbines a lot I would assess the situation that called for the partial-mag-change and apply the method that best fit.

I can understand why having one dogmatic approach might be beneficial in an organization where the gun is issued gear and not seen as that vastly different than a pen or a flashlight. But, then, like any business with an SOP you also need to be able to allow the 10% that are actually doing more than the base standard to do what works best for them.

[Rex G]

I was never taught to return a partially-filled mag to a mag pouch. In my LEO career context, I was expected to use flap-covered mag carriers in uniform, and conceal guns and ammo while in plainclothes, so, it would be necessary to clear a flap, or clear the cover garment, and then hunt for the mag pouch opening, so, it was good that I was not required to do either. (Is “training scar” still a trendy term to use?)

If I recall correctly, I have normally defaulted to using a rear pocket to stow ejected/removed mags. I never liked keeping much of anything in my rear pockets, so, they were almost always available for dump-pouch duty. Cargo pockets did not become a regular part of my life until much later, and never became every-day wear.

I was self-taught, originally, for tactical and reload-with-retention mag changes. I used Chuck Taylor’s well-illustrated articles/books for guidance. When tactical reloads were introduced, in the context of my LE training, I do not remember being compelled to correct anything, so, either the “classic” method was taught, or, was an allowed alternative. It helped that I write left-handed, and normally carried on my right side, so, my support hand had plenty of dexterity for handling the two mags. (NO “weak” hand! Two “strong” hands! )

Saving time on the clock, by pulling and stowing the partially-depleted mag, and only then drawing and inserting the new mag, was never a goal, that I can recall. That seems, to my mind, to be an admin reload, after the fight. Or, it seems, an IDPA winning method. My opinion. I do not know enough about IDPA to criticize it. (I shot a very few timed matches, at the PD range, that were intended to be street-relevant practical, moving from cover to cover, long before IDPA was created. I can no longer recall if a tactical reload, or reload-with-retention, was a required part of any stage.)

[crosseyedshooter]

I was pretty heavily schooled in the traditional version of the tac reload having started at a 1911 centric office. As a long-time 1911 carrier, shooter it became natural.

As a lefty, I never could do the traditional version with my M4/AR. That started me on used mag out, stow it, new mag in.

When I switched to a double stack 9mm, it was used mag out, stow it, new mag in - because of hand size and total time.

I will discuss and demo both.

As a right-handed lefty (eye dominance), I appreciate your post and look forward to additional info.

I just wanted to drop in to say tac reloads are becoming a real pain with the latest stuffed-to-the-brim mags. My P365 17-rd mags aren't easy to seat on a closed slide and it sometimes feels like I'll knock my pistol right out of my hand driving that mag in.

My experience as a civilian student is the tac reload has become the admin reload and for me to stay in sync with the rest of the class between drills. When I'm running 10 or 12 round mags, and other students have 17 or 23, it's up to me to be ready for the next series of drills and not have the entire line waiting on me. I've never used it in the few months I've been doing IDPA and can't recall the last time I saw somebody do it at the local club. It's mostly counting shots and dropping empty mags (with one in chamber) for closed slide reloads.

[baddean]

I don't profess to have the knowledge and skills as some on this excellent forum. I have had the privilege to teach a fair number of new and novice students of the gun for the past thirteen years and I/we have always attempted to keep gun handing skills as simple as possible.
All loading of the gun is done from the "main" mag carrier. If in a training class and bringing multiple mags to the line, whether in carriers or pockets, load the gun from the "main" carrier then move a mag from one of the other positions to the "main" carrier. That's the go to place to retrieve a mag for any reload.

Empty mags go on the ground. They're empty.

During a tactical reload the partial goes in a pocket/waistband somewhere near the main mag carrier. The shooter most likely already has both hands on the gun anyway, so they press the mag release grasp the partial mag take it toward the main mag carrier stash it in a pocket/waistband and grasp the reload mag from the main carrier then back to the gun for the reload.

Only full mags go in the main mag carrier with one exception. If there is a lull or break in the action, real or class related, a/the partial, if that's all that is left, gets moved to the main mag carrier.

Other "tactical" reloading techniques are surely valid given enough time, repetition, and practice, especially among top tier shooters/operators.
For the average CC civilian who might find themselves in the unfortunate position of being in a gunfight, the less they have to think about manipulating the gun the more they can focus on extricating themselves from the situation they find themselves in. Keeping the gun handling as simple as possible should give them the best chances of a positive outcome.

[Erick Gelhaus]

As a right-handed lefty (eye dominance), I appreciate your post and look forward to additional info.

Ask away, and I'll try to help.

As I recall and we teach, there are some situational "requirements" for a Tac Reload. Some of the things shown in the video would push toward a straight speed reload - moving out in the open under time constraints. Could be the competitive emphasis on time? I don't put tac reloads on the clock in that way.

Returning the partial mag to a mag pouch is a discussion. Generally, the discussion goes - if you have multiple mag pouches, don't return the partial mag to one of them; however, with a single pouch, why not go back there? Initially that works with the traditional version where you're exchanging at the mag well. With the remove the used mag, pocket it, load the new mag then you could move the used mag after the new mag is seated.

[BehindBlueI's]

Depends on who/where taught and the gear in use. Everyone (esp LE schools and agencies particularly) seems to have "the one true way." Been corrected on a variety of ranges for doing it "wrong."

Our range has long taught "put it where you know where it is". As long as you can say where your full mags are and where your partials are, they do not go beyond that. It's an approach I appreciate even more hearing about others' experiences.

[okie john]

In an ideal world, the shooter has a subconscious competence level with their gun and load-carriage and they aren't stuck in one dogmatic approach.

Yep. Train on all of the techniques then use the one that makes sense at the time. Then you can focus on solving your problem instead of dealing with your gear.

The one time that I've actually done a tactical reload was during a night-fire session with a buddy who wanted to shoot his new carbine in low light. We were deep in the woods on a snowy night. We'd been shooting and bullshitting for about half an hour when we heard an ear-piercing scream from maybe 20 yards away. (We had no idea what it was at the time, just that it was bad. I've since come to think it was a mountain lion.) I had a partial magazine of FMJ in my G19 and a full magazine of carry ammo in a mag pouch so I swapped them and racked the slide. I don't remember which technique I used and it doesn't matter. I ended up with a full magazine of better ammo, which is the point of the exercise.

Then I told him, "Put a fresh mag in that thing and let's get the fuck out of here." And that's what we did.

We still refer to that as The Night We Shot Bigfoot.


Okie John

[ST911]

Our range has long taught "put it where you know where it is". As long as you can say where your full mags are and where your partials are, they do not go beyond that. It's an approach I appreciate even more hearing about others' experiences.

I like that approach.

[crosseyedshooter]

Ask away, and I'll try to help.

As I recall and we teach, there are some situational "requirements" for a Tac Reload. Some of the things shown in the video would push toward a straight speed reload - moving out in the open under time constraints. Could be the competitive emphasis on time? I don't put tac reloads on the clock in that way.

Returning the partial mag to a mag pouch is a discussion. Generally, the discussion goes - if you have multiple mag pouches, don't return the partial mag to one of them; however, with a single pouch, why not go back there? Initially that works with the traditional version where you're exchanging at the mag well. With the remove the used mag, pocket it, load the new mag then you could move the used mag after the new mag is seated.

Thank you Erick. I started another thread to continue the left-handed discussion. As it relates to tac reloads, I was perfectly fine with holding two pistol mags in one hand for many years and then I tried to do it with two rifle mags and push the mag release on the AR.