6 Seconds to 5 Seconds

[Sparks2112]

We can make fun o.....I mean, critique each other's fast drill on Saturday....

[ToddG]

The reload is definitely where a lot of people struggle in general on the FAST, and someone's optimized technique for a 1911 is still usually significantly slower than someone's optimized technique for Glocks, M&Ps, P30s, etc. Almost everyone has to shift the gun in hand significantly to reach the mag button and almost everyone needs to rely on the support hand thumb to drop the slide. That's a lot of extra movement and extra time.

The idea that a magwell by itself makes reloads simple is also a myth. Most of the guys doing uberfast reloads on YouTube are running STI/SVI guns... double stack guns with tapered magazines. No matter how big the magwell is, all it can do is "catch" a misplaced magazine and guide it into the gun. Put another way, if you're using the magwell, you've already made a mistake by missing the gun itself. It's better than not hitting anything at all (and I certainly want magwells on my 1911s). But it doesn't make reloads fast.

While my practice regimen has definitely been irregular this year, my 1911 reload tends to be half a second slower than my Glock reload when you compare averages or best-to-best. That's same mag pouches and same concealment garment apples to apples. There's obviously room for improvement but at least right now I get the sense that a 2.00 reload with this gear is going to be a difficult ceiling to break through.

[BLR]

Re-ran the FAST 10 clean times, average times as follows:

1.68/0.47/2.25/0.39/0.34/0.32

Differences:
1. Gun - EB Kobra (solid trigger, 10-8 wide rear, Novak trit/white outline front, 2 piece maxi well)
2. holster - Kirkpatric IWB SS

All concealed under a non-UnderArmor tee

I attribute the massive reload time difference to the solid trigger advantage over the 3 hole Videcki.

Oh, I also spent 20 minutes building muscle memory in order to better align the axis of the mag with the axis of the mag well. Who'd have thunk that would make a difference?

[JHC]

Re-ran the FAST 10 clean times, average times as follows:

1.68/0.47/2.25/0.39/0.34/0.32

Differences:
1. Gun - EB Kobra (solid trigger, 10-8 wide rear, Novak trit/white outline front, 2 piece maxi well)
2. holster - Kirkpatric IWB SS

All concealed under a non-UnderArmor tee

I attribute the massive reload time difference to the solid trigger advantage over the 3 hole Videcki.

Oh, I also spent 20 minutes building muscle memory in order to better align the axis of the mag with the axis of the mag well. Who'd have thunk that would make a difference?

And I second my very first comment!