The Tactical Reload

[Dagga Boy]

I got asked about this in regards to the Pincus thread, so I figured I would do an open post with my Nomex on.

We teach two reloads-
1. The In-battery speed reload-done when you need to reload your pistol in a fight or when speed is of the essence-should be no controversy here.
2. The Tactical reload-done when you want to fully load your pistol and there is enough of a lull in the action to retain the partial magazine.
The Tactical reload is done for many reasons and people often are using it in places that it may not be the way to go. I use it to fully load my pistol prior to holstering. Why would you want to holster a pistol in which you have no idea about how many rounds are left in it. Does your crystal ball tell you that you couldn't possibly be in another fight? In one shooting my partner and I were in, we were at one point surrounded by a very large crowd of outraged ghetto rats that were upset about killing one of their beloved. We ended up in a pretty violent altercation after the shooting. I have several cases of this. We didn't carry a metric ton of ammunition, so it was an issue to maintain what you had. Before I hear "well I am not a cop, so this doesn't matter"....really.....you will never get in a shooting with someone in a bad area, or their home turf...interesting? I will steal a P-Mac term....I look at the tac load as a "good habit" prior to holstering as an "enabler and never a disabler". Is it ever going to be a "bad" thing to holster a fully loaded gun, or to fully load your pistol if you have cover and time? Now, if you are in the middle of a fight, the in-battery speed reload is better. If you are not in a fight right this second, but need more ammunition, the Tac-reload is a great option. I prefer the traditional tac-reload done at the gun, some people are better served with a reload with retention where the magazine is removed, stowed and a new one retrieved and loaded into the pistol. I use the reload with retention with my heel release P7's, so I am good with whatever works for you.

Wait......what about the out of battery speed-reload, or "combat reload". I call it what it is:

Shooter induced malfunction. You shot the gun to the point that in no longer functions because it is out of ammunition. Diagnose it and fix it. Pretty simple. It is a common issue. I think most would agree it is not a good idea to shoot to slide lock, so we don't encourage it. We show you how to diagnose and fix it, but we look at it as a very negative situation, and teach it as something to "avoid", and not something that "will happen". I found that when I stopped teaching it as a "normal" thing, and made it a negative thing to be avoided, the folks I trained stopped having this type of malfunction......weird how people revert to their training on this stuff.

[ToddG]

The Tactical reload is done for many reasons and people often are using it in places that it may not be the way to go. I use it to fully load my pistol prior to holstering.

I don't think there is anything controversial or unusual about that. I'll be the first to admit I think of it more as an admin load than a "tactical" reload since by definition one expects the trouble to be over (at least for the time being, otherwise you wouldn't be holstering!). But topping off before you "leave the scene" so to speak is definitely something I think most folks can get behind.

Wait......what about the out of battery speed-reload, or "combat reload". I call it what it is: Shooter induced malfunction.

So if you're actively engaging a threat, he hasn't stopped being a threat, and you think/know/foretell the gun is running low on ammunition you'd stop engaging the threat and reload instead of shooting the ammo that's left in the gun first?

In other words, rather than gamble/hope that whatever is left in the gun will solve the immediate problem you'd stop shooting a live, active threat to reload and save yourself a very small fraction of a second on your reload time?

[Chuck Haggard]

Last week Pat Rogers, who teaches tac reloads, relayed one of his whys;

Two NYPD guys are in a pursuit and shooting. They clip the bad guy, things end up a win for the good guys, the cavalry shows up, scene secure. They get directed to go back to the station for reports and such. While going to the station they drive up on an armed robbery in progress.....

Bad guy comes out, "POLICE!! Don't Move!" is yelled, and the guy makes his move, lots of clicking on empty chambers ensues. Cop car starts taking rounds.

As Pat said, those guys went from epic heroes to zeros on the cop legendary war story scale, in 0.5 seconds .....

[Dagga Boy]

"So if you're actively engaging a threat, he hasn't stopped being a threat, and you think/know/foretell the gun is running low on ammunition you'd stop engaging the threat and reload instead of shooting the ammo that's left in the gun first?

In other words, rather than gamble/hope that whatever is left in the gun will solve the immediate problem you'd stop shooting a live, active threat to reload and save yourself a very small fraction of a second on your reload time?"

Don't know....just calling these things what they are. That's why this real gunfighting crap is really complicated and a real test. Problem solving in a crisis isn't easy nor are there internet solutions. Here are your options:

Keep doing what you are doing and either hope for the best, get more surgical to really ensure you are getting hits, switch to a failure to stop solution, start moving and hit that speed load on your terms (which most people can do very fast with the best chance for an error free manipulation, as there are few manipulations to perform this under stress), or keep going an if you don't put the threat down, you have a brick in your hand that is going to require multiple manipulations that all have a chance of failure with and the gun is out of the fight till you do it right........what to do, what to do.......

[Tamara]

NM. I are 'tard.

[Dagga Boy]

NM. I are 'tard.

Is that encryption, or Klingon..........I can't read half the stuff on this site anymore.

[Odin Bravo One]

The only real issue I have with the "Tac Reload" as it is presented to most people is that I don't understand it. I have encountered many folks in the shooting world, and they don't understand it any better than I do. They tell me what I was taught. Use it when there is a lull in the fight. Problem is, most have never been in a fight, so how would they know when that is? How do we teach them when that is? I think the real issue is in terminology. We are at a point with modern service weapons where the generations have become used to certain terminology, and we find it hard to distance ourselves from it, regardless of whether or not it truly carries the meaning or intent to the audience.

In my mind, the fight is on, or the fight is over. When the fight is over, I top off my gun(s), and even go so far as to organize/store my magazines so I know the partially depleted are furthest from my "ready mag", in case I fat finger my grab for an emergency reload. But there isn't anything "tactical" about it. That is simply the self-preservation instinct kicking in. I perform said technique with the same muscle movements and gun manipulations as is preached when the term "Tac Reload" is used..........but there ain't no lull.........the fight is decidedly over before I go kittening around with my gun & gear.

Semantics or not, individual interpretation of terminology, whatever.......... if the student does not understand the technique, then it is of little use to them. It becomes dangerous when they think they know, but they most certainly do not.

[GJM]

Of course, a prerequisite to this whole discussion is having a spare magazine -- wonder what percentage of folks at PF, and in the world at large, carry a spare magazine?

[Shellback]

I use it to fully load my pistol prior to holstering. Why would you want to holster a pistol in which you have no idea about how many rounds are left in it. Does your crystal ball tell you that you couldn't possibly be in another fight?

I look at the tac load as a "good habit" prior to holstering as an "enabler and never a disabler". Is it ever going to be a "bad" thing to holster a fully loaded gun, or to fully load your pistol if you have cover and time?......weird how people revert to their training on this stuff.

When running drills do you swap & top off after every drill or do you reholster and run the next drill with a partially spent mag? The reason I ask is that if you're reverting to your training wouldn't you want to top off after every drill/sequence? That'd make for a hell of a lot of mag changes throughout the day.

[Dagga Boy]

One of the biggest issues I saw was running multi room scenario's with typical street cops. Shoot targets in one room, and then move to a second room and go to slide lock before the problem is solved. I saw it so often that it was a very good "teachable moment"....."why would you leave one room where you just shot a bunch of rounds out of your 8 round pistol, and not put 8 more in and save the ones left in case you need them"? Same with how we run a line..."ammo management is your problem". When we have shooters go to slide lock on a couple round drill from the holster, it becomes a teachable moment for "gee, maybe if I topped it off before I put it away might be a good idea".

For those I was tasked exclusively with training, I was very on top of them with tac-loads prior to holstering, tac loads prior to moving from one area to another after shots have been fired, and really being aware of running dry in a fight sucks. This paid off in a couple of field shootings. I also found that most of these guys came in with a partial magazine in their back pocket after an officer involved shooting-which is another reason I believe that good range habits translate to good field habits.