Does anyone else NOT drop their mags?

[Will B. Droopy]

When I practice for or shoot in a PD match, I just can't bring myself to drop my mags in the sand, mud, or dirt: even thinking of inserting a gritty/dirty mag back into my nice gun for the next COF (after just a tap and a wipe of the mag) just doesn't work for me.

The way I do it is I [quickly!] place my expended mag back in to its holder, and then [quickly!] grab a fresh one for the pistol.

I'm probably being OCD'ish about this, but has anyone else even seen any other shooter do the same thing during a match? Or perhaps you even feel the same way as I do about this?

-Bill

[Singlestack]

I'm probably being OCD'ish about this

Ya think?

[CZinSC]

Or perhaps you even feel the same way as I do about this?

Nope, can't say that I worry about it. That's why I have these in the range bag to make sure the mags are clean for the next stage:

Edited May 15, 2010 by CZinSC

[Pat Miles]

Mine go in the dirt when it is time. Couple of minutes to clean and they are ready for their next trip into the dirt.

CYa,

Pat

[bbbean]

Mags are cheap, durable and easy to clean. Time is fleeting and valuable. Use accordingly.

[wi shooter]

I shoot a Glock. Glocks like dirt and sand

[kcult]

This is one of the reasons I bought a Glock, so I could retire my satin nickel BHP and not risk shoving a slightly grainy Mag in it.

[CocoBolo]

Even IDPA guys drop thier mags, except for reload with retention. You are on the road to hitting a stage with mags less than full. Never put a mag on your belt that is not full!

I always go to a match with twice the number of mags I need. When I show up with my SS that is 13 mags. If a mag is dropped it gets cleaned inside and out before being put back into service.

Here is another rule: Never pick a mag up off the ground and put it into the gun. It is always faster and better to pull another one off the belt.

How many mags on the belt by Division:

Production: 4 + 1 in the gun and one in the back pocket for top off

Limited: 3 + 1 in the Gun.

Open: 2 + 1 in the Gun.

SS: 6 on the belt one in the Gun and one in the back pocket for top off.

Why so many mags, well ever have one fall out when you are running, ever reach for one an knock another one out of the pouch, ever knocked one out of the pouch going thru a door way, how about dropping one during a reload. Better to have and not need than need and not have.

Excuse me Glock mags need to be cleaned, and I have helped glockers clean them at a matches after thier gun shut down.

Edited May 15, 2010 by CocoBolo

[XD Niner]

If you're really concerned about dropping your mags during practice, you can always put a small tarp on the gound if you're doing a standing reloade. If you're concerned about dropping them at a match and don't want to clean them right then or feel that you can't clean them adequately, buy enough mags to see you through the match. Then you can collect and clean them at home after the match.

You;'re just wasting too much time to pull them from the magwell, put them in your belt and then reinsert a fresh mag.

[Will B. Droopy]

Thanks for the feedback, guys. I realize my "method" of not dropping mags will result in me never reaching Grand Master, but so will my lack of innate shooting skills! (I'm not bad by any means, but I think the high-end shooters are born, as well as made).

The problem with cleaning mags between each COF is that I am too busy assisting in brass pickup and re-setting targets, as well as simply reloading. But I 100% agree with CocoBolo on the importance of such a cleaning! (I have yet to see anyone here really clean their mags, except for the tapping of the dropped mag against their leg to get some of the grit and dirt out of the innards).

And I have always liked the thought of buying enough mags so that I could clean them at home, and never re-use one during that day's shoot. However, at a minimum of $31 a mag, and the need for 15 or 16 of them (loaded with 10 rounds, and a total of about 150 rounds shot), then that ads up to $500 or so. My wife would hurt me if I spent that much on just mags!

-Bill

Edited May 16, 2010 by Will B. Droopy

[MemphisMechanic]

Shoot Production with something polymer. Feed it whatever, and get over it.

[Flexmoney]

The problem with cleaning mags between each COF is that I am too busy assisting in brass pickup and re-setting targets, as well as simply reloading.

What a load of BS.

Treat that thing like the tool it is.

[Chris iliff]

Drop your mags, stiffen your upper lip, you are the shooter you make yourself!

[Chris Keen]

Pretty Parlor guns should stay at home in the safe.

Winning guns that work hard, and get shot a bunch ..... THAT's what makes me happy!!

[Merlin Orr]

Couple of guys I shoot IDPA matches with never let a mag hit the floor. They are aware of the time it costs and feel they would rather stow em than drop em.

Power to the people!

[G-ManBart]

If you happen to also carry a gun for protection you're practicing one of the...searching for the word....well, I'll just say it's a bad idea. They used to train cops to dump their empties (from revolvers) into their pockets. They found some dead cops who were in the act of putting empties in their pockets. I study as much of the information I can get (lots) on police shootings and nobody is doing reloads with retention...nobody. Enough on that since we're a competition oriented forum

Dump the flippin' mag, put a fresh one in, get back to the shooting and quickly clean them between stages. Everybody understands it will likely take you one shooter after you to get your gear reorganized, mags wiped down, reloaded etc. Right before and right after shooting you shouldn't be taping targets, setting steel or picking brass.

It's not likely that you'll use more than two or three mags per stage, so only one or two are getting dropped per stage with any regularity. How long does it take to wipe down two mags? What kind of gun are you shooting? Even adding two or three mags will make it so you can clean mags every other stage and sometimes more. R,

[Will B. Droopy]

Couple of guys I shoot IDPA matches with never let a mag hit the floor. They are aware of the time it costs and feel they would rather stow em than drop em.

Thanks Merlin! I feel the exact same way as those folks: I know it slows me down to stow 'em, but that's the price I pay; and I don't mind paying it. (Now I don't feel like the only guy in the world who does this! ).

Thanks for the info G-ManBart, but that is exactly why I don't really care whether I can reload ultra-rapidly, as I never carry a spare mag on the street. I figure if my 15+1 of 9mm goodness can't do the job, I'm SOL anyway.

-Bill

[smokshwn]

The problem with cleaning mags between each COF is that I am too busy assisting in brass pickup and re-setting targets, as well as simply reloading. But I 100% agree with CocoBolo on the importance of such a cleaning! (I have yet to see anyone here really clean their mags, except for the tapping of the dropped mag against their leg to get some of the grit and dirt out of the innards).

-Bill

If you weren't shooting so slow you would have plenty of time to clean mags

[XRe]

Thanks for the info G-ManBart, but that is exactly why I don't really care whether I can reload ultra-rapidly, as I never carry a spare mag on the street. I figure if my 15+1 of 9mm goodness can't do the job, I'm SOL anyway.

There was a gent here in Tyler, TX that found out the hard way that going out without extra ammo has a strong chance of ending poorly in the event of a social "altercation"... Just FWIW... If you're gonna carry the thing, be prepared. And be well versed and practiced in all the skills necessary to be a martial artist with the tool....

If it takes you longer than a shooter or so's worth of time to clean and reload your mags, your just dilly dallying anyway... I manage to clean and reload (typically) two mags after every stage, and get back out on the stage to pick up the next guy's brass for him most times. If I were shooting Production or Single Stack, it might take me a hair longer, but even when I was shooting L-10, I could turn it all over in a shooter or shooter and a half....

[bbbean]

Treat that thing like the tool it is.

+2!

Any gun/mag/ammo that won't continue to run with a certain amount of grit isn't worth competing with and certainly isn't one you'd want to carry. Even in fine sand or mud, you shouldn't need more than a quick brush or wipe down to get a mag ready to run after being dropped. If you're on grass or gravel, it may not take that much.

[GrumpyOne]

Couple of guys I shoot IDPA matches with never let a mag hit the floor. They are aware of the time it costs and feel they would rather stow em than drop em.

Thanks Merlin! I feel the exact same way as those folks: I know it slows me down to stow 'em, but that's the price I pay; and I don't mind paying it. (Now I don't feel like the only guy in the world who does this! ).

Thanks for the info G-ManBart, but that is exactly why I don't really care whether I can reload ultra-rapidly, as I never carry a spare mag on the street. I figure if my 15+1 of 9mm goodness can't do the job, I'm SOL anyway.

-Bill

There was a scene in the Clint Eastwood movie, "The Unforgiven", where a one armed Deputy Sheriff was was unloading one of his Peacemakers and reloading it. One of the other deputies told him that he had just loaded it, and why did he need 3 guns anyway? The one armed deputy replied "Well, if I get killed, it won't be for lack of shooting back." Methinks if I were a LEO, I would carry at least one, if not two spare mags, and probably a back up gun as well, with a couple of spare for it as well.

[Sarge]

Mags are cheap

Glock mags maybe. But last time I looked good,tuned,S_I mags were in the neighborhood of $125.

But they should still always be dropped.

[open17]

Had a new shooter a couple of years ago that shot a Hk something or other. Didn't want to drop

his mags in the dirt. He hung a shotgun "shell bag" like trap shooters use under his mag pouches.

Didn't really cost him all that much time to drop the mag in the bag on his way to grabbing a new mag.

I drop them in the dirt, shake out the big chunks and load em up again. If it's really dusty, I carry a

can of "air" in my range bag and blow them clean.

[Will B. Droopy]

GRUMPYONE:

There was a scene in the Clint Eastwood movie, "The Unforgiven", where a one armed Deputy Sheriff was was unloading one of his Peacemakers and reloading it. One of the other deputies told him that he had just loaded it, and why did he need 3 guns anyway? The one armed deputy replied "Well, if I get killed, it won't be for lack of shooting back." Methinks if I were a LEO, I would carry at least one, if not two spare mags, and probably a back up gun as well, with a couple of spare for it as well.

But I'm not a LEO, or I would 100% agree with you about the need for spare mags and a BUG. In fact, the only reason I carry everywhere I go in public, rather than just in the big cities, is that I was a (willing) witness two years ago in Federal criminal court against two really crazy people , so my wife and I are still rather paranoid about reprisals. (One of those nice folks just got released last month, BTW).

But I still don't see how I could ever need more than 15+1 unless, as I said, I was a LEO (or in Iraq): my main defense will continue to be good situational awareness, combined with a skilled 'sneaker defense'!

-Bill

Edited May 16, 2010 by Will B. Droopy

[GrumpyOne]

Couple of guys I shoot IDPA matches with never let a mag hit the floor. They are aware of the time it costs and feel they would rather stow em than drop em.

Thanks Merlin! I feel the exact same way as those folks: I know it slows me down to stow 'em, but that's the price I pay; and I don't mind paying it. (Now I don't feel like the only guy in the world who does this! ).

Thanks for the info G-ManBart, but that is exactly why I don't really care whether I can reload ultra-rapidly, as I never carry a spare mag on the street. I figure if my 15+1 of 9mm goodness can't do the job, I'm SOL anyway.

-Bill

There was a scene in the Clint Eastwood movie, "The Unforgiven", where a one armed Deputy Sheriff was was unloading one of his Peacemakers and reloading it. One of the other deputies told him that he had just loaded it, and why did he need 3 guns anyway? The one armed deputy replied "Well, if I get killed, it won't be for lack of shooting back." Methinks if I were a LEO, I would carry at least one, if not two spare mags, and probably a back up gun as well, with a couple of spare for it as well.

But I'm not a LEO, or I would 100% agree with you about the need for spare mags and a BUG. In fact, the only reason I carry everywhere I go in public, rather than just in the big cities, is that I was a (willing) witness two years ago in Federal criminal court against two really crazy people , so my wife and I are still rather paranoid about reprisals. (One of those nice folks just got released last month, BTW).

But I still don't see how I could ever need more than 15+1 unless, as I said, I was a LEO (or in Iraq): my main defense will continue to be good situational awareness, combined with a skilled 'sneaker defense'!

-Bill

In your first post, you said "When I practice for or shoot in a PD match,". My bad, I assumed you were LEO. PD does stand for Police Department, right? It could stand for "Personal Defense", or "Plain Dumb".

Carry on!

Edited May 16, 2010 by GrumpyOne