Ar Mag Speed Reload

[mhearn]

The AR speed reload. I shot a stage recently that involved three paper targets two rounds on each. Reload. Reengage with two rounds on each. A speed shoot with the AR with a reload.

I had two mags cinched together. But, I had a hell of a time getting the second one to slip in. Fumble, curse, twist. The mag in question seems to be a little tight on the back in (No, I'm not trying to be kinky, it's just coming out that way.)

I've been doing some grinding and sanding to get it to loosen up and slide in and out with less resistance.

Any advice on setting up mags for speed reloads? How to prep them or where to get mags that seem to slide in and out better?

MHearn

[GBTX01]

I've got a nice collection of both 30 and 20rd mags. I have gone through and function tested all of them and gotten rid of any problematic mags. Then I go though and find which mags will drop free unloaded and which ones stick a little and mark accordingly with a Marksalot. I've found that the 20rd mags fall the quickest and are the smoothest inserting(probably because they are 20yrs old). If it is a low round count stage then I'll use the 20rd mags. I also use a Redi-Mag that works great with both the 20rd and 30rd mags.

[TRUBL]

Think of your rifle as a pistol for a moment.....

You want mags to drop free....and for it to be one handed (always)

You take that shot, press the release as you are going for another mag.....where is it really may not be of much importance. The ready mag is closest as is two mags together. But we do fast mag changes with pistol and the mags on our belts too.

Where is your finger for a pistol mag reload.....and where should it be for the rifle reload?.....same place you say? Yes!! NOW......where your index finger points is where the mag will go. Try that with your ready mag or 2 mags together....not really comfortable to try to get your index finger on the front of the mag....is it?

Do you tip your pistol? So should you tip your rifle? You can.....and still keep it on your shoulder.

What it really boils down to is we all practice our pistol reloads....or atleast, do a lot of them through out the course of a season....but how much time do we spend on rifle reloads? (don't get me started on shotgun).

One this I would say is to try is this.....slow down your pistol reload for minute and try to mimick that (well similar, but a little different) with your rifle.

You may find that loading off the belt is faster? Maybe not....but it would give you a good starting point.

The arredondo mag well.....is good to use as well.....now I do hear that on some AR's it makes the mags stick as it is too tightly clamped on the mag well.....it can be fitted with a little imagination though.

One other thing to think about with the ready mag or 2 mags taped together......it does add weight to your rifle and the trend is going towards lighter rifles

AND...lastly....the really good news is that except for some local matches.....your larger matches do not do rifle (or shotgun) standards (yes...some do, but most do not). Which is why a lot of people really have not talked to much about or praticed a lot with reload for rifle. So a speed reload is NOT a big time saver....but hey....if every second counts.....I'm all for cutting them down.

[stingerjg]

Like GBTX01 does i check all my mags to see if they drop free. Make sure the drop out, loaded, empty, and empty w/ the bolt locked back. If the dont drop out they arent even worth keeping.....

.... or you could just forget about reloading and get a C-Mag

[George]

Here is what I do for speed re-loads and to make my re-loads reliable instead of the dreaded "one shot drop" type.

If the stage requires a flat-footed re-load (like a refle Prez), then I use a GI 20 for the start mag and go to a Thermold 30 as I find they go in the best (for me).

If the mag won't lock in under a closed bolt with 30 in it with a nice "snick" fit without the tap I see a lot of folk doing, that needs to be fixed.

Check all your mags to be sure that they all lock in with the same fit and toss any that are really tight, or really loose. Now you have mags wth a similar height catch. Then stone a few thousandths off the mag catch on your rifle until the mags are a positive lock-in under a closed bolt with rounds in them, every single time without tapping them on the bottom.

I cannot stress this enough, if you need to tap your AR mags into place, the mag catch fit is too tight! It should catch with ease, but should not be sloppy. Tune this right and you are in for a real treat the next time you do a standing re-load with your AR.

BTW, I don't bother with cinched mags and am a believer in the one at a time from the belt routine. FWIW, Kurtm has reported in with a 1.5 second shot to shot standing AR re-load in the rifle prez thread. I can hold it around 2 flat on demand now. I think the belt is just as fast as a cinched pair all of the time and a lot less clumsy quite a lot of the time.

--

Regards.

[kimel]

I find reloads from the belt to be faster for me. Probably because this is more-or-less the same movement as the pistol reloads I have practiced a zillion times.

I put an Arredondo mag well on my AR awhile back and it does help when you are really pushing for the reload and the aim with the mag gets a bit wonky.

[Nik Habicht]

After playing with this a little in recent days, I found a use for the Bushmaster ten round mags. For me they're the fastest mags to reload, because they're closest to pistol mags.......

[Chris Keen]

WOW ........... Rifle STANDARDS ... I hadn't given this much thought until I read it here !

Last month at a rifle side match we had to shoot 5 IPSC targets w/2rds ea. then RELOAD & shoot the other 5 IPSC targets WEAK-HANDED 2rds ea.

So ...... who practices WEAK-HAND RIFLE ???

[SinistralRifleman]

So ...... who practices WEAK-HAND RIFLE ??? 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

We had a weak hand sub-machine gun stage today, at the Rio Salado subgun match...4 plates racks, 24 plates total.

[stingerjg]

now that i have seen this post i think ill set up somthing for the next 3 gun match. Im thinking Bianchi baricade 12-14 rounds per side w/ a mandatory reload then shooting weak handed.