Movement while reloading

[RangerMcFadden]

I’ve been looking at my match footage and have found my movement to be lacking (I.e. slow). Previously I’ve justified my speed by claiming that I’m reloading but now I don’t know if that holds water.

 

When I’m leaving a position (and a reload is required) I’ll start moving while reloading and, once complete, I’ll run full tilt until I need to slow down to get in position.

 

But is that the best way? Should I always run full tilt and finish up the reload at the next position?

 

The timer will be the best judge but I’m curious as to y’all’s thoughts.

[MikeBurgess]

29 minutes ago, RangerMcFadden said:

I’ve been looking at my match footage and have found my movement to be lacking (I.e. slow). Previously I’ve justified my speed by claiming that I’m reloading but now I don’t know if that holds water.

 

When I’m leaving a position (and a reload is required) I’ll start moving while reloading and, once complete, I’ll run full tilt until I need to slow down to get in position.

 

But is that the best way? Should I always run full tilt and finish up the reload at the next position?

 

The timer will be the best judge but I’m curious as to y’all’s thoughts.

It all depends. how far are you going? what direction are you going? are you twisted up funny on your last target? will you be for your first target? what do the targets your leaving and arriving at need for attention?

Personally I want to be gun up and ready to shoot when I get where I'm going most of the time, so sometimes that means move at moderate pace as I reload (short distance) , sometimes its sprint and work reload on the run (long distance) , other times its do a split reload (weird direction). 

 

  

[pskys2]

It's so ingrained to me, my feet start moving and I start reloading!  I do like to get it out of the way and then focus on getting into the next position ready to rock and roll!

 

I have to be real careful when I shoot a Limited Gun, such a waste to drop a 21 round mag after only 8 rounds!

[MikeyScuba]

We are limited to 10 rounds up here, limited mags aren't any cheaper though.  So stage planning involves just as much "where to reload" no matter which gun I use.

[risingsun]

3 hours ago, MikeBurgess said:

It all depends. how far are you going? what direction are you going? are you twisted up funny on your last target? will you be for your first target? what do the targets your leaving and arriving at need for attention?

This ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

Although there are many variables as stated above, typically I train with the following drills at the range:

 

- Imagine a clock, a round clock, I'd set my self up in the center of the clock

- Drill 1, shoot, move/reload going to 10:30 direction.

- Drill 2, ditto, 13:30 direction, etc. following drills 16:30, 19:30, etc.

 

And the goal is not only to be able to do it smooth and fast, but also to train where the muzzle should point on each direction. Don't forget to modify as necessary!

 

[MikeBurgess]

I left out one thing, mostly because its not directly related to the OPs question. 

some of this also depends on how you reload, say you reload strong hand and you need to move up range and too the left (7:30) you may need to finish your reload before you can turn your body and run, where as if you weak hand reload you may do a split reload or reload on the move. 

 

basically it comes down to what can YOU do to get between here and there and fire an accurate shot in the least amount of time.  

[IVC]

It's like anything else - if there is no reason to go slow while you reload, it's wasted time. Same as if you draw your gun slowly because the target is difficult. 

 

What's preventing your legs from moving while you're doing something with the upper body? Is the movement affecting operation of your hands, e.g., making it "too bumpy" ? If so, you're likely better of going full speed and using more time for the reload than either of the options you're considering. As long as you complete the reload by the time you are setting into the new position you haven't wasted any time.

 

So, instead of going slow to have a very fast and precise reload, then going fast to the next position, go fast all the time and do a slow "bumpy" reload. The end result in the former case is that it *feels* like you're fast because you're doing two very fast things (fast reload, then fast movement), but it's not efficient because you're doing them sequentially. If you move fast and have the reload completed by the time you're in the new position, you didn't waste any time no matter how slow and fumbly the reload felt. 

 

Of course, the details will be in how much time you have between positions and your own time measurements of different ways to move in practice. 

[PatJones]

Do you get an opportunity to live fire much? Even when shooting revolver I try to train like a limited shooter.

I shoot small stages, or sections of stages, where the round count allows me to not reload. Then, I can shoot that stage with a reload and compare times. It's important to build practice stages with multiple positions to practice moving quickly, but our reloads can be a real distraction.

Right now, a revolver reload costs me about .4 of a second on a typical movement you find in a stage. Video helps me tremendously during my practice sessions, I use a small digital camera on a tripod. Video keeps you honest, we all know what hustle looks like.

--
Pat Jones
Firestone CO
USPSA #A79592