The reload

[shred]

Something I noticed was I was wasting a lot of time getting to the new mag. I would be fussing with the button about the same time as I was grabbing the new mag. Switching to immediately going for the new mag, then fussing with the button cut my typical reloads from 1.4 to 1.2.

[ErikW]

How's that? You're coming off the target, then reaching for the mag with the weak hand, then later pressing the mag release button?

[shred]

Yeah.. playing around in super-slo-mo, I noticed that I'd bring the gun back in with both hands, then start dumping the old mag and going for the new one. Now as soon as I break the shot, my weak hand starts going for the new mag, while my strong hand brings the gun back and gets the old mag out.

[Flexmoney]

I'll have these posts in mind when I look over the Bonus section of Burkett's 4th DVD again. I was watching all the Big Dogs at half speed (DVD is cool). I may slow it down some more.

[Steve Anderson]

Shred...you're right. A lot of people will pull the gun back with both hands, hit the button, watch the mag fall, THEN go for the fresh one.

Relatively speaking, you've got all the time in the world to hit the button, and no time to waste going for the mag.

Burkett's two part reload drill will solve this, (and other) problems.

Start with an empty gun on target. At the beep, go for a mag, hit the button, and bring the mag just to the mag well. Repeat.

SA

[lynn jones]

hi all,

i went to the range today. two days in a row. i tried the reload drill again. guess what. i did it again. see the link for the photo of the timer. i carried it back to house and took the picture.

http://www.memphis-ssa.com/modules/gallery...album=1&pid=113

if i can do it, you can do it. just go practice.

now if i can repeat in a match.

lynn

[Steve Anderson]

Very Nice.

Congrats.

SA

[lynn jones]

thanks steve.

lynn

[ErikW]

My field course reloads seem slow and uncoordinated compared to my flat-footed speed shoot/standards reloads. Any tips on improving the moving reload? (Other than do it early, previously mentioned.)

[Jake Di Vita]

Don't try to reload while moving too fast...Start out going at a reasonable speed and after the load is completeed, then haul.

[wide45]

It's the same reload. Look for things you are doing differently.

[ErikW]

OK, here's a big one... moving perpendicular to the targets, rather than standing square to the targets.

[Flexmoney]

I don't have a right answer...but here are some thoughts.

Any time you are moving, the magwell/gun is moving...you are aiming the reload at a "different target". (The Burner talks about this on his tapes...with the simple difference between reloads going right-to-left vs. left-top-right, standing.)

Moving, the further the gun from you body, the more it has to be muscled...you lose the advantage of leverage. Closer to the body might be better.

Gotta see the magwell.

And, tension. Brian talks, in the book, about tension killing the reload.

[shred]

Todd teaches 'one reload, close in'. It's a touch slower than a standing still, arms-extended reload, but much more consistent when you get moving, and you don't have to learn two different reloads.

[eric nielsen]

Ditto what Shred said. Holding the gun in closer really helps when moving. I remind myself in the walkthru to pull my strongside elbow in front of my belly button if the movement is 90 degrees right or left. I hold the gun a little higher & further out, going right.

As for what is fastest overall, you really only need to watch Matt's tapes. When I saw him hit a popper at 10yds, mag change, and hit it again .73 later (or is it .78 - lol) I pretty much scrapped all the years of experimenting I had done & just went with Matt's way. Close in, elbow bent, hands near the face.

Compared to Ron Avery's way, which is also crazy fast, the only big difference is that Ron holds the gun vertical till the empty mag falls out. Matt tilts over to where he will put in the new mag, immediately. I split the difference. The empty flies out just fine if I tilt halfway first, then all the way shortly before the full mag is up.

Side note: when moving in real close quarters, you don't 'have to' see that line in the mag well. Try holding the gun almost next to your nose, magwell pointed right at the first pouch. You can do a very crowded mag change while seeing the fingers of both hands at the same time. The mag comes up almost vertical, almost looking down from over the top of the gun. Works for me.

[Limitless13]

Any of you guys seen Rob Leatham's video on reloading? Might help quite a bit.

KS

[Duane Thomas]

If you're talking about Shooter Ready? it's decent basic instruction. It was also filmed in 1985 - not exactly cutting edge technique. And it doesn't really get in-depth. Robbie is much better today.

[gmshtr]

Wow, this tread has been around for a while!

I've heard this question (or many like them) asked alot lately. How fast should I reload? Some people can consistently perform a 1.3 reload A to A on a 10 yard target, and wonder if this is good enough.

Think about this....when in a big match do you perform a completely static reload on a wide open target at 10yds? Unless it's a match with all speed shoots, probably only once or twice. All other loads will happen on the move, around a barricade, from port to port, etc. At the Columbus Cup this year in Guatemala, I demonstrated reloads from behind the hipbone (IPSC rules) on a steel IPSC chest plate at 12 yards. My fastest split b/t loads was .62, but I have NEVER executed this at a major match. My fastest load in a major was the "Briefcase stage" at the 2003 Limited Nationals. I think it was .8 or something.

My average reload over 90% of the time is around 1.1-1.2 secs. Because over 90% of my loads happen while NOT standing still.

The most important aspect of your reload is fluidity and CONSISTENCY. To accomplish this, practice the way you shoot. Work on your static reloads to perfect the mechanics, then spend most of your practice session reloading around barricades (door sills), while moving into and out of positions, or just before taking off in a fast run. Think about some of the stages you've shot in the past and attempt to duplicate them during dry-fire.

Trust me, this works. At least it did for me when I used to actually practice. Maybe I can write a book....something like Shooting Well Without Shooting.

Hope this helps.

Phil Strader

[lynn jones]

thanks phil,

i use to think i could never do a sub second reload, so i never tried. i practiced and did it a couple of times. your correct about practice using barricades and movement. but, until you really try something like a sub second reload, you really don't know what you can do. this was my whole point.

i still haven't caught the spent mag yet.

lynn

[ErikW]

I wrote this over two years ago in one of the early posts in this thread:

My reloads run about 1.5

As of yesterday, my reloads run about 1.3. I'm improving at the rate of one tenth of a second per year... Todd had better watch out in 2010.

[Limitless13]

No, I thought there was a newer one, I've got Shooter Ready, and it's decent enough, basically goes over all the basics. Hmmm... have to check into that

KS

[ErikW]

Inspired by the awesome TT video, I have been practicing reloads with the gun up in front of my face and trying to keep it as vertical as possible. I've cut another tenth or two off my times by just doing this and they are more consistent. 1.21 and 1.22 over and over at 7 yards last week, with a few 1.15-ish. (Realise I shift my grip for the button and I spend a lot of time reacquiring/realigning the front sight.) It feels so slick and smooth. A lot times I can see the dropped mag just below the fresh mag.

[rhino]

My reloads have improved dramatically over the last couple of months. Practice has played no role in this. Installing S& slimline mag wells has made a huge difference!

[BigDave]

Inspired by the awesome TT video, I have been practicing reloads with the gun up in front of my face and trying to keep it as vertical as possible.

I've been doing the same thing Erik. One other thing I noticed is that TT doesn't bring the gun back towards his torso hardly at all. Just enough to make an effecient angle, nothing more. When I've set my par times, my cleanest loads are when I keep the gun away from me.

Rhino - all those years of reloading without a magwell is what has made your reloads better. That and the dryfire (yes, you need to admit that you *cough* practice *cough*). The magwell just is keeping the really bad reloads from getting worse.

[Ron Ankeny]

Wow, I had forgotten all about this thread. FWIW, my par time reloads with a fat gun have improved about .2 seconds since I started the thread. My skinny gun reloads have improved by about .3 seconds.

I have also come to realize that Phil is right on the mark. The vast majority of reloads happen on the move. In general, the difference between a 1.1 and a 1.4 reload on the move costs more in terms of redirection of awareness and attention than it does in terms of actual time on the clock. Does that make sense?