serve a purpose or is it a ritual?

[Bigpops]

I have seen this at a few matches now and am just curious. I asked a few people and they have no idea either.

Shooter makes ready by inserting mag and loading gun. Then they remove the mag, look at it, and re-insert. Whats the purpose? Anyone...?

Edited September 21, 2009 by Bigpops

[Steve J]

That's one way to make sure that a round was actually chambered. It's very important to make sure that a round chambers when you load. ETA: he's checking through a witness hole in the magazine.

Edited September 21, 2009 by Steve J

[Bill Nesbitt]

I usually push the top round back in place, check that there are the correct number of rounds in the mag and chamber check for a round. Then give the mag a tug before reholstering.

(Secret; I also just did a practice reload )

[Bigpops]

Gotcha...Thanks!

[BSeevers]

I have seen this at a few matches now and am just curious. I asked a few people and they have no idea either.

Shooter makes ready by inserting mag and loading gun. Then they remove the mag, look at it, and re-insert. Whats the purpose? Anyone...?

Its pretty much a Master level technique.

I could lose my card just talking about it.

Ok I'm kidding, its nerves, trick of the day, habit, or maybe a mental issue but nothing

[The_Vigilante]

Maybe to make sure the next round in the mag is seated correctly?

[SA Friday]

Yep, you'll see it quite a bit by production/L-10/SS shooters. Physically and mentally solidify that reload you know you are going to have to do.

[Lee King]

I've wondered the same thing. There's a GM 'round here that does it to the point of OCD. Chambers his barney. Seats the 1st mag. Drops it. Fiddles with the 1st round. Seats it. Drops it.. rinse repeat 2 maybe 3 times. I've wondered what he's looking for and what fiddling with the 1st round does over and over.

[MikeFoley]

It is a nervous tick that would go away if they would just relax, take drugs, and get therapy!

[Steve J]

Yep, you'll see it quite a bit by production/L-10/SS shooters. Physically and mentally solidify that reload you know you are going to have to do.

Not so much in Single Stack as we top off with a second magazine, often with only one round in the first. I still look to make sure the "barney" mag is empty after I chamber the first round.

p.s. isn't loading in and of itself reloading practice?

As far as loading rituals are concerned. Sure there are plenty. There are pre-game / play rituals in every sport.

[Seth]

I often wonder exactly what the purpose of the preflight routine is for a lot of shooters. Why are we checking to see if the round is behind the extractor? Does it often come up in front of the extractor? How many times can one guy go from surrender to gun in practice before flubbing their draw on a 4 sec stage?

After watching my preflight on video a few times, I've gotten it down to stuff it, rack it, holster it, go.

[BSeevers]

Ok if somebody is checking Round 2 for problems who takes care of 3,4,5,6,7,8,9.........................

GM sounds like he has sticky mags, we can fix that.

Ok getting a "free" practice reload is ok even though its not a complete one. Probably just a trick of the day to relax, get in the zone or as Mike says mental.

I posted on both threads cause I often take my mag out and look at it.

I write stage notes on the side.

Edited September 21, 2009 by BSeevers

[Bigpops]

I've wondered the same thing. There's a GM 'round here that does it to the point of OCD. Chambers his barney. Seats the 1st mag. Drops it. Fiddles with the 1st round. Seats it. Drops it.. rinse repeat 2 maybe 3 times. I've wondered what he's looking for and what fiddling with the 1st round does over and over.

edit - woops... AD on the 2nd post.

Thats exactly what I have been seeing.

I don't get it....I am usually too busy praying!

[Jack Suber]

For me, its making sure that the first mag is full... I use a "Barney" mag and the seat a full starter mag. Years ago at a major match, I got distracted between stages. I forgot to fully load my starter mag. Oooops! I have witness holes in mine, so I look to make sure they are fully loaded. Thats just me though.

[redwoods]

I used to always do this. It was after I loaded a round in the chamber, I would eject the mag, push the round to the rear, and reinsert. The top round would alway be pushed forward, probably by the bottom of the slide or the above round pushing on it.

Then I realized.....the 9mm guys use spacers in their mags to get the bullet nose closer to the feed ramp, so now I just leave it.

That is why I would do it.

Randy

[Lee King]

I've wondered the same thing. There's a GM 'round here that does it to the point of OCD. Chambers his barney. Seats the 1st mag. Drops it. Fiddles with the 1st round. Seats it. Drops it.. rinse repeat 2 maybe 3 times. I've wondered what he's looking for and what fiddling with the 1st round does over and over.

edit - woops... AD on the 2nd post.

Thats exactly what I have been seeing.

I don't get it....I am usually too busy praying!

I'm usually too anxious to get to it. After all, isn't shooting what we're there for? I mean I guess I have my ritual too. But I try to keep it short and simple. Rack it, ONE sight picture (make sure I have fiber. Nothing you can do at that point but it's nice not to be surprised by it), drop the hammer just to make sure it WILL go bang. Barney. Check my first mag for full rounds and seat. Holster. Check my 2nd mag for rounds (cause it's like the oven.. you know you turned it off but one last check can't hurt). Start position and let's roll.

[NoSteel]

I pack my limited mags pretty tight. I just got in the habit of pulling the mag and checking this because my second round tends to get pulled all the way forward in the mag when I chamber the first round. I move the round back with my thumb and re-insert the mag. This got rid of a few fails I had with the 2nd round chambering with difficulty. Probably in need of some finer tuning on the mag but I'm just not that sharp yet and this seems to work for me...

[JThompson]

I've wondered the same thing. There's a GM 'round here that does it to the point of OCD. Chambers his barney. Seats the 1st mag. Drops it. Fiddles with the 1st round. Seats it. Drops it.. rinse repeat 2 maybe 3 times. I've wondered what he's looking for and what fiddling with the 1st round does over and over.

edit - woops... AD on the 2nd post.

Thought maybe it was an OCD thing.

[SA Friday]

Yep, you'll see it quite a bit by production/L-10/SS shooters. Physically and mentally solidify that reload you know you are going to have to do.

Not so much in Single Stack as we top off with a second magazine, often with only one round in the first. I still look to make sure the "barney" mag is empty after I chamber the first round.

p.s. isn't loading in and of itself reloading practice?

As far as loading rituals are concerned. Sure there are plenty. There are pre-game / play rituals in every sport.

Uh, I'm part of the "we", and actually do two practice reloads in succession before holstering. I I do this with my production gun and when shooting L-10. I don't when shooting Limited. Don't ask me why, I have no clue why I don't.

Two real quick loads, but I hate seeing the OCD guy do a half dozen or more.

[Carlos]

I am not qualified to diagnose "OCD" (above my pay grade).

But I believe it is a case of "monkey see, monkey do" after seeing a top monkey (eg TJ) doing that at a match.

Nothing wrong with shooters doing this little dance as long as they keep it reasonable.

[Revopop]

I've wondered the same thing. There's a GM 'round here that does it to the point of OCD. Chambers his barney. Seats the 1st mag. Drops it. Fiddles with the 1st round. Seats it. Drops it.. rinse repeat 2 maybe 3 times. I've wondered what he's looking for and what fiddling with the 1st round does over and over.

edit - woops... AD on the 2nd post.

Thats exactly what I have been seeing.

I don't get it....I am usually too busy praying!

I'm usually too anxious to get to it. After all, isn't shooting what we're there for? I mean I guess I have my ritual too. But I try to keep it short and simple. Rack it, ONE sight picture (make sure I have fiber. Nothing you can do at that point but it's nice not to be surprised by it), drop the hammer just to make sure it WILL go bang. Barney. Check my first mag for full rounds and seat. Holster. Check my 2nd mag for rounds (cause it's like the oven.. you know you turned it off but one last check can't hurt). Start position and let's roll.

+1. I want to start making noise ASAP when I walk to the line!

[CHA-LEE]

I don't think I go overboard in my make ready ritual but everything I do during it has a valid purpose. I mainly focus on loading the mag into the gun in the same position where I would perform my normal reload during a stage run. Then I will press check the slide to make sure a round is in the chamber, flip the safety on then holster the gun. I also check each mag on my belt to make sure that the bullets are fully pushed back and seated. For some reason when I walk around with mags on my belt the first round starts working forward so that is why I double check all my mags. Then I will run through my stage plan quickly take a deep breath and then nod my head to give the RO the green light.

I have seen some shooters do excessive “fiddling” with their stuff while making ready, and others do very little. I don’t think that excessive make ready fiddling has a direct impact on your shooting performance. But I have seen shooters screw themselves by not double checking certain things before the stage run and induce a problem. Such as not chambering a round, or having half full mags on their belt.

Edited September 21, 2009 by CHA-LEE

[Joe4d]

I'm kinda partial to the Rodney Dangerfield make ready moves from Back to school. the hand in armpit fart sounds...

Edited September 21, 2009 by Joe4d

[MikeFoley]

Sometimes, just sometimes, it is like a hundred years pass when this is going on at the line.

There is something said for making your LAMR routine the same every time, and Brian talks about this in his book to an extent, but it seems a little self involved if everyone else is waiting while you practice.

[G-ManBart]

Not so much in Single Stack as we top off with a second magazine, often with only one round in the first. I still look to make sure the "barney" mag is empty after I chamber the first round.

You'll probably see less .40 shooters doing that since it's easy to get a 9-round .40 mag.

I have tried both having a dedicated "load" mag that is the only one I ever put 9 rounds in and the only one I load with, and loading the first round from a barney mag. I went one simpler. I load every mag with 8, use one from my back pocket to chamber the first round, then pop in the other from my back pocket and I have 5 or 6 on my belt. Sure, the one in my back pocket only has 7 rounds, but it's not likely I'll ever need it and it keeps me from ever messing up and having a mag with 9 rounds in it after the start.

A while back I asked a friend who is a Prod GM why he checked the mag after loading and he said he didn't really have much of a reason, but it was a way to check a round had chambered. I thought that was a little surprising. R,