Loading the gun to "+1" at "load and make ready"?

[boz1911]

In open I load a barney from the second mag on my belt. With a big stick and two 140 length mags I'm starting a stage 78 or 79 rounds and two reloads possible. I've shot some very difficult stages but have never run out of BB's. If something happens and I need to reload more than twice it's probably gonna be a stage I wanna forget anyway...

[ima45dv8]

In Limited I Barney from my next-to-the-last mag, and then insert the last mag.

In SS, I sort of swim against the current. I keep a few spare bullets in my back right pocket. At MR, I insert a full mag, chamber a round, drop the mag and holster (safety on, of course!). One of the rounds in my pocket tops it off and the mag is reinserted. Takes longer to describe than to perform.

[joecichlid]

Production: 11 rounds in the magazine and rack it and put one in the pipe before the buzzer=good to go

Production: 11 rounds in the magazine and the buzzer goes off before you rack it and put one in the pipe=Welcome to the dark side of Open

Joe W.

[Alfie]

Decide on a system and use that system exclusively. If you load a mag to 11 and put the first one in the pipe at LAMR take your time to eject that mag and be sure to check that the mag now has ten. I used to rack the slide a bit to see if there was a round in the chamber until one time when I re-holstered the pistol that was not in battery. When the buzzer went off I fell apart trying to tap and rack and strip and tap and rack, etc, etc.....

Another tip is to do this: Put 11 rounds in your first mag pouch on the belt; at LAMR use that mag to Barney up (verb right?) and perform that load as you would a reload; once you've checked the mag for 10 or what ever else your going to do take a mag with 10-rounds in it from the back position on your belt and place it in the #1 mag pouch. What you've just done is practised a reload while loading the pistol.

I number my mags too but to avoid usign #1 first all the time I switch it up. Sometimes I run #1 thru #5; others I use #5 thru #1; I've also used #3 thru #2, etc.

[Trini]

My production rig has 5 mags on it ( 2 double pouches and one single pouch) with the single pouch mag being the one that I put the mag that I load 11 rds into. I have trained myself to reach back behind my back and feel the single mag pouch and put that mag out and I also do a visual check before I LMR. If the start is unloaded then I just remove one rd from my LMR mag... Have been doing since I started shooting production. At times I have had to remind squad mates that are shooting production or limited 10 that only 10 rds are permitted when starting stage with unloaded pistol. My SS rig had six 771 holders on it and I reach behind my back and grab the last mag to LMR with.. I figure if I can't finish the stage with 48 rds in SS or 51 rds in production ---stop.....

[notasccrmom]

I always load use a Barney mag no matter what division I'm shooting.

I bet most of us have had the experience of using a mag loaded with 11 etc.. for LAMR, only to find out when the timer goes off that a round was not chambered. No chance of that using a Barney mag, loaded with one.

Press Check.

[gino_aki]

Depends on what gun I'm using and in which division since I have dedicated rigs for double-stack and single stack guns. My SOP is to chamber the gun with the barney mag from my left front pocket then load with the full mag from the cargo pocket. That leaves five to six full mags on the belt depending on rig. They're all loaded to ten by state law which is why I carry so many. If I'm shooting SS I look like Batman or Spidey I've got so many mags.

'Course if we didn't regularly stre-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-tch the Level I relaxing of long course rules; "...this is a 60 round Comstock course...." is no stranger to our stage WSB's, I could probably get by with less...

Edited January 12, 2010 by gino_aki

[twodownzero]

I always load use a Barney mag no matter what division I'm shooting.

I bet most of us have had the experience of using a mag loaded with 11 etc.. for LAMR, only to find out when the timer goes off that a round was not chambered. No chance of that using a Barney mag, loaded with one.

Press Check.

+1. Or just watch the round through the ejection port. You'll see it on its way up the ramp.

[TISCHLJ]

I barney load for SS and ltd. That way I don't come up short, or worse, miscount. The barney mag is usually half- 3/4 full.

[Flatland Shooter]

It may be a monkey see, monkey do sort of thing but 90% of the shooters in the squad I normally RO all use the Barney mag procedure. The Revolver and Open shooter are the exceptions.

I shoot almost exclusively in Open and always use a Barney mag. Its the magazine with the letter "B" on it and it never has more than one round in it. And if I pull it out of the gun and that one round is still there, the chamber is empty and I am not ready to start the stage.

For me its about a consistent procedure during LAMR. One less thing to worry about.

Also a quick question for the Production shooters. If you load with a +11 rd magazine and that first round fails to chamber, at the buzzer you've started with 11 rds in the magazine. I assume you are now competing against me in Open, right?

Bill

[JimmyZip]

In open, I use the next to last mag on the belt to Barney (ha, I just made Barney a verb!) and the load the rear-most mag (4 pouches).

In limited, I use the next to last mag on the belt to Barney and the load the rear-most mag (4 pouches).

In L-10, I use the next to last mag on the belt to Barney and the load the rear-most mag (6 pouches).

In production, I use the next to last mag on the belt to Barney and the load the rear-most mag (6 pouches).

In single stack, I Barney from a 7 round mag in my pocket and load from the rear-most mag (6 pouches).

Other than the slight variation in single stack, I do the same thing every time. I learned the hard way that it is a good thing to do the same thing every time. Having 11 in one mag, or downloading another will bite you sooner or later. Ritual at Make Ready is a good thing for the aging mind.

Later,

Chuck

This is solid advice. A good way to just KNOW 'cause it's the same every time. Gonna use this one, thanks.