Tactical Reloads: The Whens and Whys

[Vanguard.45]

There is often a great deal of discussion/ training regarding the "HOWS" of Tactical Reloads, but rarely a thorough consideration of the "WHENS" and "WHYS" of tactical reloads. Of course, the whens and whys are often intimately connected when it comes to a gunfight scenario.

I have often heard that tactical reloads should be done when there is some sort of "lull" in the gunfight. To be honest, I find this thinking questionable, unless one can tell me exactly when the other side will begin to re-engage and once again attempt to shoot me before I shoot them. There are no "time outs" allowed.

From my perspective, the one necessity of tactical reloads is cover/ concealment, as one never wants to be out in the open with their jimmy swinging in the wind with a gun that is being "tactically" reloaded. There is nothing "tactical" about that at all, and if one is going to be performing a "tactical reload," one must not forget the "tactical" part of the maneuver.

As to the whens/ whys, I believe there are only two times a tactical reload is indeed necessary/ advisable. First, before I move myself from one place of cover to a more advantageous place of cover, I want to make sure I have a fully loaded weapon so I can, if necessary, put rounds toward the bad man in order to keep their heads down (especially if I have no one else to offer me covering fire while I am moving place to place). And second, if a colleague is needing to move from cover to cover, I want to top off my weapon before giving them the go-ahead to move (see "jimmy swinging in the wind" above).

I hope this gives some clarification, at least from my perspective, as to the possible rationally justifiable uses for a tactical reload. Feel free to share your thoughts.

And one more thing: As to the "HOW" of the maneuver, I find it much nicer to have the magazine just drop to the floor and get the gun reloaded as quickly as possible rather than trying to retain one and hold two mags in one hand while trying to insert the fresh mag. It takes longer and the longer I have an unloaded weapon, the more danger I am in. Once my gun is back to full capacity, I can just pick up the magazine I dropped with the couple of rounds in it and then put it in my pocket/ pouch. And I can do this knowing I have a fully loaded weapon in my hand.

Vanguard.45

 

[Decoy80]

As you cant pick the location, conditions , number of bad guys carry all the magazines you can afford to carry. Whether the number is dictated by finances or your capability. If you survive then you can pick up magazines you let drop running out may cause you to no longer need the gun either. Btw I have never heard of anyone having been in a firefight compaining about having too many loaded magazines. Faiure to fire is not acceptable for sure. The reason of the ftf is not going to matter. Call it tactical or just necessity give your best move as running dry is worse than any other ftf. I hope to never be in a situation to need my friends who are always with me. If we knew trouble was down the street we would make a u turn and avoid it.

 

[Deaf Smith]

What a "lull" is in a gunfight is what one thinks, or hopes, to be a slowdown is not complete cessation of hostilities. Everyone has stoped firing, there is no movement by one's adversaries, so one sees an opportunity to top off ones magazine by substitution of the mags while keeping the partially spent one for further use.

Now no one has a crystal ball so it's a bit of a gamble. But that is what it's all about. It's at its best when you have a limited amount of ammo. Say an eight shot auto and a spare mag. If one only has a full spare and half spent mag in the gun one is wise not to just dump the mag on the ground, risking the loss of precious ammo.

Deaf

 

[Decoy80]

Yes the lack of loaded magazines would not be favorable to your interest at all. Having more friends with you is important. Id say if all went your way one bullet per bad guy would be plenty. Practice is necessary to act without the need to contemplate. Raising your hand and asking for a timeout to go get more ammo , I never thought of that as an option but nowdays we dont fight wars to kill our enemies or try to win. Its all about doing the same things expecting different results.

 

[shafter]

A tactical mag change doesn't involve dropping a partial on the ground. It is completely different from a mag change when you run dry.

 

[Sam1911]

There might be a lot more thought put into this than it really warrants. It is a good thing to practice and understand but thinking about analyzing whether you're in a lull or a pause or a halt and whether you should pocket the partial mag before you insert the new one or do a full tac load .... Whew. Just reload when you get a chance.

A tac reload is great if that's what you practice and you're smooth with it.

The most practical reason I've seen for deep contemplation of the issue was in competition where there are stage requirements or game benefits for doing it a specific way.

 

[Dog Soldier]

Has there been a recent extended armed confrontation where civilians were involved? Some studies show that from 1860 until the 1990s only an average of 6 rounds were expended by police. After the adoption of semi-auto weapons the average is now 8 rounds. The average rises as police tend to fire all their rounds during an armed confrontation. The new double stacks may hold rounds numbering in the teens.

 

[jmorris]

While I have done hundreds while playing IDPA in real life I imagine I would think about doing one sometime after I dialed 911, or in other words after the fight is over.

 

[azrocks]

While I have done hundreds while playing IDPA in real life I imagine I would think about doing one sometime after I dialed 911, or in other words after the fight is over.

I think you're selling yourself short. My belief is that, under extreme stress, you're going to do what you've done most in similar situations. In your case, I bet you'd perform a tactical reload just like you practice & use in competition. You might perform it at a completely inappropriate time, or while standing out in the open, or maybe with an empty mag that never needed to be retained, but I bet you'd perform the reload just fine

 

[Sam1911]

Just for clarity, is everyone using the same definitions of "tactical reload"?

My way of seeing it goes like this (and comes mostly out of IDPA's definitions, more or less):

1) Emergency reload: Hit the button, let the mag fall, slam in the new one. Usually done at slide lock. Fast. Habitual.

2) Reload, retaining the mag: Hit the button, pull the mag and stick it in your pocket, grab a fresh mag and slam it home. Usually not done at slide lock, unless you forget or you don't want to lose your empty mag. Slowest, but least fumble-prone way of keeping your unspent rounds handy. Leaves the gun with only one round it in while you go get your replacement mag.

3) Tactical reload: Grab your new magazine between two fingers, bring it up to the gun, dump the old mag into the same hand and grab it tightly, slide the new mag in, and then stow the removed mag in your pocket. Least time passes with only one round in the gun, but you've still got to get that other mag stowed before you can get two hands on the gun again...and this is not very hard to fumble-finger under stress. Even seen some guys accidentally reinsert the same mag they just removed, since now there are two in their hand...might have been that guy a time or two..

 

[Corpral_Agarn]

To me a 'lull' is just what Deaf described. No one is shooting or moving but you are not out of the woods yet.

I am in the "if it ain't broke; don't fix it camp" when it comes to reloads.
I will not be doing one unless there is
A) some one covering me and we are moving soon
and/or
B) No one is moving or shooting and I am pretty sure I shot enough rounds to warrant a top off.

My preferred method is to remove the mag from the pistol, stuff it into the front waist band of pants, grab fresh mag from pouch, insert into the pistol. To me it is more about efficiency and not fumbling mags than speed.

My hand has to go down to stow the partial depleted mag anyway and my hand has to retrieve a loaded mag. I figure do both actions in the same motion.

I think that there is benefit in practicing the 'tactical reload' but it is less than practicing the sphincter tightening 'oh-my-God-I-am-out-of-bullets' reload and/or getting the heck out of Dodge.

 

[Hangingrock]

The tactical reload concept was put forth by Jeff Cooper's writings in the time frame of 1960/1962 or there about. I don't know if he was the originator of the concept other than acknowledging it thru his writings. I really don't know the necessity of it other than law enforcement and military applications. For citizen involved shooting incidents there isn't a really good data base that I know of but then others may.

The Armed Citizen column in the official NRA publications, the shooting incidents are gathered from news reports without details just a general summation. The devil is in the details.

Tom Givens in his book (Fighting Smarter A Practical Guide For Surviving Violent Confrontations) is an enlightening read.

If you as a private citizen have as an example a Glock G17 or S&W MP9 with (17) round capacity magazine and require a reload or tactical reload with a second magazine that would be an exceptional event indeed.

 

[Vanguard.45]

The tactical reload concept was put forth by Jeff Cooper's writings in the time frame of 1960/1962 or there about. I don't know if he was the originator of the concept other than acknowledging it thru his writings. I really don't know the necessity of it other than law enforcement and military applications. For citizen involved shooting incidents there isn't a really good data base that I know of but then others may.

The Armed Citizen column in the official NRA publications, the shooting incidents are gathered from news reports without details just a general summation. The devil is in the details.

Tom Givens in his book (Fighting Smarter A Practical Guide For Surviving Violent Confrontations) is an enlightening read.

If you as a private citizen have as an example a Glock G17 or S&W MP9 with (17) round capacity magazine and require a reload or tactical reload with a second magazine that would be an exceptional event indeed.

There can be no doubt that most citizens will never engage in prolonged gun battles (we can hope). I guess I should have prefaced the post with the fact that such matters are typically only of potential relevance to military and law enforcement personnel. However, I guess it is better to think of it now rather than one day find oneself in a protracted engagement and then wish one had considered it sooner!

 

[JohnKSa]

I have often heard that tactical reloads should be done when there is some sort of "lull" in the gunfight. To be honest, I find this thinking questionable, unless one can tell me exactly when the other side will begin to re-engage and once again attempt to shoot me before I shoot them. There are no "time outs" allowed.

Yup. People train long and hard to keep their guns running in a gunfight and yet some still think it's a good idea to unload a gun that's functioning just fine in the middle of one.

If your gun is working, leave it alone. If it stops working, get it working again as soon as you can. If you get into a situation where you feel safe enough to turn your working gun into a non-working gun by unloading it, then maybe you should be using that time to get away instead of reloading a gun that doesn't actually need to be reloaded.

Is there EVER a time when doing a "tactical" reload might be a worthwhile action? Maybe. Is there EVER a time when you would want to do one "on the clock"? Not unless you think it's a good idea to voluntarily unload a working gun "on the clock".

And one more thing: As to the "HOW" of the maneuver, I find it much nicer to have the magazine just drop to the floor and get the gun reloaded as quickly as possible rather than trying to retain one and hold two mags in one hand while trying to insert the fresh mag. It takes longer and the longer I have an unloaded weapon, the more danger I am in. Once my gun is back to full capacity, I can just pick up the magazine I dropped with the couple of rounds in it and then put it in my pocket/ pouch. And I can do this knowing I have a fully loaded weapon in my hand.

Exactly. If you really need to reload "on the clock" then you need to reload the fastest, simplest, most foolproof way you know how to reload. The time that the gun is not working needs to be minimized because if you're using a gun to save your life you want to minimize the time that the gun is not actively engaged in saving your life.

But what if the magazine falls in a puddle? Better to have a muddy magazine than to be shot while holding two loaded magazines in one hand and an empty gun in the other that wouldn't have been empty if you hadn't decided to take a break and unload your gun in the middle of a gunfight.

What if I get surprised and don't have time to pick up the mag? Better than being surprised while holding two loaded magazines in one hand and an empty gun in the other that wouldn't have been empty if you hadn't decided to take a break and unload your gun in the middle of a gunfight.

Better yet, if it's critical to keep a mag because it still has rounds in it, leave it in the gun where it can actually be of use.

 

[herrwalther]

Even in military gun fights, tactical reloads are seldom performed. Most soldiers will just fire until they are dry, then reload. There are instances where a tactical reload is prudent, such as in a lull of shooting. Or when it is SAFE to do so. In some situations, there will be no period where the shooting stops or movement is not occurring. As mentioned, there are no time outs. If time does not permit a tactical reload, make time. To do this, you must have fire superiority or something to distract the situation. Just a few seconds will give you the time needed to accomplish the reload task.

For civilians, of all things to practice at the range a tactical reload is pretty low on the list of priorities.

 

[shafter]

If you're going to do a tactical reload, do it right because it means the threat is likely still active. Keep your firearm presented towards the threat so you're ready to engage at any point. Reach with your weak hand and grab a fresh magazine from your pouch/pocket. While continuing to keep your firearm ready drop the partial into your hand while at the same time inserting the fresh mag. Place the partial in a pocket and then return to a two handed grip. With practice this should be a blur of movement and your gun is never out of the fight. You probably won't ever need it but it's cheap practice you can do at home.

 

[jmorris]

I think you're selling yourself short. My belief is that, under extreme stress, you're going to do what you've done most in similar situations. In your case, Ibet you'd perform a tactical reload just like you practice & use in competition.

Yeah, I don't think that's going to happen, I also doubt I will double check to make sure my magazines are downloaded correctly. I suppose I have always though pistols were fun and something easy to have with you. Never viewed them as an offensive weapon, like always used in gungames, rather something that might work well enough while you are on your way to something better or out of trouble.

 

[Vanguard.45]

A tactical mag change doesn't involve dropping a partial on the ground. It is completely different from a mag change when you run dry.

I believe the best way to do a tactical mag change is to let the partial drop free and get the fresh one in the gun faster. Then, if you have time, pick up the partial with a fully loaded pistol in hand while you're doing it. It just seems more tactically sound than juggling mags in one hand.

 

[JohnKSa]

I believe the same thing. So did Louis Awerbuck based on his common sense comments from the May 2012 issue of SWAT's Training and Tactics Column stand in stark contrast.

"The <speed reload> means you need more fodder in the weapon right now, whereas the tactical reload is supposedly performed when the mythical Lull puts in his royal appearance in the middle of a confrontation.
...
Get the damn weapon reloaded as the priority. You can always salvage the previously utilized half-empty magazine or remaining cartridges as a secondary objective."

He also makes the point that "...in a gunfight, unless you’re using a single-shot firearm, you don’t know in advance when you’re going to be reloading ... you will lose track of rounds fired. For a variety of reasons...the ability to count fired rounds goes out the proverbial window."

In my opinion, if IDPA hadn't hit upon the "tactical reload" as one way to prove how really different they were from USPSA and IPSC nobody would be talking about it at all.

I've always been troubled by the idea of taking a firearm out of the fight during the "mythical lull" to reload a gun that doesn't really need to be reloaded and then, on top of that, to intentionally reload in a way that takes longer than is actually required.

Justifying such a thing requires that there is a threat and simultaneously that there is no threat.

If there's no threat then it doesn't matter how one reloads. If there is a threat then one needs to reload as rapidly as possible and dropping a partially loaded mag is of no consequence.

It's only when there is a threat and there is no threat simultaneously that it makes sense to keep the partially loaded mag (because of the threat) and take longer than you need doing the reload (because there is no threat).

 

[Deaf Smith]

I think some of you guys don't know how to do a tac load right. You get the spare mag out FIRST so to a) make sure there is a spare and b) to get it as close to the gun as you can before the reload. Then the swap can be made very quick while one's eyes scan for threats. After that one either puts the mag back into the magazine carrier or just drop it into a pocket.

Just that simple. Practice it often on the range.

Deaf

 

[JohnKSa]

The reload starts when a proper two-handed grip on the gun is lost by removing the support hand and ends when it's back on the gun in the proper grip. From that starting point to that ending point, the defender's ability to respond is compromised to one extent or another.

If we can agree on a some very simple facts, then we can also agree that the fact that a tactical reload can be done quickly is irrelevant.

Fact 1: Performing unnecessary actions in a gunfight is highly undesirable.

Fact 2: Performing a necessary action in a gunfight but performing it more slowly and in a more complicated way than is necessary is highly undesirable.

Fact 3: Loaded guns don't need to be reloaded to be of use in a gunfight.

So let's start with the assumption that the gun is loaded. Fact 3 says that reloading it is not necessary and Fact 1 says it is highly undesirable to perform unnecessary actions in a gunfight. That's true no matter how fast these unnecessary actions can be done. So if the gun is loaded, how fast you can reload it is irrelevant.

That's one possibility. Now let's assume the gun does need to be reloaded. If the gun needs to be reloaded in a gunfight then Fact 2 says we need to do it as fast as possible. A reload performed as fast as possible is not a description of a "tactical reload", no matter how fast it can be performed. That's because leaving out the extra steps required to perform a tac reload would allow us to complete the reload more quickly and the gun will be back in business more rapidly. So if the gun needs to be reloaded then how fast you can perform a tac reload is irrelevant because that would be a highly undesirable method for performing a reload.

That covers all the bases and in no case was relevant how fast a tac reload could be performed in a gunfight.

What it comes down to is that unless an immediate threat both exists and doesn't exist, it's not possible to justify doing a tactical reload. Only if there is both an immediate threat and no immediate threat does it make sense to keep the partially loaded mag (because of the immediate threat) and to take longer than you need doing the reload (because there is no immediate threat).

 

[shafter]

I believe the best way to do a tactical mag change is to let the partial drop free and get the fresh one in the gun faster. Then, if you have time, pick up the partial with a fully loaded pistol in hand while you're doing it. It just seems more tactically sound than juggling mags in one hand.

I respectfully disagree for the following reasons. First is that if the bad guy is still on his feet and shooting it wouldn't make sense to stop shooting yourself as long as you have any rounds left in your gun. Run the gun dry then worry about reloading. I think we both agree on that.

If for whatever reason the bad guy goes behind cover, or is down but you can't confirm if he's still a threat, you want to keep him covered with your pistol and 2,3,4, or however many rounds are left in your mag and minimize the amount of time you're standing there with only the one round that's in the chamber. Reaching for the spare first enables this. I don't really want to be fumbling around on the ground for a mag if there is still an active threat.

Ultimately this only applies if and when I think a tactical reload is necessary. If I'm carrying multiple mags I might not even bother. I might just drop the mag and forget it if I feel I have enough ammo finish the fight without it.

Give it a shot. It shouldn't add any appreciable time to the reload with a little practice.

 

[strambo]

I'm with John, if it wasn't for IDPA nobody would even be talking about "tactical reloads." It only has a needed place in military or LE MOUT/CQB IMO. Lots of "lulls" in those fights with separate rooms and buildings as cover and teammates pulling security. If you just fired rounds in a room, makes sense to do a "tac reload" as you stack up before choosing to enter the next one.

In a civilian setting, I've always thought of the "lull" as when I think the gunfight is all over, I've either neutralized the threats I'm aware of or left the area. At that time, makes sense to top off the gun just in case.

Since I only carry 1 spare mag, I don't stick the partial in a hard to reload from pocket, I just put it into the (otherwise empty) mag pouch. (Egads! Failure to do right!!!")

 

[GRIZ22]

The concept of a tactical reload is not new. I learned it from a 1st Infantry Division WW2 vet almost 50 years ago. He started doing this in North Africa. What he taught me still holds true.

1. You do it from a position of cover.
2. You do it during a lull in combat.
3. You save the ammo you unload from the gun. Hard to do with a Garand. Better you lose this ammo and have a full gun though.
4. You always do it before you move.
5. You always do it when you think the fight is over.

IIRC, Cooper was a fan of tactical reloads. I never attended Gunsite bit I've read if you fired until slide lock, you owed the class a round of beers at the end of the training day.

I encouraged this when I was the chief instructor for the office before I retired. Most qual courses are designed around multiples of 6 to accommodate revolvers. I encouraged tactical reloads during the qual course. It gave everyone more practice. If you learn how to do a tactical reload well, a combat reload (from slide lock) is easy.

I carry both a speed loader and 2x2 pouch or speed strip when I carry a revolver. Speed loader for full reloads, strip or 2x2 for partial or tactical reloads.

You will lose count of rounds fired in a fight. I knew guys in Vietnam who would load several rounds of tracer first in the magazine. When they saw the tracer going down range they knew it was time to reload.

I did some training with Germans some time ago. I commented I didn't like the fact the G3 didn't lock the bolt back on the last round. The German soldier told me it's not an issue as they always load magazines with tracer the last few rounds.

True, most SD shootings are over within a few rounds. Adding to your skill set doesn't hurt. The concept of tactical reloading has been around for some time.

 

[Jeff White]

It only has a needed place in military or LE MOUT/CQB IMO. Lots of "lulls" in those fights with separate rooms and buildings as cover and teammates pulling security. If you just fired rounds in a room, makes sense to do a "tac reload" as you stack up before choosing to enter the next one.

I agree with this 100%. While it's not a bad skill to have, training to do it will help your weapon handling skills, I see little use for it in a typical self defense encounter.

I never attended Gunsite bit I've read if you fired until slide lock, you owed the class a round of beers at the end of the training day.

The late Pat Rogers used to teach that you never holstered a partially loaded weapon. I think that is more appropriate for the armed citizen then teaching a tactical reload in the "lull in the action". There are plenty of "lulls in the action" on the range where you can take the opportunity to reload.

You will lose count of rounds fired in a fight. I knew guys in Vietnam who would load several rounds of tracer first in the magazine. When they saw the tracer going down range they knew it was time to reload.

I was in a unit where the TAC SOP said that squad and team leaders were to load the 3 tracers at the bottom of the magazine to tell you when to reload, one tracer halfway through the magazine and the first 5 rounds as tracer to direct fire with. I don't know if they ever loaded their magazines that way in practice, but that's what the SOP called for.