Magazines - Keep 'Em or Drop 'Em?

Since 06-26-08

A quick question - When has an IPSC style speed load (discarding the magazine) saved anyone in a gunfight?

Not reloading AFTER the gunfight, but during the gunfight. Give me some examples. One time might be interesting, but 100 times would be conclusive.

I'd like to know. My default reload is to retain the magazine. I have studied the other methods as well as the reasons they were taught and I have discarded them as unworkable in a real fight and not necessary. I have stated my reasons before at warriortalk.com.

A Proactive Reload with a pistol is done when the fight appears to be over...NOT DURING THE FIGHT. A Reactive Reload is handled just like a malfunction clearance.

A Proactive Reaload with a rifle is done at distance, behind cover, or while being protected by cover fire. If you run out of ammo in CQB ranges a transition to pistol will be much faster than ANYONE'S reload.

To the guys who want to do it one way in Katrina situationsand another way in a Walmart Lot Gunfight, all I can say is that Murphy loves complexity.

We seem to be guided by an "All or nothing" mentality. What I say is not to drop the magazines as a default. Dropping them as a default is a bad habit, specially if working/operating alone.

The problem also occurs with assuming you always need a speed load when the gun stops running. Or needing to determine the reason the gun stopped functioning, mid-fight, rather than implementing a global fix that takes care of all problems.

The training community has been heavily influenced by cops and spec ops types whose gunfights are almost always pre-planned, and where they not only take the initiative, but also out-number the bad guy and have a ready method of extraction once its done, or if something goes wrong.

If our operating methods as CCW folks included all those dynamics, I would not worry about magazines at all. OTOH, if I was operating alone with only what I had with me, I would want to retain those magazines if I had the option to do so. Many "in extremis" operators tend to agree with me on this.

Proactive - Fight seems over....no one left to shoot...no one shootign at me...sems over. Depleted magazine out of gun and into pocket. Replacement magazine goes into the gun. Slide is worked automatically to insure a loaded chamber. Proactive.

Reactive - Gun stops during the fight. I'm still being fired upon. Could be one of five possibilities. The guys who say they can always tell by feel, I'll tell you what...let me kick you right in the groin, spray you with OC and stun you with a taser so you are in the same mental frame as during a real fight as opposed to a gun game match and then you shoot your gun and tell me what kind of stoppage you have.

Failure to fire, eject, and extract, as well as shooting the gun dry, I treat all of these as stoppages.

Upon realizing a dead trigger - tap rack immediately and try to fire again. If that works - cool. If not, reload the gun. Old mag out - new mag in - run the slide. In THIS CASE, since you are mid fight and the gun needs to be fixed right now, it is acceptable and recommended to pull out and discard the on board magazine.

That is how I run it. I am not interested in IPSC games, times, scores, or any of that stuff. I am not impressed with cleverness, nor with what some current champion did at the last match. I want my gunhandling simple, stress proof, tactically robust and conceptually transferable from one weapon system to another.