PRACTICE THE PROPER COMBAT RELOAD
AR-style rifles, carbines, and pistols continue to dominate the market and the training world, reflecting their growing popularity among enthusiasts and professionals alike. Alongside this surge, various methods for handling and maintaining these firearms have gained traction. For example, the C-clamp grip, once considered unconventional or even goofy, is now becoming more widely accepted. At the same time, there is a noticeable trend toward relying on external tools and gadgets to enhance performance and compensate for skill gaps. Accessories like magwell funnels and BAD levers have become common and sought-after upgrades. However, this article will focus specifically on the techniques and best practices for executing a combat reload effectively.
THE FAILURE
Reloading these weapon systems super-fast like a magician performing a sleight-of-hand has become a popular goal, even for the newest of gun owners. Instagram hosts videos where influencers make super-fast reloads and look really cool while shooting at paper. People see these videos and choose to sacrifice safety and reasonable function for speed in their reloads. It is the ultimate flattery that they want to imitate those videos they see because they want to feel that cool. Reloads have morphed into this fad where doing it fast takes priority over things like taking cover or watching the threat. People will stand static and stare at their rifle while reloading. This is a terrible habit to get into if you ask me, and here are a few reasons why:
You are standing static while a threat that, apparently deserves deadly force, is still active. This calls into question whether you are truly under threat or if you are training merely for the paper range.
Staring at your rifle instead of your surroundings and thinking ahead shows a fragmented understanding of how important it is to maintain awareness and how fast the battlespace can shift.
Magazines are in pouches with little to no retention, risking losing your ammunition when running, jumping, shifting positions, etc.
You are intentionally forcing speed on a procedure that you have not fully learned
Let me break this down a little more. People tend to try to go so fast that they end up messing up the process or skipping steps, resulting in them having to take more time to correct their mistake. The crutch of staring at your weapon to reload and “look the magazine into the magwell” is merely a sign of a deficiency in proficiency. How is this going to work for you under night vision or in the pitch black when you have to turn off your white light to conceal your position during a reload? You are practicing reloads and malfunctions while imitating a static paper target. Practice in procedure creates procedural memory, which means you are doing everything in practice to help your enemy when you have a stoppage (reload/malfunction). The logic just is not there.
THE REALITY OF THE COMBAT RELOAD
The principle behind combat reloads is to conduct them fast and get the gun back into the fight. If the empty magazine is NOT retained in a dump pouch, you may find yourself able to reload the rifle in under 3 seconds. But this is of dubious value in my experience.
Let me just say that 3 seconds is a long time in a gun fight where you are trading shots with a living, thinking human. You can get shot more than ten times in less than 3 seconds, with all the rounds hitting beautifully in your center of mass. Think about the standards for a Bill Drill. 6 rounds in the A-zone from 7 yards from the draw in under 3 seconds.
I do not think I need to articulate more reasons why I recommend that you put priority on getting out of the line of fire by first seeking cover. When you are engaged with a threat, 3 seconds is plenty of time for your enemy to move from one point of cover to the next or even close the distance with you. Some say that taking your eyes off the threat for a reload isn't a big deal since you can't do anything about the threat while the gun is down. This is far from true in the real world. Just knowing that your threat is moving can have an enormous impact on what you do when you get your rifle reloaded. Maybe you will even see them pop around cover to engage you. This may save your life and allow you time to get your head down or at least react in a way that doesn't leave you vulnerable.
THE WAY IS IN TRAINING
The root cause of these ridiculous training practices is that people are not thinking about the end goal they are training for. A lot of the tactical training community is tainted by the competition world and it has had dire consequences. For instance, you have reloads being done static and favoring speed over security. In competition, running your gun fast at the expense of security is the name of the game. The idea is to perform within a set of parameters and a set course. In the real world, your enemy is not in a prearranged position and you do not get to do a dry run like in competition.
You must use the concept of backwards planning to find out how you want to train for the real world. Analyse the possible issues you could run into and then brainstorm what would be a good way to counter it without sacrificing security. In this case, if your gun does not work at the moment, due to a stoppage, transition and/or take cover and fix it. Then you implement this concept in your individual drills and practice sessions. Make the process normal and constant while introducing variables in lighting, positions, environment, etc.
A SOLUTION
My recommendation is to conduct your reload in a way that will work every time, no matter the variables involved. The first thing I do when I practice my reloads is to receive a stimulus of my weapon being empty. In my M16 clone, that is a dead trigger. Upon this stimulus, I immediately rush to cover while I quickly analyze the ejection port. If I am practicing to work in a team setting, I will practice saying “STOPPAAAAAAGE” out loud, but to myself (No need to yell in practice, but verbalizing and practicing annunciating and drawing out the words to be heard over gunfire is vital). If it is night time, looking at the ejection port will help nothing unless your magazine followers are glow-in-the-dark. Instead, a quick running of the charging handle will tell you everything you need to know:
- If the rifle is empty, it will make little to no noise when the charging handle is released and will not move whatsoever.
- If the rifle experienced a type 3 malfunction (double feed/stuck case), there will be SOME forward movement of the charging handle that you will feel and it will be followed by a loud thud.
After analyzing your weapon, you can start to process what to do to fix it, but you are not out of the fight yet. You must watch to your left and right for any movement that may indicate a maneuvering enemy. In a team setting, this would be a good time to get a visual on your team and see what is happening (Perhaps they took a casualty right before you had your stoppage, or perhaps your section is in a gaggle and you need to straighten them out. It could also be something simple like your section is moving and you need to perform the corrective action on the move or get left behind).
The corrective action for a combat reload is:
Pull out the empty magazine instead of trusting the magazine to drop free.
I have seen magazines stick in the magwell on the range and in combat.
For myself, I toss the magazine into a dump pouch to preserve it. Ammo isn’t cheap and magazines are not just going to appear out of thin air after you let them go. You are not going to have time to go get these magazines later, either. Keep your feeding mechanisms with you so you can load them later.
Get a dump pouch that has a SOLID rim at the top so it is open all the time and not just a floppy mess you have to feel out with gloves on.
Put the dump pouch on your support side at the 9 ‘0’ clock position instead of behind you.
Access the closest magazine pouch and defeat any retention devices (Velcro flap, bungee cable, etc.). Grab the fresh magazine at the base and pull out of the magazine pouch.
When grabbing a new magazine, it is helpful to have the magazines oriented in the pouches so they are easily grabbed and efficiently loaded (bullets facing down and back).
When you are loading a new magazine, it is helpful to have the rifle in a compressed and muzzle up position.
Use the front of the magazine as an index point to guide the magazine into the magazine well.
After the magazine is seated firmly into the magwell, I use my support hand thumb to press the bolt release.
As soon as you release the bolt, establish a proper grip based on the index points on the rifle.
Do not just rush to the closest and most convenient position. This is vital to making sure you get your hits. Do not skip this step for the sake of gaining a little more speed.
GET REPETITIONS CONSISTENTLY OFTEN
I recommend practicing this reload method often and under several variables. Do the repetitions slow at first until they are boringly easy, and then graduate to doing the repetitions at a pace that allows speed, but also perfect procedure. Do repetitions when you are fresh and when you are tired. Do this when you can see and in pitch black. Do this in the standing, kneeling, and the prone. Do this while moving and even running ad doing 5 meter rushes. Close your eyes and do 6 reloads, two from each position (standing, kneeling, prone). Be versatile in your reps and make sure that you practice often and you practice consistently and often.
CLOSING
I am not offering you THE WAY to reload, but rather sharing A WAY to conduct a consistent reload. No matter what method you use for speed reloads in an emergency, you need to remember that you are fighting a threat that apparently has earned deadly force, which means they could probably shoot back. There are a great many variables that go into it, and it is on you to be mindful of them. Train hard, and train often.