Basics 10: Reloads

There's a effective reload for any modern sidearm.

It is a truism, based on countless interviews from police and survivors of self-defense armed encounters that you seldom know how many rounds you fired.  All knowledgeable instructors teach their students the only answer to the question, “How many rounds did you fire?” is “I don’t know.  I fired until he was stopped.”

 It is also a belief that you never know when the fight is over. 

Many gun fighters in the 1880’s carried several guns, not just because a revolver was slow to reload, but because five rounds goes too fast.  Before transfer bars made it safe, an impact to the hammer could discharge the round under the hammer.  Many took to carrying an empty chamber in that location.  The truth: six rounds didn’t last that much longer.

The expression ‘New York Reload’ came into existence from the NYC officers who simply dropped their empty handgun, including semi-autos, and drew a second or third loaded handgun.

With today’s high capacity magazines, people are tempted not to carry a reload.  Having 15 rounds of 9mm or 10 rounds of .45ACP seems enough for the problems the armed citizen anticipates facing.

Find the fallacy in that sentence, there are two of them.

The first is, “enough for the problems” and the second is “anticipates facing.”  The armed citizen carries because he doesn’t know what to expect and needs to be prepared.

Having a reload is essential. 

A round jams, you need to drop the magazine, or perhaps the mag fails sending the base plate flying and ammo falls out of the gun like raindrops from the sky, or perhaps you’ll shoot the gun dry.

Even belt fed will run out of ammo 

You don’t need a magazine carrier, you can reload from your pocket with a speed strip or magazine.  My instructors told me and I share that wisdom with my students, as soon as the fight is over, when you know it’s safe to do so, reload and bring your weapon back to full capacity because you never really know.

Remember Massad Ayoob’s admonishment:  “Life is dear.  Ammo is cheap. “ 

Carry a second magazine, if not a third.