tire iron blog

14 Days – Day 3

• By tire iron
• 18 March, 2014
• 3 Comments

Almost to P1.

This is the third installment in the 14 Days to be a better shooter series, making this Day 3.  Day 3 will be how to draw your handgun from the holster and how/when to perform Speed Reloads and Tactical Reloads.  We will also cover Speed Reloads and Tactical Reloads with the AR/M4 pattern rifles and the AK.

Drawing the handgun – 14 Days, day 3

The Day 3 draw sequence is pretty much the same in principle no matter what holster you wear or where you wear it.  In essence the draw sequence is getting the gun safely from the holster and pointed at the target with the minimum fuss and movement.  In the accompanying Day 3 video I use a belt holster that is outside of my waistband with with a tucked in shirt.  We will practice drawing from concealment at a later date.  I want you to get the “regular” draw stroke down before we introduce jackets and hoodies.

If you clap your hands together, about belly button height or slightly higher, you will find the perfect place to put your non-gun hand while it waits for the other hand to bring the handgun to it.  Since you have been clapping for years, your body knows that place where the hands meet.  We want to tap into that to accelerate the learning process.  For the sake of this article, you will be right handed, and your handgun will be on your right hip.

There are two simultaneous movements upon hearing or seeing something that will result in you drawing your handgun.  That may be a gunshot, or the beep of a shooting timer, or your instructors voice yelling “bad guy”, et al that will prompt you to draw your handgun.  The first half of that simultaneous movement will be your left hand/arm to quit doing what it was doing and to go to that “clap” position and wait for the right hand to bring the handgun to it.

At the same time, your right hand will reach for the handgun, grasp the handgun in a firm firing grip, jerk it up and out of the holster, and bring it to the waiting left hand. (All the while your firing finger will be along side the frame of the handgun.  Your finger does NOT go into the trigger guard until you are ready to shoot.)  While moment your right hand grabs the handgun in a firing grip, and the left hand is waiting at the “clap point”, your are at Position 1.

Keep the muzzle pointed at the Target throughout the draw stroke

In keeping with the idea that “sweeping is bad” (remember “sweeping” is when your muzzle is pointed at any part of you or anyone else that you don’t want to shoot), care must be taken to ensure you don’t sweep your left hand when you bring the right hand (with handgun) to it.  You do this safely by pointing the gun at your target from the moment you “clear leather” (or Kydex in my case!).  By keeping the handgun pointed in the direction you want to fire, when your right hand brings the handgun to the left hand, the muzzle will not sweep your left hand.

Hand finds hand

The most natural part of the draw is your right hand meeting your left hand in the center of your body (the clap point).  At this point your left hand should automatically morph into the other half of the firing grip.  In other words, you now have your perfect two handed firing grip with the gun at the center line of your body, the muzzle pointed at the target, and both hands in control of the handgun.  This is Position 2.

Out to the Target

The shortest way between two points is a straight line.  Position 2 is very close to your body.  Position 3 is out in front of you where you actually pull the trigger the vast majority of the time.  Move from Position 2 to Position 3 along the shortest path, which would be a straight line from P2 to P3.

The draw stroke is complete when your handgun is out at P3.  You now have your handgun pointed at the target in your best firing grip, with your arms extended as far as you extend them when you are shooting.  In other words, you are ready to shoot.

Practice in front of a mirror to ensure you are twisting or contorting your body as you draw.  Try and perform this with as little movement as possible.

Practice Draws at least 100 times.

A note about re-holstering.  Don’t be in a hurry to re-holster.  You won’t be re-holstering until there is absolutely no threat.  You can look at your holster when you re-holster.  There are no prizes given out for being the fastest “re-holsterer” on the planet. There have been plenty of guys that have had an ND (negligent discharge) while reholstering due to some part of their clothes getting caught in the trigger and setting the gun off.  Go ahead and LOOK at your holster when re-holstering.

Speed Reloads – Handgun – Day 3

Remember Day 1 and 2 we worked on Loading and Unloading?  Day 3 starts Reloading.  Reloading is all the reloads you perform after you initially load, and before you unload.  There are two types of reloads, Speed and Tactical.

Lets first discuss Speed Reloads.  As the name implies, this reload is done FAST.  It is performed when you are under fire. It is reloading while under duress. Your handgun has been shot dry (no ammo in the magazine or chamber).  You need to get ammo into your handgun as quickly as possible.  This is done by ejecting the empty from the handgun with your right hand, and simultaneously with your left hand reaching for a full magazine.  Once your left hand has grabbed a magazine, hand finds hand.  Then just like our load sequence, “attack the magazine” and “attack the slide”.  You are now back in business and up and running.

You should also practice dropping the slide with your right thumb too.  Remember, we train for the worst of circumstances, so train like your left hand can’t be used to drop the slide.  We will do dedicated one handed firearm manipulations later, but for now I want you to add dropping the slide with your right hand in addition to using your left hand.  Perform 20 times.

Tactical Reloads – Handgun – Day 3

Tactical Reloads are reloads that you perform when NOT under duress.  The initial gunfight is over as far as you are aware.  You have NO IDEA how many rounds you have left in your handgun – and you always want your handgun to be in fully loaded capacity. Maybe you had some action in a room or a building and you need to now go across the street, or the next floor, or whatever.  Before you leave your position of relative safety and cover, you want to ensure your firearm is completely loaded with a fresh magazine.

There are two recognized ways of performing a Tactical Reload – one way keeps the handgun “magazine-less” the least amount of time, the other way gives better control of the magazines in your hand.  The very first thing you should do is chamber check your handgun to ensure you have one in the chamber.

The first method of the Tac Reload is to grab a full magazine with your left hand, and then bring that loaded magazine to the handgun.  Once your left hand (with full magazine) is at the gun, you eject the partial magazine into your left hand.  You either hang onto it with your left hand while you are stuffing the fresh magazine into the gun, or you can put it under your right little finger like we do when we UNLOAD for the day.  I have seen people drop one or both magazines when performing these under stress/duress (in training).  It is possible through training and practice to get good enough where the odds of dropping a mag are small, but those odds will never reach zero.

The other way is to take the partial magazine with your left hand as it leaves the gun and reaches for a full magazine.  In other words, your left hand must leave the gun to reach for a full mag.  It might as well take the partial magazine with it and either put the magazine in a pocket or dump pouch prior to grabbing a fresh mag.   Then the left hand grabs a fresh mag and stuffs it firmly into the mag well. This has, by far the lowest chance of dropping or fumbling a magazine, however the gun is without a magazine of any type (partial or full) for a longer duration than the first method of Tac Reloading.  Perform 20 times.

Bottom line – practice both and figure out which way you want to go with.  (I do both – but if I *had* to choose, I would probably choose the second way.)

Speed Reloading AR15/M4/M16 series rifles

Speed Reloads for the AR would be performed under the same circumstances as Speed Reloads for a handgun.  Under stress/duress.  In other words, during a gunfight.  The Speed Reload would be performed when the bolt is locked to the rear.  If you shoot your AR enough, you will know when the bolt is locked to the rear, you will feel it.  If you can’t feel it, shoot more.

From bolt lock, you will depress the magazine release.  I always bring my non-firing hand down to the where the magazine would be if it is stuck in the mag well.  Remember we want to train for WORST case scenario.  Having the magazine stuck in the mag well counts as “other than best case scenario”.  So I always bring my hand by there so I can rip it out if it is stuck.  If it is already gone – then my hand moves to get a fresh mag.  Once a fresh mag has been secured, bring it up and stuff it in the mag well with a “push/pull”.  The pull is to ensure you have it firmly seated.  After you have verified it is seated, use your left thumb or the heal of your thumb to depress the bolt catch, which will send the bolt forward, chambering a round.  That completes the Speed Reload for the AR series of long arms.  Practice this 20 times.

Tactical Reloading AR15/M4/M16 series rifles

Again, the circumstances of Tactical Reloading are all the same.  The firefight is over, and either your day or the mission is not.  You want to continue on with your day/mission with a FULLY loaded long arm.  This is when you would perform a Tactical Reload.

First order of business is to do a chamber check.  You want to make sure you have a round in the chamber.

As with the handgun, there is two ways to do the Tactical Reload.  The first way is to grab a fresh mag with your left hand, and then eject the partial into your left hand (along with the fresh mag).  Then insert the fresh mag, do a “push/pull” to ensure it is seated, then put the partial mag in your dump pouch.  Fumble factor is higher than I like doing it this way, but the gun is without a magazine for the least amount of time.

Second way is when your left hand is moving to grab a fresh mag, have it take the partial with it and stow it in your dump pouch, thus freeing up your hand to have total control over the fresh mag.  Stuff the fresh mag in the well, do a “push/pull” and carry on.  Practice each way 20 times – then if you want you can choose which way to do it from now on.

Speed Reload – AK series

OK – remember Speed Reloads are performed under the stress of a gunfight.  With the AK, you can grab a fresh mag and then with your left thumb (while holding the fresh mag with your left fingers) actuate the magazine release lever which will allow the mag in the gun to drop free.  Then rock the fresh mag into place and work the bolt to chamber a round.  Do 20 times.

Tactical Reload – AK series

Tactical Reload = after the fight.  First order of business is to chamber check.  Two ways to do this, same basic principles as the AR series (and even handguns).  First way is to grab a fresh magazine.  Then with your left fingers and thumb take the partial out of the gun (all while holding the fresh mag in the left hand too), then adjust your hand slightly to be able to rock the fresh mag into place.  Then place the partial in your dump pouch.  Fumble factor is high when under stress at night when hands are cold, wet and muddy.

Second way is, since your left hand has to go to your rig to get a fresh mag, have it take the partial and put it in your dump pouch.  Then grab the fresh magazine with your completely free left hand, rock and lock the magazine in the rifle and carry on.  Perform 20 times each, and may choose which one to stick with.

Nearly every other magazine fed long arm in the world can be Speed and Tactical Reloaded like the AR or the AK.  The principles are all the same.

If you have any questions or comments, please ask them below!

Here is the video that accompanies this article.

cheers

tire iron