Reloading When You Have Time
Dry-Fire · At Home
Verified clear, dummy rounds or empty magazines. Fifteen reloads with retention: bring a fresh magazine to the gun, remove the partial one, seat the fresh one, and put the partial magazine in a pocket rather than on the ground. Go slowly. This reload happens when there is a pause, so it never needs to be fast.
Live-Fire · At the Range
Twenty rounds at 7 yards. Fire two rounds on card A, reload with retention, and fire two rounds on card B. Keep the partial magazines and use them for the last strings.
Service Pistol
Decide where the partial magazine goes on your belt and put it there every time.
Concealed Carry
If you carry one spare magazine, this reload is how you keep every round you have left.
Carbine
Carbine version: swap the magazine behind cover and stow the partial one in a dump pouch or pocket.
AUX (when ready): a reload with retention and a hit in under five seconds.
Reload when you can, so that you are not forced to reload when you must.
Your Daily Callout — By Archetype
You like the fast reload. This one is worth more because you choose when it happens.
The skill here is recognizing the pause. Look for it.
A full gun is one less thing to worry about while you are moving people.
Keeping track of your ammunition is exactly the kind of planning you are good at.
Layer: do the reload while moving to a second position.
- Treat every firearm as if it is loaded — always, no matter what you think you know.
- Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
- Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target and you have decided to fire.
- Be sure of your target — and everything beyond it.
Dry-fire: no ammunition in the room. Verify the firearm is clear — twice. Use a safe backstop. When you finish, say it out loud: “Dry fire is over.”
The Four Universal Safety Rules
Non-negotiable. Every drill, every rep, every time. This applies to live fire and dry fire.
- Treat every firearm as if it is loaded — always, no matter what you think you know.
- Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
- Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target and you have decided to fire.
- Be sure of your target — and everything beyond it.