Reloading in a Winter Coat
Dry-Fire · At Home
Verified clear, dummy rounds or empty magazines. Put on your winter coat and find your spare magazine through it. Fifteen reloads from wherever the spare actually rides in December. If the coat covers it, practice clearing the coat with your support hand first.
Live-Fire · At the Range
Twenty rounds at 7 yards wearing the coat: two rounds on card A, reload, two rounds on card B. Load the magazines to force the reload.
Service Pistol
A duty jacket over the belt hides your pouches. Find them by feel through the jacket.
Concealed Carry
If your spare is in a coat pocket, it should be the only thing in that pocket and facing the same way every day.
Carbine
Rifle magazines in a coat pocket work well. Put them in the same pocket, facing the same way, every time.
AUX (when ready): a reload through the coat to a hit in under four seconds.
Your summer reload and your winter reload start from different places.
Your Daily Callout — By Archetype
The coat will slow you down. Find out by how much now.
Pay attention to what the coat hides from your hand.
A reload you cannot reach is not a reload.
Assign the spare one location for the winter and leave it there.
Layer: run the reload with the coat zipped.
- 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.