Post 3 – Gun Reloading Skills
Release Date: 4-19-14
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Perspective:
People almost never reload their guns in a real fight. And when they do it’s almost always after the fact, so the reload doesn’t actually influence the outcome. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be able to quickly load our guns. But that’s a fact that I share with students to help give a realistic context to the issue of reloading skills.
Gear Selection:
It should be a goal to equip ourselves with gear that reduces the probability that we run out of solution before we run out of problem. If we have to face a lethal threat, we want to face that threat behind a working gun. Having to shift our focus from the problem to our gun in a life and death altercation can mean death. Violence normally involves a lot of dynamic movement and can turn on tenths of a second. Additionally, survival stress can radically affect the way we perceived and process information, and the way we perform physical skills. Reloading your gun may not seem like a problem on the range. But imagine reloading your gun in the boxing ring during a full force, full speed competitive match. Or imagine having to reload your gun while your head is being slammed repeatedly on a hard surface. The later examples give a better sense of what reloading a gun might be like when even simple skills are hard, and even fast skills are too slow. Our gear, tactics and skills should reduce the need to reload our guns as much as possible.
Second Gun:
Most people can deploy a second gun quicker and with greater confidence then they can reload an empty gun. Assuming of course that the secondary gun is carried in such a way that it can be quickly deployed.
Reloading Skill:
For a weapon with a detachable magazine, bringing the weapon arm elbow into the body with the gun in front of the face pointing roughly 45 degrees to the opposite side does two important things. First, it brings the gun close to the body so it’s easier and more natural to manipulate. Second, it brings the gun in front of the eyes in a way that keeps the eyes facing forward towards the threat. This same method can be used for loading a long gun with a detachable magazine.
Conclusion:
Bottom line, the choices we make before a fight can be the difference between success and failure, between life and death. We should do everything we can to reduce the need to reload in a fight because the need to shift our focus from the threat to our gun, and the time needed to reload, can be that difference between life and death… even if we can quickly load our guns on the range.
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