One-Shot Reload Drill by Criterion Tactical

[Shorts]

^Some great advice here. Monica, you are totally outside of the box! You rule!

Aw you make me blush. Just doing what I can

 

[SIG_Fiend]

Just doing what I can

^ And that's all you really have to do. Unfortunately it's easy for lots of people to get caught up in the idea of only being able to do certain things because of some outside influence. Whether it be stress "causing fine motor skills to decline" (misconception), or thinking a certain technique is going to spectacularly fail them to the point that they just drop dead (ridiculous), they let it prevent them from seeing what they are really capable of. Probably one of the best quotes of all time on a similar subject:

"Can you imagine what I would do if I could do all I can?" -Sun Tzu

 

[preyn2]

The only rationalizations for racking the slide I've heard have been:

(1) the technique will work with any gun (think: battlefield find and you're not familiar with that particular gun). I don't know that I truly agree with that simply because it seems awfully far-fetched. I've gotten in a gun fight, run my gun and all my reloads dry, still want to fight instead of run like hell, found a dead guy who still had his gun on him...but it's empty...but oh lucky day! he has spare ammo on him...but now I can't figure out how to drop the slide other than by racking the slide...yeah...what are the chances? Honestly. C'mon man...

(2) Instructors in Concealed Handgun Classes teaching (suggesting) the technique because they simply don't have time to teach each and every shooter how to operate their specific weapons on the range, given the variations in guns, hands, finger strength and length, etc. This seems much more plausible to me.

 

[CriterionTactical]

The only rationalizations for racking the slide I've heard have been:

(1) the technique will work with any gun (think: battlefield find and you're not familiar with that particular gun). I don't know that I truly agree with that simply because it seems awfully far-fetched. I've gotten in a gun fight, run my gun and all my reloads dry, still want to fight instead of run like hell, found a dead guy who still had his gun on him...but it's empty...but oh lucky day! he has spare ammo on him...but now I can't figure out how to drop the slide other than by racking the slide...yeah...what are the chances? Honestly. C'mon man...

(2) Instructors in Concealed Handgun Classes teaching (suggesting) the technique because they simply don't have time to teach each and every shooter how to operate their specific weapons on the range, given the variations in guns, hands, finger strength and length, etc. This seems much more plausible to me.

Good rationalizations.......IF instructors are teaching techniques do to time or perhaps inability to provide relevant perspectives on different techniques then shame on them. These shooters will leave believing themselves "trained to the best level" and they are not. Professionals don't skimp....." fly by nighters " and shams are going to get people killed.

 

[SIG_Fiend]

(2) Instructors in Concealed Handgun Classes teaching (suggesting) the technique because they simply don't have time to teach each and every shooter how to operate their specific weapons on the range, given the variations in guns, hands, finger strength and length, etc. This seems much more plausible to me.

And that's an excellent point often missed. Some instructors stick to teaching racking the slide as a matter of uniformity (for the most part) and ease of instruction in a short period of time. Not necessarily because it is "the best" in every way. Paul Howe for example, from what I understand, is a big proponent of teaching the overhand rack. His reasoning is that he, again as far as I understand it, designs many of his classes to be as effective as possible if you "have to go to war tomorrow", or something to that effect. Basically, if a person can only take one class, and if they are going to potentially be in harms way not long afterwards (Mil/LE), keep it simple, give them something that will work and be easiest to pick up in the shortest amount of time. Although I may choose and teach a different way, and I personally teach a different type of student, it's hard to argue with that sort of logic.

I choose to go a different route and like to teach people a handful of different ways, slide release, overhand rack, slingshot and help them understand how to go about choosing what will work best for them.

 

[Tuff]

Instructors are like any other types of people, each do things for different reasons... you have Instructors out there teaching that have never did anything but shoot competitions, instructors that have had limited LE training, instructors that have had time behind a weapon in bad places...each will teach differently, its not a good or bad thing...each one will bring something to the table that is of value. What really gets me is a instructor that thinks his way of doing something is the ONLY way it should be taught, those are the instructors that cheat their students..

 

[Dullandtasteless]

I slingshot for one simple reason... My freakishly short thumb can't reach most slide stops without a grip change. So now readjusting my grip twice has just lost me that .5-1 second advantage the slide stop method saves some people.

 

[bluesboyk3]

nice one !

 

[Grog]

What really gets me is a instructor that thinks his way of doing something is the ONLY way it should be taught, those are the instructors that cheat their students..

This is a wise statement and applies to many things in life. Very often there are many ways to reach a destination, each with benefits and negatives. The 'correct' solution for one person or situation may not be the best choice elsewhere.

Knowing all of the options helps a person make a good decision relative to their conditions.

 

[Tremors]

That's cool. Now I have to start carrying extra magazines.

 

[BRD@66]

On 5/26/13, Sig fiend said: 'With the dozens (probably over 100) of handguns I've shot over the years, and tens of thousands of rounds of ammo, I have never seen a slide release lever or notch in a slide that was worn out or rounded off in such a manner as to cause function problems of the gun."

I've got a gen 2 Glock 32 that sometimes releases the slide when I slap the new mag into the well - not a bad thing - or is it?

 

[pvtsnowball82]

I've got a gen 2 Glock 32 that sometimes releases the slide when I slap the new mag into the well - not a bad thing - or is it?

That is actually a design feature of Glocks and some other polymer guns. You're supposed to be able to insert a fresh mag in a certain way to release the slide as the mag catches. I have not been able to produce this result reliably, however.

 

[SIG_Fiend]

I've got a gen 2 Glock 32 that sometimes releases the slide when I slap the new mag into the well - not a bad thing - or is it?

That sometimes occurs on some guns due to the inertia of slamming the mag in hard, and on polymer frame guns possibly due to a bit of frame flex. What I was speaking to in that quote is the claim that is sometimes made that using the slide release lever to drop the slide might eventually wear away the slide stop lever to where it no longer functions properly, or where the slide stop notch in the slide out to the point the slide no longer locks back. As far as that goes, to date I have never seen a single gun where this has occurred, and I feel that is somewhat of an urban myth.

 

[MPA1988]

Racking the slide is supposed to be a faster and more sure way of getting the support hand on the weapon. This way the support hand is right "there" just slide it into place while extending the arms if it is not doing other things like blocking, pushing, pulling, and etc. at the moment.

Keep in mind it is technique not a matter of strength.

 

[MPA1988]

Also, keep in mind that in a combat situation with your firearm, eject empty mag after last round has been chambered and insert new mag. Slide release is a non-issue.

 

[Gunns0902]

Question, perhaps this will redirect the thread back to the one shot reload thing... I have been known to do some boneheaded things when I get moving on something...Hyper-focus...Kinda the Isaac Newton thing where he would walk away from the table, his companion would eat his food, when he returned he would not remember eating,but seeing the food gone would assume he must have. That describes me from time to time.

So, little story: I'm at the range, I am doing these very drills. But I decide I want to try 5 shots after a couple sets. What do I do, I fire one shot, my wife touches me from behind, and I do exactly what I just trained my hands to do...I drop a mag of 3 rounds on the table.

Now I may be comparing apples to oranges here, but wouldn't it be better to train with a random number of rounds (say 1-3 if you want to conserve ammo).I certainly don't want to do that in a fight.

Thoughts?

 

[Bozz10mm]

Alas, the video is no longer available.