One-Handed Reloading

There are basically two types of reloads in a combat situation: Tactical Reload, and Emergency Reload. A tactical reload is when a shooter has been forced to use a firearm and now they wish to top it off while out of harms way, in case there are additional threats. When an officer performs a tactical reload, they are not under shooting pressure. They are “topping off” their firearm after shooting.

A tactical reload consists of picking up a full magazine and “hovering” it underneath the magazine well of a gun, dropping the questionable magazine into the hand, and inserting a fresh one into the well, using the same hand.

An emergency reload is considered a malfunction because the gun does not fire when the shooter presses the trigger.

An emergency reload is cleared by bringing the gun up, dropping the magazine, inserting a fresh magazine, and dropping the slide into battery. Some instructors will teach officers to continue to look at the threat while they are reloading, others instruct to look at the gun. I instruct to keep the gun within the periphery and do what is natural.

Some shooters will point out that there is a third reload, called a speed reload. Some use these terms interchangeably, so I will define what I mean. A speed reload is an emergency reload that is performed when there are still cartridges in the magazine, and the slide has not locked back. It is done when the ammo situation may be critical, and the shooter does not let the gun run dry.

I don’t make a training distinction between a speed reload and any other reload. If the emergency reload is treated as a malfunction, and the speed reload is treated as any other reload, which gives them fewer concepts to learn.

While my firearms instructor friends tell me I will get some pushback on this, I don’t teach tactical reload. That is, even if the fight is over, I do not teach holding two magazines in the hand at the same time. I don’t have a problem with dumping a magazine in the hand and putting it back on the belt (reloading with retention), as long as the basic motions include bringing the gun up and dropping the magazine, like an emergency reload.

If one hand is incapacitated, the Officer will need to reload one-handed. Incapacitated doesn’t necessarily mean injured, it just means it cannot be used at the time.

The one-handed reload is slightly different, and there are simple ways to train it. First, we should try to use a method that incapacitates one hand, but still allows the shooter other capabilities, like maintaining their balance, or catching themselves when they fall.

I use a handball and an ace bandage. I hold the handball, and have someone wrap an ace bandage around it. There are several similar techniques one can use, like having the shooter hold a kettlebell or a briefcase, placing the arm in a sling, or placing the arm in a splint.

Reloading one-handed, shooting, or “strong” side

Reloading one-handed isn’t complicated. The shooter fires until slide lock, where the slide stays open because of an empty magazine, and drops the magazine. Most magazines will fall free without coaxing. If your magazine does not fall free during training, shake it out. Once the magazine is free, holster the gun, with the slide still locked back, if possible. Draw a full magazine from the belt and insert it. Drop the slide. Assess the target. Shoot, as necessary.

If the slide is not back, it has to be racked. When we train this, we teach to run the back sight against the holster body, or the belt. If the officer is kneeling, we train to run it against the heel of the boot.

Reloading one-handed, support side

In the case of the support side, the activities are similar. In the past we taught Officers to stick the gun in the holster backwards after dumping the empty magazine, and shoving in a fresh one.

This practice has to be assessed on an individual basis, depending on the combination of equipment. You see, we discovered that when we reversed some guns in some holsters, they were impossibly stuck. In other cases, guns are equipped with dedicated lights and optics, which don’t fit in the holster backwards. Adding lights and optics are a great practice, but many holsters won’t accept the enhanced gun spun around.

Instead of sticking it in the holster, the obvious choice is to tuck the gun under the arm, if the injury to the hand allows it. If that’s not an option, we train to kneel, and pinch it behind the bent knee, or lock it between the thighs.

Practice

A general rule of thumb on a range is to insure no persons or body parts are forward of the business end of a gun when training. On law enforcement training ranges, a holstered, fully loaded gun, is considered “safe.” However, the moment it comes out of the holster, the muzzle has to be pointed downrange, and anything a responsible human is not willing to destroy cannot be between the muzzle and downrange.

It is impossible to tuck a gun under the arm, pinch a gun behind a bent knee, pin it between the thighs, or place a gun in a holster backwards, and adhere to the rules of basic safety. Having said that, dry firing this training can only take the skillset so far. Eventually, all firearms skills have to be trained using real bullets.

I dry fire a lot. I recommend that Officers practice firearms kata at about a 80% rate or better. That is, 80% of shooting training should be dry fire, 20% should be trigger time. This means one can practice this skill, but sooner or later, bullets have to hit targets.

How do we do this? Well, first, the instructor/shooter or coach/shooter ratio for this perishable skill must go to 1:1. Range instructions need to include specific safety briefings. The shooter must do the dry fire drill several times slowly, then work at a snails pace with real bullets.

Knee pads, uniform vests, and electronic muffs, or hearing protection that allow Officers to clearly hear range commands are mandatory.

When the gun is placed behind the knee for a reload, it is best to learn it in a manner where the gun is not pointing at the other leg. The most common way to do this is to kneel with only the shooting side knee down.

Advantage Optics

A few years back, several well known gun experts were insisting that the back sights of working handguns should be designed to hook on the belt better than the slanted stye sights. My friend Rob Pincus designed the I.C.E. Claw, a sight system with a milled concave “hook” in the front, which improves its ability to hook on a belt, or the holster. They turned out to be pretty good sights, and this is a great idea

Suppressor height sights also work. The latest ones, like my XS Sights Suppressor Height Sights work well at racking the slide, and they are quick to align.

When an optic is mounted on the slide, the optic becomes the tool for racking the slide. My hope is that this article affirms your agency’s need to purchase the best handgun optics money can buy.

The Holosun duty style optics like the 508 and 509 have recessed lenses, overbuilt protection, and heavy duty mounts. I have racked my gun on my Holosun, running it against my holster and belt. Duty work doesn’t eat them up.

I know the temptation for many officers and agencies is to get the least expensive optic for their duty gun. Let’s put this idea to bed right now. Resist this urge and get the optic that is duty rated. My next Holosun is a HS507C-X2, which has an NTOA Silver rating.

Employ the Optic

Does the mounted optic increase the ability to fight one-handed? Absolutely.

Most of us shoot from the dominant side all day on the range, and rarely practice on the non dominant side. Being able to resist recoil and controlling the trigger is one thing. Being able to align sights with the non dominant eye is a completely different skillset. Some shooters align their sights in front of their non-dominant eye, and it works for them. It does not work for me, so I don’t. If it doesn’t work for you either, slightly cant the gun into the dominant eye field of view. Either way, always practice and shoot with both eyes open.

With an optic, eye dominance is less of a problem. Any time the dot is superimposed on the target, the bullet will strike where it is sent. I can do that. My trigger control in my left hand is dismal, but I can definitely address the target with my Holosun 509.

Make it hurt

For training, I use, you guessed it, the One and One Drill, described in the April 2020 issue of Law Enforcement Technology Magazine (officer.com/21128477). This is the drill which begins with an empty magazine, and one in the chamber. The Officer fires the cartridge in the chamber, then reloads.

I modify this drill for one-handed magazine changes by shooting from 15 yards. Kneel to reload. After a full box of ammo, the shooter has kneeled and reloaded 25 times. This is training. Training for contingencies is not the fun part of firearms training. It is necessary, and some training should hurt, at least a little.

This article appeared in the November/December issue of OFFICER Magazine.