If I asked you how to reload your handgun, you’d rightly say, “I drop a magazine and put a fresh one in.” That’s the correct answer, but it’s not quite that simple. Like most things in the gun world, we’ve refined techniques to make your reload as quick and efficient as possible.
Today’s focus will be on reloading the automatic, magazine-fed handgun. For now, revolver and KelTec PR57 users will have to wait for us to write an article on how to reload their firearms.
For this training, you’ll need a handgun, two magazines, and a magazine pouch. I’m using a Safariland 79 Slimline Open Top Double Magazine Pouch and a Ruger RXM with two Glock magazines.
Live ammo is not needed, it’s optional. I’d suggest trying this dry a few times before going live to get a feel for the movements. A dummy round can be convenient for dry fire reloads.
The Reload Step 1: Staging the Magazine
We have our magazine and mag pouch. Both need to be staged properly to be efficient. Your magazine pouch will be on your support side. If you shoot with your right hand, your magazine pouch will be on the left-hand side, and vice versa.
There are two magazine pouch orientations. The Safariland Model 79 places the magazines in such a way that the projectiles are facing left or right. The other orientation has your projectiles facing to the front or rearward.
If you are using a magazine pouch like the Model 79, you want the projectiles facing outboard and away from you. If you are using the other type of magazine pouch, you want the projectiles facing forward, toward your belt buckle.
This orientation arranges them perfectly for maximum efficiency.
The Reload (In Painful Detail)
Once your gun runs dry or you choose to swap a full magazine for a partial, many things will happen—most of them all at once. There are two main types of reloads: speed and tactical.
Speed reloads occur when you run dry, and you must quickly get the weapon back into action. A tactical reload is done when you can take a partially depleted magazine and replace it with a full magazine.
We’ll discuss how to do both. The steps can change depending on which reload you are conducting.
The Speed Reload
The speed reload is the fastest way to get shooting. It’s occasionally called the emergency speed reload. It’s used both tactically and for competition purposes. While this is written linearly, you will be conducting multiple steps simultaneously.
In the speed reload, one of the first things you’ll do is drop the empty magazine. As soon as you see the slide lock to the rear, you start hitting that button. If you hit the magazine release and the magazine doesn’t freely drop out of the gun, you might have to apply some quick remedial action.
Some guns simply don’t drop magazines freely. Guns like the Hi-Power won’t drop magazines freely, and Glocks with specific magazines occasionally fail to drop free. With this in mind, you might have to jar the firearm up and down or physically use your support hand to remove the magazine.
The Workspace
Let’s pause. As you hit the magazine release, you should bring your gun to your workspace, roughly right in front of your face. Your right hand will maintain control of your gun.
This workspace places the firearm in front of your face. Being able to see the gun makes it faster to reload. There is an argument for threat focus all the time, but if focusing on the threat is going to slow your reload, what’s the point?
You can see the threat, but if you can’t shoot it, you’re bird watching at best. Having the gun in front of your face still allows you to maintain a good degree of situational awareness while reloading.
Grab the Magazine
Once your magazine drops free, your support hand will rush to your fresh magazine. When grabbing the magazine, you’ll want to position your hand correctly on the magazine. Regardless of the magazine’s orientation, your pointer finger of your support hand should be positioned along the front of the magazine.
To be completely clear, the front of your magazine faces in the same direction as the projectiles. The finger runs along this portion of the magazine and acts as a guide, more or less. The Israelis do a lot of weird stuff, but the hands-meet idea isn’t totally out of nowhere.
Your support hand knows where your dominant hand is, and this finger placement not only provides a stable grip on the magazine but also makes it easy to find your gun. With the proper grip, bring the magazine to the magazine well and move your finger as the mag enters the gun.
Proper follow-up means your palm follows the magazine until it’s seated. If you forget to keep that palm pressure, the magazine may not lock in place and fall back out. Always follow through.
Dropping the Slide
There is another dumb gun debate that involves using the slide release or sling-shotting the slide. Some people will argue you won’t have the proper motor skills to use your slide release. This is ridiculous.
It takes small motor skills to pull the trigger, hit the mag release, grab a spare mag, etc. How many small motor skills are required to reload a belt-fed machine gun? A lot, and guess what? I’ve done it under fire without issue.
As your magazine enters the gun, your support hand will continue to move upward and back to the grip. As your hand makes this movement, it’s swift to use your support hand to drop the slide via the slide release.
That’s not to say the slingshot isn’t a valid method. If you’re left-handed and using a gun with right-handed controls, the slingshot might be faster for you. Some guns, like the Ruger LCP, have a slide lock you can’t manually activate, and the slingshot is your only method of dropping the slide.
I often have trouble with my thumbs pinning down the slide lock, which means the slide doesn’t lock open. With that in mind, I’ve become skilled in the slingshot method.
With the slide dropped, you are ready to start shooting.
The Tactical Reload
I won’t detail every step again; the tactical reload is the same. When you decide to reload your firearm and its partially depleted magazine, you’ll want to retain it for the extra ammo you might need.
When you decide to reload, you’ll bring the gun to your workspace, but you won’t hit the magazine release yet. Your support hand will move to secure your fresh magazine. As you bring that fresh magazine upward, your hand will meet the gun.
You’ll release your partial magazine into your support hand while holding your full magazine. I like to lock the partially depleted magazine between my middle and ring finger. With the partial magazine secured, you will guide the entire magazine into the gun.
You’ll put that partial mag in your magazine pouch, pocket, or wherever. This secures the weapon and provides you with a secret tool for later.
Using Cover
If you have to reload, you should seek cover. You should always be seeking cover in a gunfight. While reloading, you’ll be vulnerable. Once you’ve gotten good at reloading, start integrating cover into your practice and mix in different positions, like kneeling.
The pistol reload isn’t all that tough, but there are a few steps you can follow to make it fast and efficient. Reloads should be quick and efficient, and using the steps above allows you to fly through the reload.
