USA Carry
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Concealed Carry Maps
  • State Guides
    • A-E
      • Alabama
      • Alaska
      • American Samoa
      • Arizona
      • Arkansas
      • California
      • Colorado
      • Connecticut
      • Delaware
    • F-J
      • Florida
      • Georgia
      • Guam
      • Hawaii
      • Idaho
      • Illinois
      • Indiana
      • Iowa
    • K-M
      • Kansas
      • Kentucky
      • Louisiana
      • Maine
      • Maryland
      • Massachusetts
      • Michigan
      • Minnesota
      • Mississippi
      • Missouri
      • Montana
    • N-O
      • Nebraska
      • Nevada
      • New Hampshire
      • New Jersey
      • New Mexico
      • New York
      • North Carolina
      • North Dakota
      • Northern Marianas
      • Ohio
      • Oklahoma
      • Oregon
    • P-U
      • Pennsylvania
      • Puerto Rico
      • Rhode Island
      • South Carolina
      • South Dakota
      • Tennessee
      • Texas
      • Utah
    • V-Z
      • Vermont
      • Virgin Islands
      • Virginia
      • Washington
      • Washington D.C.
      • West Virginia
      • Wisconsin
      • Wyoming
  • Articles
    • Defensive Gun Uses
    • Concealed Carry
    • Gun Reviews
    • Gear Reviews
    • Training
    • Firearm Laws & Litigation
    • CCW For Women
    • General Firearm
    • Open Carry
    • Self-Defense
    • Survival
    • Home Defense
  • Forums
  • Podcast
  • Store
  • Deals
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Concealed Carry Maps
  • State Guides
    • A-E
      • Alabama
      • Alaska
      • American Samoa
      • Arizona
      • Arkansas
      • California
      • Colorado
      • Connecticut
      • Delaware
    • F-J
      • Florida
      • Georgia
      • Guam
      • Hawaii
      • Idaho
      • Illinois
      • Indiana
      • Iowa
    • K-M
      • Kansas
      • Kentucky
      • Louisiana
      • Maine
      • Maryland
      • Massachusetts
      • Michigan
      • Minnesota
      • Mississippi
      • Missouri
      • Montana
    • N-O
      • Nebraska
      • Nevada
      • New Hampshire
      • New Jersey
      • New Mexico
      • New York
      • North Carolina
      • North Dakota
      • Northern Marianas
      • Ohio
      • Oklahoma
      • Oregon
    • P-U
      • Pennsylvania
      • Puerto Rico
      • Rhode Island
      • South Carolina
      • South Dakota
      • Tennessee
      • Texas
      • Utah
    • V-Z
      • Vermont
      • Virgin Islands
      • Virginia
      • Washington
      • Washington D.C.
      • West Virginia
      • Wisconsin
      • Wyoming
  • Articles
    • Defensive Gun Uses
    • Concealed Carry
    • Gun Reviews
    • Gear Reviews
    • Training
    • Firearm Laws & Litigation
    • CCW For Women
    • General Firearm
    • Open Carry
    • Self-Defense
    • Survival
    • Home Defense
  • Forums
  • Podcast
  • Store
  • Deals
  • Contact
No Result
View All Result
USA Carry
No Result
View All Result
  • DAILY GUNS & AMMO DEALS – CLICK HERE!
Home Articles Training

Just How Important Is Practicing Reloads?

Sam Hoober by Sam Hoober
September 29, 2023
in Articles, Concealed Carry, Training
Reading Time: 4 mins read
Just How Important Is Practicing Reloads?
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Every skill has a number of foundational tasks that you have to be able to perform and reloads are one of those foundational skills in shooting…up to a point. 

We’re certainly inundated with images of people performing them; most shooting courses cover them, and they’re a part of any qualification course of fire, including for practical pistol/practical shooting sports…

…but it’s also the case that most people who have a gun for any reason are never going to be in any situation where life depends on performing one.

This isn’t a message to say, “reloads are dumb; just practice the draw.” The point is to think about what you’re practicing, why you’re practicing it, and what actual good it does you in reaching your goals as a shooter. 

Self-Defense Shootings Almost Never Involve A Reload…But Do Sometimes

If you look at what the experts in civilian self-defense shootings say about it, one thing they all agree on is that armed citizens just do not get in gunfights that involve a tactical or emergency reload. They just don’t. 

John Correia of Active Self Protection has stated repeatedly that he has never seen one in any of the videos he’s watched of a shooting involving an armed citizen.  

Claude Werner – the “Tactical Professor” – compiled several years’ worth of incidents using “The Armed Citizen” column in NRA publications and found only three incidents involving a reload. One of them was an instance where a zookeeper/animal trainer had to empty several cylinders of a .32 revolver into a lion that was attempting to escape. 

Going through Massad Ayoob’s work (including “The Ayoob Files,” archived on several websites) yielded two examples. 

First is the Harry Beckwith incident, where a gun store owner sprayed a gang of robbers with two magazines of a 9mm SMG as suppressive fire, as well as two magazines from an AR-15. Aimed semi-auto fire – shocker – scored the only hits in the incident. 

Second was at least two of the gunfights of Lance Thomas, a Los Angeles jeweler who triumphed in multiple gunfights, at least two of which required dropping an empty gun and grabbing one of the many staged pistols around his shop. (One such incident emptied three revolvers into his attackers.) Toward the end of his career, Thomas was never more than three feet from a handgun.  

However, it’s also worth noting that while reloads are rare, Massad Ayoob has also found a number of incidents where a gun with a carrying capacity of 10 rounds or less was shot dry. Revolvers and GI 1911s in .45 ACP are commonly emptied…but standard capacity pistols (meaning those with the ordinary capacity of 15+1) with 10-round magazines were too. 

The point? Reloads do occur in shooting incidents involving armed citizens but only in very rare circumstances indeed…but they become more likely to be needed if carrying/using a lower-capacity weapon. 

Fundamentals And Your Goals

Any skill involves a certain number of fundamental aspects that you have to get good at. It doesn’t matter what it is: shooting, playing an instrument, driving, whatever. There’s going to be a number of different skills you have to gain competency with, but at a certain point, you need to evaluate how much those fundamentals apply to what you want to do. 

If you want to learn to play AC/DC songs or Top 40 country on guitar, you probably don’t need to know that much about music theory. A concert pianist should know what the Locrian mode is, but it doesn’t really matter when He Stopped Loving Her Today. 

Emergency and tactical reloads are absolutely fundamental skills in practical shooting. The question is how relevant they are for you. 

Consider Your Context And Train Accordingly

From what a person can gather about the probability of needing to reload if you ever need to use a gun to defend yourself, it’s not likely. Still, it does become more likely if you carry a smaller capacity weapon or work in a higher-risk profession.  

Therefore, reloads are – realistically – probably not the highest training priority for the average person, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a skill you shouldn’t have some competence with. 

However, it’s also worth pointing out that that conclusion is highly contextual. That’s if the only use for a gun that you have is keeping one in the home or carrying it for defensive purposes. 

What about practical shooting competitions? Reloads will all but surely be involved on any stage in USPSA/IPSC, IDPA, NRA Action, and so on, so you absolutely need to practice them. 

A police officer has a much higher probability of needing to reload during an OIS. Soldiers will all but assuredly have to reload in a gunfight. 

So, how important is practicing reloads? It really depends on you. Again, the point here isn’t to really dive into the topic of reload drills, but more to stress the idea of realistically assessing your context and building your practice and training around skills that will derive the greatest benefit. 

Sam Hoober

Sam Hoober

Sam Hoober writes about DGU incidents gun accessories, gun safety, open and concealed carry tips. In his free time, Sam enjoys camping, hunting and spending time at the gun range as often as possible.

Next Post
Freedom Friday at The Gun Show

Freedom Friday at The Gun Show

4.3 3 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Connect with
Login
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
Notify of
Connect with
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
Please login to comment
1 Comment
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Mikial
1 year ago

Good article and a rational discussion. While reloading skills aren’t as likely to be crucial as the draw, present, shooting under pressure, and malfunction drills, they do have their place in training.

0
Previous Post

Toddler Shoots Herself with Relative’s Unsecured Gun as He Cheers for a Touchdown

Next Post

Freedom Friday at The Gun Show

Related Posts

Feds Allow Agencies to Mail Guns — But Ban You? GOA Says Enough
Articles

Feds Allow Agencies to Mail Guns — But Ban You? GOA Says Enough

July 15, 2025
Redmond Employee Shoots Alleged Car Thief in Self-Defense After Late-Night Confrontation
Defensive Gun Uses

Redmond Employee Shoots Alleged Car Thief in Self-Defense After Late-Night Confrontation

July 14, 2025
Concealed Carry Expanded: Wyoming Officially Ends Most Gun-Free Zones
Firearm Laws & Litigation

Concealed Carry Expanded: Wyoming Officially Ends Most Gun-Free Zones

July 14, 2025
Armed Camper Defends Himself After Intoxicated Man Aims Rifle During Dispute Over Driving While Drunk
Defensive Gun Uses

Armed Camper Defends Himself After Intoxicated Man Aims Rifle During Dispute Over Driving While Drunk

July 11, 2025

© 2025 USA Carry LLC

Navigate Site

  • State Guides
  • Maps
  • Articles
  • Forums
  • Podcast
  • Store
  • Deals
  • Giveaway
  • Advertise
  • Contact

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Concealed Carry Permit Reciprocity Maps
  • Concealed Carry Permit Guides By State
    • Alabama
    • Alaska
    • American Samoa
    • Arizona
    • Arkansas
    • California
    • Colorado
    • Connecticut
    • Delaware
    • Florida
    • Georgia
    • Guam
    • Hawaii
    • Idaho
    • Illinois
    • Indiana
    • Iowa
    • Kansas
    • Kentucky
    • Louisiana
    • Maine
    • Maryland
    • Massachusetts
    • Michigan
    • Minnesota
    • Mississippi
    • Missouri
    • Montana
    • Nebraska
    • Nevada
    • New Hampshire
    • New Jersey
    • New Mexico
    • New York
    • North Carolina
    • North Dakota
    • Northern Marianas
    • Ohio
    • Oklahoma
    • Oregon
    • Pennsylvania
    • Puerto Rico
    • Rhode Island
    • South Carolina
    • South Dakota
    • Tennessee
    • Texas
    • Utah
    • Vermont
    • Virgin Islands
    • Virginia
    • Washington
    • Washington D.C.
    • West Virginia
    • Wisconsin
    • Wyoming
  • Articles
    • Defensive Gun Uses
    • Concealed Carry
    • Gun Reviews
    • Gear Reviews
    • Training
    • Firearm Laws & Litigation
    • CCW For Women
    • General Firearm
    • Open Carry
    • Self-Defense
    • Survival
    • Home Defense
  • Forums
  • Podcast
  • Giveaway
  • Store
  • Daily Deals
  • Contact

© 2025 USA Carry LLC

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Concealed Carry Permit Reciprocity Maps
  • Concealed Carry Permit Guides By State
    • Alabama
    • Alaska
    • American Samoa
    • Arizona
    • Arkansas
    • California
    • Colorado
    • Connecticut
    • Delaware
    • Florida
    • Georgia
    • Guam
    • Hawaii
    • Idaho
    • Illinois
    • Indiana
    • Iowa
    • Kansas
    • Kentucky
    • Louisiana
    • Maine
    • Maryland
    • Massachusetts
    • Michigan
    • Minnesota
    • Mississippi
    • Missouri
    • Montana
    • Nebraska
    • Nevada
    • New Hampshire
    • New Jersey
    • New Mexico
    • New York
    • North Carolina
    • North Dakota
    • Northern Marianas
    • Ohio
    • Oklahoma
    • Oregon
    • Pennsylvania
    • Puerto Rico
    • Rhode Island
    • South Carolina
    • South Dakota
    • Tennessee
    • Texas
    • Utah
    • Vermont
    • Virgin Islands
    • Virginia
    • Washington
    • Washington D.C.
    • West Virginia
    • Wisconsin
    • Wyoming
  • Articles
    • Defensive Gun Uses
    • Concealed Carry
    • Gun Reviews
    • Gear Reviews
    • Training
    • Firearm Laws & Litigation
    • CCW For Women
    • General Firearm
    • Open Carry
    • Self-Defense
    • Survival
    • Home Defense
  • Forums
  • Podcast
  • Giveaway
  • Store
  • Daily Deals
  • Contact

© 2025 USA Carry LLC

wpDiscuz
1
0
Join the conversation, please comment.x
()
x
| Reply
You are going to send email to

Move Comment
Gun Deals
Gun.Deals