There is often a great deal of discussion/ training regarding the "HOWS" of Tactical Reloads, but rarely a thorough consideration of the "WHENS" and "WHYS" of tactical reloads. Of course, the whens and whys are often intimately connected when it comes to a gunfight scenario.
I have often heard that tactical reloads should be done when there is some sort of "lull" in the gunfight. To be honest, I find this thinking questionable, unless one can tell me exactly when the other side will begin to re-engage and once again attempt to shoot me before I shoot them. There are no "time outs" allowed.
From my perspective, the one necessity of tactical reloads is cover/ concealment, as one never wants to be out in the open with their jimmy swinging in the wind with a gun that is being "tactically" reloaded. There is nothing "tactical" about that at all, and if one is going to be performing a "tactical reload," one must not forget the "tactical" part of the maneuver.
As to the whens/ whys, I believe there are only two times a tactical reload is indeed necessary/ advisable. First, before I move myself from one place of cover to a more advantageous place of cover, I want to make sure I have a fully loaded weapon so I can, if necessary, put rounds toward the bad man in order to keep their heads down (especially if I have no one else to offer me covering fire while I am moving place to place). And second, if a colleague is needing to move from cover to cover, I want to top off my weapon before giving them the go-ahead to move (see "jimmy swinging in the wind" above).
I hope this gives some clarification, at least from my perspective, as to the possible rationally justifiable uses for a tactical reload. Feel free to share your thoughts.
And one more thing: As to the "HOW" of the maneuver, I find it much nicer to have the magazine just drop to the floor and get the gun reloaded as quickly as possible rather than trying to retain one and hold two mags in one hand while trying to insert the fresh mag. It takes longer and the longer I have an unloaded weapon, the more danger I am in. Once my gun is back to full capacity, I can just pick up the magazine I dropped with the couple of rounds in it and then put it in my pocket/ pouch. And I can do this knowing I have a fully loaded weapon in my hand.
Vanguard.45
I have often heard that tactical reloads should be done when there is some sort of "lull" in the gunfight. To be honest, I find this thinking questionable, unless one can tell me exactly when the other side will begin to re-engage and once again attempt to shoot me before I shoot them. There are no "time outs" allowed.
From my perspective, the one necessity of tactical reloads is cover/ concealment, as one never wants to be out in the open with their jimmy swinging in the wind with a gun that is being "tactically" reloaded. There is nothing "tactical" about that at all, and if one is going to be performing a "tactical reload," one must not forget the "tactical" part of the maneuver.
As to the whens/ whys, I believe there are only two times a tactical reload is indeed necessary/ advisable. First, before I move myself from one place of cover to a more advantageous place of cover, I want to make sure I have a fully loaded weapon so I can, if necessary, put rounds toward the bad man in order to keep their heads down (especially if I have no one else to offer me covering fire while I am moving place to place). And second, if a colleague is needing to move from cover to cover, I want to top off my weapon before giving them the go-ahead to move (see "jimmy swinging in the wind" above).
I hope this gives some clarification, at least from my perspective, as to the possible rationally justifiable uses for a tactical reload. Feel free to share your thoughts.
And one more thing: As to the "HOW" of the maneuver, I find it much nicer to have the magazine just drop to the floor and get the gun reloaded as quickly as possible rather than trying to retain one and hold two mags in one hand while trying to insert the fresh mag. It takes longer and the longer I have an unloaded weapon, the more danger I am in. Once my gun is back to full capacity, I can just pick up the magazine I dropped with the couple of rounds in it and then put it in my pocket/ pouch. And I can do this knowing I have a fully loaded weapon in my hand.
Vanguard.45