Crisis Management reloading...

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Dave McC

Staff In Memoriam
Got a query about this, and have been doing some thinking on my own.so....

"Serious" shotgunners need to practice all aspects of functioning their weapons. This obviously includes reloading under stress. Here's a couple methods,and a few cautions.

First, practice this well away from any live ammo. I suggest doing it in a room without ammo in it. Use snap caps and/or dummy rounds for practice at first, then include these drills and procedures during a live fire practice session. Observe all safety rules.

Dummy rounds cna be made by anyone with a reloader. Use trash hull, preferably different in color and make to the ammo commonly used by you.

And, since pumps are so favored here, I'll stick to them. Folks with autos can adapt as needed.

And naturally, you're doing this behind cover, right?

First method is the one I use, with a variant.

In the firing position,keep the weapon shouldered. Use your support hand to top off the magazine from SideSaddle, Speedfeed, buttcuff,belt pouch,etc.

Use the index and second fingers to direct the shell into the magazine,laying the round parallel to them and using the thumb to push it well into the magazine. Push hard until it clicks past the shellcatchers. And of course you've got all your fingers out of the trigger guard.

This works best for folks with lots of upper body strength, and it's fatiguing. It's also fast and the weapon still covers the threat area.

The variant, bring the butt down and back so it's clamped between the upper arm and chest. This isn't as tiring but it's a hair slower for me.Once loaded to capacity, this is a good position to stay in, the weapon can be used really fast while meanwhile you observe the area over it.

Next method....

Use the support hand to roll the weapon to the left and use the dominant(Strong) hand to reload. You can use the support hand thumb to wrap around the forend and bbl to control the weapon. Keep watching the threat area and supervise the loading with peripheral vision.

You can also keep the weapon shouldered and use the dominant hand to top off, but it's by feel and requires a bit more practice. Neither of these allows as rapid a redeployment if the situation worsens, but speed is still not bad. We're talking fractions of seconds here.

Finally...

The balloon's gone up, it's hit the fan, the barbarians are at the gates and Charlie's inside the razorwire. Despite all training, you've shot your weapon dry. How to resume a ready state PDQ?

Rack your slide back,grab a fresh round and THROW it through the ejection port.Don't try to push it into the chamber, don't try to align it with the carrier. As long as the brass is towards the butt(Brass-Butt, Brass-Butt),it'll work as soon as you close the action. Do so and then top off as above.

Hope I've explained this well,sing out if not....
 
Thanks for the suggestions, Erick. A coupla things...

We've discussed that ejection port loading before. You have a point about options. But, there's no way to get a round in faster than my method. And sometimes fast means surviving. Better is not to let the piece get empty.

I've used your method of holding the shell, and mine seems to be a bit more fumble proof, for me at least. Most fumbles, the way some people hold like George Burns used to hold his cigar. BAse between index and middle fingers, thumb behind pushing. When going slow, this works fine, but at speed it seems to leave lots of shells on the ground. Maybe I'm just uncoordinated....
 
I really wish ya'll had posted this BEFORE I went to my first 3 gun match. Seeing as how I had never done it before I sorta (well okay not sorta I did) fumble around. The way I solved the problem was that after I fired my last shot (the COF required you to shot five then reload) I racked the action, shoved one in the ejection port, closed the action and then put 4 in the tube. Actually I fumbled the putting four in the tube. I need to purchase some snap caps and practice.
 
The way I do emergency reloads throught the ejection port is this:

Keep weapon shouldered (or tucked into underarm assault), obtain live round with support hand. Cup hand slightly, indexing the round between the index and little fingers. Reach under the receiver and sorta 'plop' the round into the port, giving it a good push with the middle and ring fingers.

When reloading from the 'other' side of the Speedfeed (right side), its best for me to do as Dave suggested, which is roll the reciever slightly left, obtain round with strong hand, toss it into the ejection port and get busy.

Mike
 
Thanks,folks,I kinda expected more folks giving some input. There's more than one way to skin this cat, I wanted to hear how other folks do it.

Naturally, how your resrve ammo is carried makes a difference.

Anyone see that new folder from Uncle Mike's? It can hold three rounds just north of the butt plate.
 
Being an 870 armed lefty I prefer to ejection port load from the side saddle and top the tube whenever time permits from the belt, maybe if I get more gamey about 3-gun I'll buy an arm band for my support arm. All reloading is done with my strong hand with the gun still mounted by the support hand. Side saddle reloads are pretty damn fast, with the shells pointing up I just snake one out and toss it in over the top of the reciever. Must not be too bad, I've only owned a shotgun for a month and on the one shotgun only stage of the 3-gun I placed 4th of 21 folks shooting limited guns. For real world crises I have gotten a nice little buttstock cheekpad with a zippered pouch, with that stuffed full I have 20+ rounds available on the gun.
 
I've been trained couple different ways:

1. reload with weapon on target at shoulder; good for tacs.

2. weapon upside down, ensures more positive load and can fire upside down as well.

3. grab second shotgun or, if not there, transition to pistol.

All from cover or running.
 
I practice always loading through the gate. I never load through the ejection port. I guess that that is what I'm used to, and it seems to work well enough that I would hate to mess with it.

Load with support hand. Shotgun stays shouldered, but kind of canted to the right. I find that I put the shell between my first two fingers, with my thumb on the rim and primer. Don't know why, but once again it seems to work for me.

At a 3 gun match, I did 6 plates in 4.2 seconds. With a 5 shot shotgun. :) For that stage I thought ahead and actually had the extra shell in my support hand on the pump. Worked well for that stage, but not neccesarily in real life.

I've never been a fan of sidesaddles, but I'm thinking about trying out a butt cuff for future use.
 
Correia, opposite here. Never liked the butt-cuff. Those extra rounds smash into my face. Owie, Batman. And prevent a decent weld on the stock when I have to shoot port side.

Of course, I'm just an office geek and not very rugged.:( Maybe if I dressed in black and started referring to myself as "Captain Tactical"???
 
KS, when you hear the reason that I've never seriously thought about having a sidesaddle, you will know just how undeserving I am of any sort of Tactical title.

The 870 I use is the same 870 that I have used since I was 12 years old. It is a Wingmaster, and has the long wood forend, that when to the rear, covers several inches of the receiver. (where a side saddle would be). In my untacticalness I hesitate to change the forend to something that I'm not used to. :p I figure that this is the same forend that I have used for 15 years, it would kind of suck to change.
 
Corriea, I can switch between the various style of forearms w/o a glitch. But if you're fond of the long forearm, stick to it. Instead of a S/S, use a butt cuff, Speedfeed, belt pouch, or shell belt.BTW, my favorite forearm is the old "Corncob" or "Coontail" one.

At one time, we taught COs to load from their right front pants pocket.Limited useage with tight jeans, but good with roomier trou.

What I'd like to see is a 5 round carrier that clips to the belt or waistband, able to keep rounds during sudden and violent maneuvers. It should be easily accessed, and have velcro so it can be stored attached to the stock but quickly moved when deployment of the weapon. Two could be carried, with different ammo.
 
Dave, that sounds kind of cool. Something like a kydex shell holder (solid, sturdy, light) that velcroed to something like a belt paddle, but could detach and quickly attach to a velcro strip on the stock (or side of the receiver). That would be nifty.

Actually, don't they make short 4 shell side saddles? I suppose I could give one of those a try, and still keep my beloved forearm.
 
You could try a 4 shot SS,Corriea,I think they'll work with the extended forearm.The question here is just how much ammo do we want on a particular shotgun?

I see that shell holder as built like a stripper clip, holding the base of the ammo and releasing out the ends, both ends.Velcro for stock/receiver attachment and a clip(Like some knives and cheap IWB holsters) for the belt.
 
Good stuff, guys.

One addendum - if I've run my shotgun totally dry, I'm dropping it and transitioning to pistol.
 
Thanks for the input, Morgan. The shotgun is a superior weapon to the handgun, I'd be more likely to do a fast relaod, behind cover. It'd take me a second to load that first one, and a few more to add some more ammo.

Also, in a HD situation, I may be standing there sans pants. If so, I probably don't have a pistol close enough to transit to.
 
I think Choate makes or sells something like you are talking about Dave. I saw some at the last 3 gun match. They attach to the belt and hold 5 (I think) shells horizontally. Don't know how hard it would be to retrofit it to also hook to the stock.
 
Dave McC-Thanks for starting an interesting and relevant string. Lots of good feedback and ideas. The butt cuffs are convenient, but besides hampering mirror image shooting, they can also interfere with some of the "point" techniques, such as the "tuck", where you clamp the butt of the shotgun between your upper arm and chest, as high into your armpit as it will go. This still allows you to look over the top of the barrel to align the shot, and reduces the length of the gun if you need to maneuver.

While the 870 is the predominant shotgun, there are many out there who may want to familiarize themselves with their non-870 shotguns. For those who use Ithaca 37's, no question of port or gate loading! As I recall, the early Benellis had the issue where you couldn't stroke the operating handle of the bolt to chamber a round from the magazine. The Browning Auto 5's would automatically release the bolt to chamber a round if you dropped one in the ejection port.
 
Kinda on the same topic, I'm growing ever less fond of the Speedfeed buttstock. Half of your reserve ammo is on the 'wrong' side of the stock (whichever side that is for you), and there appears to be little consistency in how well shells extract from the stock. Sometimes they pop out, other times they seem well and truly cemented in place. Food for thought.

Mike
 
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