High stress shotgun reloading tips anyone?

P

Pops1085

New member
Just picked up a hd mossberg 500 with a stock that has a shell holder on it. Anyways I see 3 gun shooters speed reloading with their weak hand and going under the gun to dump a round in it (still weak hand) but I got to thinking,if something goes bump in the night and I need more than the 3 rounds my gun holds I'd probably reload with my strong hand to make sure it got done right. Maybe I'm off in this line of thinking and if so lemme know! How would you reload a shotgun when the excrement hits the ceiling occilator?
 
Pops, your 500 should hold more than 3 shells -- the standard capacity is 6. If it holds only 3, the magazine tube probably still has the dowel in it that's meant to limit the capacity for hunting. Remove the barrel (see owner's manual), point the gun at the floor, and shake it a few times; I'll bet that dowel will drop out.

As to reloading... practice, practice, practice. It does make sense to learn do it with your weak hand. And you should practice, practice, practice shooting the thing anyway, so there's your chance... :)
 
Last edited:
Best thing you can do is practice. I got some 12ga snap caps and practiced using them over-and-over, and over, and over and over... until it became pretty easy.

Under stress it does get more interesting, especially when you add walking or running into the mix. One thing I found that REALLY helped was joining in on some local action shotgun matches, 3-gun would work well too. Granted, nobody is shooting back but the stress of the buzzer and trying to get a decent time cranks up the urgency and exposes weaknesses.
 
My newly purchased Mossberg Maverick 88 only held 3 shells in the tube. I removed the wooden dowel in tube so now it holds a total of 5. Find your shotty on the you-tube an see how to remove yours if that is possible. I like the Maverick for an under the bed shotty. I only take it out from under the bed every couple of month to cycle the ammo to prevent mushrooming and also to check the spring to ensure the last round functions in the cycling process. I clean it every 6 months. I swap my cycled ammo with my son who shoots skeet and he gives me new replacements. Gun stays clean and the ammo shoots fine. For quick reloading practice, you can practice with shotty snap caps. Practice feeding from underneath rolling the round in against the shotty frame and flipping it in with the finger tips. You can find that technique on you tube. You may change from primary storing rounds on the stock and add another storage forward. As you cycle back w/ an empty tube, you can finger another round into your hand to do the above roll in of the round. If you practice a lot, you can get quick enough. I keep a 40 cal as a backup. If you don't have any apartment neighbors or others in the firing line, use at least #4. It will kill wild boar zombies thru sheetrock!!! The lesser stuff may not. There is some nice defense rounds that fires rifled slugs and 3 BB's. It will make that shotty into a Benford 2000 model for sure. Know where your power and water travels thru the walls.
 
Thank you so much yea there was a dowel in there! I thought I heard something when I picked it up the first time but didn't put too much thought into it. 5+1 now baby :D man I thought that was weird that the mag tube looked long enough to hold more.
 
Not sure how your mag tube (mt) is installed so I will use mine and you can modify accordingly. Before you remove the mag tube, note where the barrel engages the receiver mounts. We'll start with the mt screwed out of the receiver. Take a moment and clean the mt. Wipe the threads of the mt clean as well as the receiver threads that the mt goes into. Run a light oil on a barrel wipe thru the mt then use one of those auto store blue paper roll sheets and wipe out the mt. Then lightly wipe the spring down with one of those REM wipes by simply passing thru the inside and light wipe on the outside. Then lightly wipe that off as well. Don't leave oil residue in there cause it will get all over the shells. You are only making sure there is corrosive protection. Now place a little 30 weight motor oil on a white cleaning pad used for cleaning the barrel and wipe the threads of the mt that will screw into the receiver. It makes it easier to remove later since it handles the heat better than gun oil. Insert the spring in the mt, place the magazine follower (mf - chrome widget that covered the spring that went into the receiver) on the spring and push it all in and hold with your finger stuffed into the mt. Stick your free hand finger thru the receiver thru the hole that the mt screws into and then into the mt to replace the finger you are now using that is holding the spring in the mt. Then screw on the mt. These tubes do not need a wrench to screw them in. Use your weak hand to screw tight with light to medium pressure. Check where the barrel normally sets to ensure you have the mt screwed in all the way.
 
Last edited:
sorry, I think I got it, buffer just went sailing like 3 times in the process along with the spring. Unless theres some trick that I don't know about like rolling up paper around to compress the spring uniformly with the cap or something I think it's just a tricky part. Thanks for the responses though
 
The reason for the left hand reload it to maintain a firing grip on the gun during emergency reloads.
 
As previously mentioned, . . . practice is the key to performing under stress.

No pun intended, . . . but that fact cannot be stressed enough.

First thing: play around with your setup and see what "works" for you. For example, I use a Beretta semi auto, . . . so I can have a 5 shot sleeve on my fore end, . . . your Mossberg is a trombone so that won't work for you.

Most often in pictures, . . . you'll see a stock sleeve with shells in it, . . . bases pointed up. For me that is wrong, . . . it is ergonomically a whole lot better for me if the bases are pointed down, . . . YMMV.

I do not have a sling on my shotgun when it is in HD mode, . . . but for rabbits afield, . . . it goes back on.

Because it is a slide action, . . . you can take some fired shells, . . . load em up like dummies with plaster of paris or some such stuff, . . . and simply practice loading, shucking, reloading, shucking, etc.

Try different ways of loading, . . . try both hands, . . . different positions, . . . there is no "Perfect" way, . . . just the one that works for you.

I can load my shotgun in the dark, . . . looking out the window, . . . listening for other noises, . . . but only because I have practiced it so that it has become the type of muscle memory like tying shoes, . . . you just do it and don't think about it.

One final point: develop "your" plan. Do it the same way every time. DO NOT try this today, that tomorrow, something els on Friday, . . . you will not function when the time comes that you need to. You will stop to try to reason out what you need to do, . . . an by then it just may be too late. Get a plan together, . . . practice it, . . . learn it, . . . and don't chang it unless you get some REALLY good reason to do it.

May God bless,
Dwight
 
Hey man thanks I appreciate the response. I have been watching some instructional vids online about weak hand reloading and am going to try to get good at that. Like I said I was just wondering if the 3 gun stlye reloads were applicable in a self defense situation. I don't think that I would try holding 4 shells in one hand though that's just asking to start dropping them when your hands are probably shaking.
 
I realize you just got a shotgun, but if you're really concerned, you could look into a shotgun with a detachable magazine. Though, now is certainly not the time to buy one, given the inflated prices, but it could be an option if you don't get comfortable with loading a tube-fed gun.

That said, I recommend just what others have said. Practice, practice, practice.
I like that tube-fed guns can be topped off as you go, but that's just me.
 
Hey man thanks I appreciate the response. I have been watching some instructional vids online about weak hand reloading and am going to try to get good at that. Like I said I was just wondering if the 3 gun stlye reloads were applicable in a self defense situation. I don't think that I would try holding 4 shells in one hand though that's just asking to start dropping them when your hands are probably shaking.
Click to expand...

I shoot 3-gun and I try to avoid grabbing 4 shells at once out of my caddies. I don't have the biggest hands, and as a result can't retain control of 4 shells during a quick reload.

However, my preferred method of reloading is "dropping deuces", loading two shells at once.

IMO, neither of those are directly applicable in a defensive scenario. No one will grab a competition shell carrier when they pick up their shotgun for defense. The best thing that you can do is get a side saddle on receiver. That way, you can keep a firing grip on the gun, and reload with your weak hand (one shell at a time).
 
I am no expert but I do not reload when empty... I pop a shell in there at any reasonable pause in shooting. I just keep up with how many I have shot and add (1) or (2) as I go so that I do not find myself empty. Thats how I practice anyway.
 
Room brooms; good training sources....

I do not own any room brooms, ;) .
But I may get a Browning BPS 12ga or a left hand 870 12ga pump in 2013/2014.
For shotgun tips & practical tactics, I would get the skill training DVDs or books of Massad Ayoob, John Shaw, Clint Smith, John Farnam, or maybe Louis Aweback(check spelling).
For books/videos, see: www.massadayoobgroup.com www.gunvideo.com www.paladin-press.com www.deltaforce.com www.nra.org .

I would also suggest using the factory made LE brand 12ga loads. ;)

Stay safe & stay legal...
Clyde
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top