I know that several of you carry backup guns and I am curious about how you practice with them, if at all. I would be willing to bet that many of you practice with them very little. How many of you practice with them the way they would be employed in real life? What I mean is that a back-up gun is just that, it is a gun that you go to only when your primary gun fails or you are unable to get to your primary weapon. In the same way that you practice clearing and reloading drills you should practice employing your backup gun.
My main gun is a Glock 23 carried behind my right hip with two spare mags carried behind my left hip. My backup gun is a Ruger LCP carried in my left front pants pocket "ALWAYS". A spare mag for the LCP is in a right hand pants pocket. Even if the Glock isn't there the LCP is in the same place. Despite being right handed I have trained myself to be proficient with my left hand, thanks mostly to Cowboy Action Shooting. The LCP is my left hand gun for all practical purposes. I have recently gotten into the habbit of incorporating my backup into my practice sessions the same way that it would be employed in real life. I have more than 15 mags for my Glocks so what I will do is I will load some dummy rounds in with the live ammunition in a couple of mags at the start of the session, some with two dummies back to back. I will also load some mags with just a few rounds of live ammo. If, during practice, my gun goes dry I grab a spare off my left side , reload, and get back up and running. If, during shooting, I get one failure to fire I simply rack the slide and pull the trigger again and, if the gun goes bang, I continue to practice. If, however, I get two failures to fire in a row I will reholster the pistol with my right hand and draw my backup with my left hand. By mixing up the mags before hand I never know what is coming so I learn to expect the unexpected.
As I said earlier, the other reason for a backup gun is that you can't get to your primary. That is the main reason that I choose to carry the LCP on the left side. For whatever reason, there may be times you find it neccesary to draw your backup first. When this happens you will want to be familiar with reloading your backup and transitioning from your backup to your primary. Since my backup is a 380 I generally fire at least 3 rounds. With 7 rounds in the gun this means that the gun will run dry quickly so I usually practice transitioning to the Glock though I also do practice reloads. When transitioning to the Glock I don't usually waste time reholstering until after the Glock is drawn. I use this opportunity to practice firing one handed with my right hand. When practicing reloading the LCP I drop the mag using my left index finger and reloading with my right hand, ALWAYS. That is the way it is carried and fired and that is the way I practice reloading.
So what do you do?
My main gun is a Glock 23 carried behind my right hip with two spare mags carried behind my left hip. My backup gun is a Ruger LCP carried in my left front pants pocket "ALWAYS". A spare mag for the LCP is in a right hand pants pocket. Even if the Glock isn't there the LCP is in the same place. Despite being right handed I have trained myself to be proficient with my left hand, thanks mostly to Cowboy Action Shooting. The LCP is my left hand gun for all practical purposes. I have recently gotten into the habbit of incorporating my backup into my practice sessions the same way that it would be employed in real life. I have more than 15 mags for my Glocks so what I will do is I will load some dummy rounds in with the live ammunition in a couple of mags at the start of the session, some with two dummies back to back. I will also load some mags with just a few rounds of live ammo. If, during practice, my gun goes dry I grab a spare off my left side , reload, and get back up and running. If, during shooting, I get one failure to fire I simply rack the slide and pull the trigger again and, if the gun goes bang, I continue to practice. If, however, I get two failures to fire in a row I will reholster the pistol with my right hand and draw my backup with my left hand. By mixing up the mags before hand I never know what is coming so I learn to expect the unexpected.
As I said earlier, the other reason for a backup gun is that you can't get to your primary. That is the main reason that I choose to carry the LCP on the left side. For whatever reason, there may be times you find it neccesary to draw your backup first. When this happens you will want to be familiar with reloading your backup and transitioning from your backup to your primary. Since my backup is a 380 I generally fire at least 3 rounds. With 7 rounds in the gun this means that the gun will run dry quickly so I usually practice transitioning to the Glock though I also do practice reloads. When transitioning to the Glock I don't usually waste time reholstering until after the Glock is drawn. I use this opportunity to practice firing one handed with my right hand. When practicing reloading the LCP I drop the mag using my left index finger and reloading with my right hand, ALWAYS. That is the way it is carried and fired and that is the way I practice reloading.
So what do you do?
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