Nnobby45 writes:
Is that how you really train to reload with your life on the line?
You tap, then attempt to rack as you roll the pistol to lose the smoke stack, but can't because the magazine is already racked (in lock back). Then, after it won't release, you realize the mag's empty, and that you need to reload the pistol. So you release the magazine and do a normal reload.
Interesting-- where'd you learn such a doctrine? What advantage does it have over the normal reload that would have your pistol recharged in half the time?
Yes. Anytime I press the trigger and the pistol doesn't fire I immediately perform Tap, Roll & Rack. I don't examine the pistol in attempt to diagnose the problem.
The problem can be more than a simple failure to eject (smoke stake). I can have a defective cartridge, an unseated magazine in which the slide cycles but no round is chambered, a depleted magazine, a failure to extract (doublefeed), etc. For any of these problems the immediate action is the same: Tap, Roll & Rack
If the pistol doesn't fire when I press the trigger again, I Reload.
I've trained until these are conditioned immediate actions. I can perform them very quickly. I can perform them in total darkness because I don't need to look at my pistol to diagnose the problem. I can progress through my immediate actions, clear a doublefeed and have the pistol running in less than 8 seconds - blindfolded.
Also I don't make any effort to detect that the slide is out of battery when I Rack. If Tap, Roll & Rack doesn't get the gun running I immediately progress to Reload. The slide can be out of battery due to a failure to extract (double feed), a depleted magazine, an improper grip that inadvertantly engaged the slide lock (possibly as a result of an injury or a wet pistol), or a failure to eject (stovepipe). If I suffer a stovepipe, and detect that the slide is out of battery, I don't want to assume that my magazine is depleted and perform an unecessary Reload.
Likewise if I train to detect that the slide is out of battery, and then perform such and such technique, I don't want to take it for granted that I'll detect that the slide is out of battery during a gunfight. Unexpected things happen during a gunfight - I know of a couple of dash cam videos of cops who drew their pistol, fired one round and were unable to get the pistol to fire again because they didn't relax their trigger finger to allow the trigger to reset. They stood there pressing and pressing the trigger. Stuff like this doesn't just happen to other people - it could happen to me, therefore I don't want to train for failure.
With combative techniques, reliable, positive manipulation is more important than pure speed. A competitive technique may be faster than a combative technique but its only faster if conditions allow it to be faster. The idea is to use a technique that works everytime - even in worst case conditions.
Simplicity of technique is important too, to minimize your mental load and allow you to focus outward on the danger to keep from being shot/cut/beaten instead of focusing inward on your equipment, which increases your risk.
I learned my combative techniques from Jeff Gonzales, a former Navy SEAL who operates TridentConcepts (
www.tridentconcepts.com).
Cheers!