What else should I be doing to help practice and get more efficient? Besides losing a few pounds. Its been awhile since I wore my war belt and it was a bit tight.
Should I try on the move more? I was engaging two targets in the videos. Rifle target was at 50 yards. Pistol target was at 25 yards. Each mag had 3 rounds.
I was thinking of putting dummy's randomly mixed into the mags with different round counts to practice malfunction drills.

Why are you flipping the rifle over every time?

To check the chamber to see if its empty or a malfunction. Kinda force of habit after a few classes.
Would make more sense if I put some dummies mixed in the mags.

Not bad. Start working on not looking at the rifle when inserting the mag.

Lots of wasted time gripping at the bottom of your magazines, which makes it way harder to guide them into the mag well, then slapping the bottom, then hitting your bolt hold open.  You're also rotating the gun damn near 90 degrees prior to your reload.  I can take or leave the chamber check, I feel it does have some merit; I however will rotate now maybe 30 degrees to get a quick peek, most people don't even notice that I do it.  Yours is very exaggerated, and my guess is most time you don't consciously remember even looking at it.  Cut it back, or eliminate it.

Grip the mags higher, seat them properly once, and you can slide your thumb right up to the bolt hold open and save yourself some time.  As of right now you have 3 distinct motions in your rifle reload, when 1 fluid one will do.

You also bring your handgun in very close and appear to move it off to the right side during your reloads which causes you to turn your head when inserting your magazine.  If you bring it right back to your face you won't have to move your head at all?

Again, this is just looking for stuff because you asked.  If it works for you and you're comfortable with it, I don't see anything wrong with what you're doing.

Don't take your eyes off your target. Practice reloads so you can do it with your eyes closed.

This is all good advice. These are the comments I want. Thats why I did not post in GD.
I noticed my rifle mag changes are a bit sloppy so I will work on grabbing them higher. I am using HSGI tacos so they eat 3/4 of the mag.

Will try more thanks.

Top video was first of the day and the bottom was after a few warm up shots.

You beat me to the punch here with quoting before my edit, I added a little bit more to my original post

Using the TACO, beer can grip the magazine with your pinky and ring finger as close to the base of the mag as you can to get it started out of the pouch.  Squeeze with your middle and index finger once it clears the pouch.  This way you'll be higher on the magazine and faster in the mag well.

If that doesn't work, I'd ditch the TACO's and grab a lower pouch that will allow you to get a grip you're comfortable with.  I have a whole bin of shit I don't use anymore because I found out they simply didnt work for me

I love video taping myself doing these tasks.  I see way more than I can from the first person view.  I commend you for doing this and also posting it for others to observe.

And your slow your chamber check down a bit. Make sure your actually seeing what you think your seeing. Rember 1 slow hit is better than 3 quick misses.

Also. Throw some tac reloads in there too. Not every reload your gonna do in the real-world requires break neck speed and dumping.your mag on the ground. Cause you may not be able to go back and get it.

This, plus what Marksman14 said cover it pretty well.

As its already been mentioned, the beer can grip. I use tacos as well, maybe my hands are smaller but I can get all 4 fingers around the lower portion. Orient the magazines with bullets facing your rear. Don't give it a tap after inserting. Wastes time and if you have mags with weak springs you'll end up with a round popping up and causing mayhem. For the chamber check, if you do shooting in low to no light, are you really going to be able to see if the chamber is empty or you have a malfunction? Set up malfunctions and train yourself to how they "feel", you already know how empty feels.

A BAD Lever may help shave some time when it comes to sending the carrier back into battery after inserting the mag. You just got to get use to sliding your trigger finger down to catch the lever.

i dont think under stress you would notice the difference between empty and a malfunction. But I can feel it on the range. Even with a plate carrier on.
i tried bullets backwards at the beginning of my AR shooting and I change to bullets forward just like my pistol. I put my index finger on the front of the mag to help guide it onto the magwell.

You could easily cut your time in half by keeping your eye on the target, don't spend time flipping the rifle to check for malfunctions, and you should already be grabbing that next mag while depressing the release. And another member gave solid advice regarding insertion and bolt release timing. Here is a video which demonstrates a quick mag change. (not sure who the guy is, but he does a good job IMO)

 
That works on pistols, but trust me. Having a solid grip on the mag is better because it's very easy to have the magazine knocked out of your grip my jamming it against the side of your magwell. Notice that you "hunt and peck" to find the magwell?


Grasp a magazine the way you do it and have someone try and knock it out of your hand. Then do a low beer can grasp on it and have them try again.

That's a good idea. I can definitely see my pistol mag changes are a lot better then my rifle changes.

I would suggest not doing the reloads back to back. By that 6th weapon reload, you look like you're lagging and loosing focus. Fatigue (physical and mental) means you're not getting perfect reps and building those neural pathways. Do a 1-reload-1 with both pistol and rifle under a shot timer. Learn what the bolt locking back feels like. Same with the rifle to pistol transition, that is a separate drill done under a shot timer. If you're so lucky to have a private bay to shoot in, use it to its full potential. Find some of pat McNamara's drills and adapt them.

I work at the range I was on so I go after hours and I have it all to myself.

Can you beer can from a bullet forward orientation?

 
You could. Might have to contort your wrist a bit. Back of your hand against your body, palm out, thumb to the rear.

As soon as you run to bolt lock, quickly move laterally from the position you were in and seek cover.

You can do that while changing mags and keeping your focus on threat awareness to your front.

The Hollywood magazine slap needs to be forgotten.  Don't do it.

As others have said, go with a higher grip on the magazine.

One thing that can help you achieve a faster reload is knowing that the space from the pouch to just before you insert the magazine does not have to be super accurate.

You can rush that portion of travel, then start to focus on being accurate with insertion of the magazine into the well.

I personally index the rear of the feed lips at an angle at the rear opening of the magazine well, then push the magazine into the well firmly until the mag catch engages.

When doing this first, thing PUSH PULL, pull being the opposite direction with the magazine to make sure you inserted it fully.  If you know you're going to pull down, you will quickly learn to insert fully.

There is zero reason for the slap at the base plate.

Most importantly:  Marksmanship.  Shots need to be on-target when doing mag change drills.  That is the most important skill you can train on when doing mag changes live.  I will take shots on target over a fast mag change any day, but if you can do both, even better.

I would also spend more time doing mag changes while taking a knee, in the side prone behind concealment or cover, and while walking or running.

Beer can grip on the mag or hold it like a pistol mag are other options, you look like you're struggling with your grip on the bottom of the magazine.  Whatever you decide, do it deliberately.  
From what I saw you couldn't really make up your mind over how you wanted to hold the mag, and you're losing some control as a result.

Introduce dummy rounds in your mag diet, at :28 in video 1 you flinched pretty hard on the pistol.  
That's an indicator of at least two things: 1) you are, 100%, positively, for-sure, moving without complete control over the pistol, i.e. you're out-running your headlights.  2) either you're unsure of your ability with the pistol or you're head is wrapped up in being filmed.  My guess would be a combination of all three.

I like your use of mutliple rounds before a transition, keep that up, keep it random, keep it "new".  Otherwise your brain might get imprinted with a response after a templated number of rounds, I've seen that happen and it is... ridiculous.

Pistol: Your working space is being mis-used when you bring the weapon closer to your body during reloads.  Don't bring it back twelve inches when you only need three or four.  

Don't forget to reload upon completing fire after a transition.  If you shoot with others you would also be well-served to understand how to perform what's referred to as a "Check"

There's a simple drill called a "One-and-One", you guessed it: it's firing single round mags in pairs.  
Fill your magazine carry system with single-round mags, load another single-round magazine.
On cue: fire, reload, fire.
I use a shot-timer but you don't have to.
Note: I say fill your entire magazine carry system with single-round mags, don't limit your practice to a single "strong" or "primary" magazine pouch.  Specialization is for insects, you on the other hand... you'll want to keep your options open.

Next level:
If you want to get warmed up even more: use all of your magazines and alternate types of reloads.  
For example: Telling a student to perform three emergency reloads and two tactical reloads.  Then I'll have them do it a few times and eventually introduce stress in the form of a shot-timer.

Next level: Do it with multiple rounds in each magazine.  Have a partner pack the mags with a random round count.

Next level: The same as above but with dummy rounds, not the first round and not the last round.  You'll probably also want to introduce cover and joint pads at this point.

Shot timers are scary tools for most shooters because they always want to have fast times right off the bat.  
Don't race the clock, do it right.  Just use the clock to track your progress.
Even better, have a partner stand by with a stop-watch.  It's cheaper and you have a spare set of eyes to help you out.

Otherwise: you look like you're having a good time.

You could, but I wouldn't suggest it.

Gun fights are confusing enough, don't borrow trouble.

Some good suggestions in this thread. If you want to load bullets forward like a pistol mag, then the bottom front corner of the magazine should be in the center of the palm of your hand with the index finger along the front edge just like a pistol mag. This will give you much greater control of the magazine so you don't have to hunt for the magwell. The index finger can find this index on the outside of the mag pouch while retrieving the mag until it clears the pouch. Bullet rearward beer can grip works fine too.


As LRRPF52 said move quickly to the magwell then slow down at the entrance. Jason Falla recommends actually stopping for a split second at this point to align the mag properly when you're first learning.




No need to hit the bottom of the mag. The mag should seat easily during an open bolt reload since there is no resistance on the bullet stack and mag spring from the bottom of the bolt.