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Posted: 5/11/2009 5:14:47 PM EDT
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What loading technique do you employ and what equipment do you use to implement this technique?
Empty gun? Tac load? |
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This is pretty subjective based on what and why you are reloading. I've never had to try to be uber-tactical, but I've done some 20+ round stages of three-gun matches with the shotgun where lots of loading was required. In that arena the belt-worn California strippers are fast, but not very transferrable to a home-defense application.
I also have a Blackhawk bandolier that I keep under the bed stoked with defensive rounds, and I use it in competition as well. It flops around too much and is slow to remove shells- the bandolier moves when you pull on it and its only easy to pull one or two at a time. There are better bandoliers on the market that strap down to the belt and have supporting ties to keep them in place when you remove shells, but again not as practical for a rush in home defense. I have a side saddle on the HD gun that I also use for 3-gun, I've become pretty good at reloading from it, but it's only 6 shots- mag holds 8. My truck gun holds 5 in the elastic bands on the stock, slower than the sidesaddle but still acceptable and faster than pulling from the bandolier- even if it was already on. I don't have the 8-shell arm carrier yet but I've seen guys use them in competition and they can be very fast, might be OK for defense as well if you can put them on quick. For hunting I carry a few rounds in my pockets, then a box in a backpack. |
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Since I don't compete. I usually just grab some shells from the box, load, then rack the slide.
I do have a 6-shot elastic shell holder on my stock and someday I might get a 6-round tac star holder if I can find a shorter forward grip that is in mossy oak or get one mossified. 
All shells are upside down (brass to the ground). |
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I have only shot at the range so far so my experience is limited.
For an empty gun, I load with the gun lowered and upright while grasping the stock in the same manner as I do while shooting (I have the Knoxx stock). My left hand feeds the shells up into the mag tube blindly. I have a side saddle I use for reloading and do all the reloading at the line with the shotgun at my shoulder. The side saddle holds 6 shells and I practice both left handed loading and right handed loading. I right hand load by supporting the shotgun with my left hand with the forend all the way back, reaching up and over and taking a shell, brass up, out and loading it into the receiver. Fire that shell and repeat the process and so on. I practice both because I keep four shells of buckshot brass down and two slugs brass up, but I think I'll change to keeping all slugs in the side saddle. 6 buckshot should more than take care of interior threats and I'm thinking all slugs in the saddle would be better for exterior threats ... provided I don't grab something else instead. I also just received a Knoxx PowerPack that has a 6 shell stock holder. I need to play around with reloading from that, but I'm thinking I want to keep the shells brass down for left handed reloads. In any case, try not to load in a "relaxed" manner (shotgun upside down while looking). Loading blindly is awkward at first, but after a while it will become second nature to you. The Box O' Truth has an article about fighting with a shotgun that goes into detail about tactical reloads. It's lesson #83. Oh, I also recommend getting some snap caps. You can practice loading all you want in the comfort of your home and they also come in very handy for interior "drills" ... which my wife shakes her head over, but realizes the importance of. |
| I just grab 5 shells and put try to keep them as level as I can in my hand. Then, I start sticking shells in the tube, as rapidly and fluidly as I can. With either hand I can get all in my 870P in about 4 to 5 seconds, on my Mossberg 500 it takes about 3.5 seconds. I still haven't tested it on my Benelli M4. I try to practice with both hands, at loading; although for some reason I do it better with my offhand, I am left handed by the way. I just try to get it to about one shell a second. The key to my technique is being able to keep the shells level in your hand, and being able to move them from finger to finger. |
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Quoted:
Aren't these fine motor skills (move from finger-to-finger) the ones that disappear when you get into a fight or flight situation? Yes, but practice will lessen the effects (imo). Like mag changes in a handgun, reloads tighter to the chest and within view are typically the most sure methods. With a shotgun you want to tuck your gun and hands in close so that the weight is not hanging off the end of your arms- keeping better control of your fingers and shells. For example try quickly putting the cap on a pen at arms length, against your chest, and about 1/2 way between. That 1/2 way is nice and where you will be fastest. Also, just like you lift your handgun up to just below your chin for reloads, don't leave the shotgun down at the waist or rest it on your knee/leg. Tuck the stock under an armpit to bring the loading port up and back towards the chest. There are two ways to position the shotgun for loading, rightside-up and upside-down. I like upside-down so I can see the loading port and to keep my fingers off the trigger. Loading rightside-up with the weak hand leaves the strong hand on the grip and I've *ahem* seen NDs that way. This also hangs a lot of the shotgun out away from where you are supporting it, making it move around a lot more and giving you less control while loading. If loading with the weak hand I prefer to load directly into the ejection port with one shot, close the action and if still loading, change to strong hand. I've seen a few guys toss the stock over their strong-side shoulder and pull shells from the bandolier, arm band or side saddle and stuff them into the loading port. I'm not very good at it but it's pretty fast, great view and easy to reach ammo from all three places that way. I really think that would be fastest if I practiced it, right now I tuck the stock under my armpit but I think clamping the stock with my arm is making my movements slower just a little bit. The idea is to be as relaxed and natural in the movements as possible. Take that for what it's worth- I've never been to a shotgun class and I'm just a desk jockey who shoots, but that's what I've noticed with my shotguns. I was really hoping somebody with a resume on this stuff would chime in. |
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practice this loading technique...........................
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrlsElWfnC0 |
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Quoted:
practice this loading technique........................... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrlsElWfnC0 If you practice this drill make sure you pull the forearm smartly and fully to the rear. The video is a good example of someone short stroking. Which is a very common mistake with pump shotguns. |
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Port loading is pretty quick, but loading the tube is better overall in the long run. Agreed but sometimes you need to shoot right now.
Or swap ammo types. Shuck, dump, load, shuck, shoot. I've never used it and it seems to only be useful when the mag is completely empty, otherwise you are putting a shell on a shell. The dump part above is not very fast or reliable. On 3-gun stages I just count rounds and try to get the right shell in the right spot of the magazine, but in the real world (not that I use a shotgun in the real world) it seems like it would be better to stuff the round in the magazine and shucka-shucka. If you trained that way you wouldn't get into trouble by accidently putting a round on top of a round in the port when you thought it was empty either. But that's also a bit slower- |
| Using the port load method to switch between slugs and shot is a bit more tricky because you have to get rid of that shell that is about to be chambered. If the magazine has space for another shell I'd rather put that slug in the tube and just cycle the shotgun once. |
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decent instructional video - video quality sucks though
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1XtSGn8JUQ&feature=related |
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Quoted:
Using the port load method to switch between slugs and shot is a bit more tricky because you have to get rid of that shell that is about to be chambered. If the magazine has space for another shell I'd rather put that slug in the tube and just cycle the shotgun once. That is called a "select slug" drill. You are correct, the easiest way to do it on most shotguns is to insert the slug into the magazine (if there is room) and cycle the action ejecting the live round and cycling the slug into the chamber. The procedure is different on shotguns that have a magazine interrupter like the Benelli. It gets a little more difficult if the SG is fully loaded. |
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