I get this a lot… Guy wants to train, but can’t afford it.
I understand this. Ammo is expensive. Training courses are expensive. Training Videos are expensive. (That’s like 2 boxes of ammo!) And YouTube sucks for serious stuff.
So what’s a guy to do?
There is not secret magic tricks or spells to learning how to run your gun. Basically it comes down to One Thing. Keeping your gun running. That means you need to master two skills. Reloading and Stoppage Drills. And most of this is Reloading. Speed Reloads and Tactical Reloads. I’ll do a video on this maybe this weekend.
A Speed Reload is when your gun runs empty and you have to reload fast. Hence the name. This is your #1 thing to practice. If you practice nothing else, your Speed Reload is the one to work on. The next is your Tactical Reload. This is when your gun is not yet completely empty (something you don’t really want anyway) and you switch mags to a fresh full mag. You still have a few rounds left in the mag in the gun so you want to hold on to it. So you pull the partial mag out, and insert the full one, while holding on to the partial so you can use those rounds later. The Malfunction Drills are important too… but it’s harder to practice those without firing some rounds.
The idea is to keep your gun “Up”. If you can do that, you are solid.
You can practice your speed reloads while at home… in your apartment… in your office maybe. While watching a movie or TV. Clear your gun, empty a couple mags, and practice swapping mags. It’s important to practice while standing, using your gear you would normally use. So if you carry your spare mags in a pocket, that’s how you practice. But I don’t recommend your pockets for spare mags – even though all of us do it at times.
If you get your reloads down, your well on your way.
Next time, we’ll talk about Dry Firing. This is all about Trigger Control. That’s another critical skill that can be mastered without using ammo.