The technique that I just demonstrated is a reload with retention, there’s a couple reasons that you should learn and master this skill.

Number one, for concealed carry holders, it’s very important because, when you leave your house, the ammunition you have on your body is all you have. You might need that mag that you put in your pocket and saved. As far as competition shooters, there are some arenas where this is a valuable technique in order to win matches. 

So let me show you the steps I have learned and I use to do this reliably and efficiently.

The first thing we are going to do is have empty magazines. We verify that my gun is empty. We are going to do this dry fire. First magazine is in the gun. My spare magazine is in the pouch. 

So, I’m up on target. I come back to press the magazine release, take my magazine out and I prefer to put it in my pocket because that allows my support hand to index on my new magazine perfectly. 

I come up, insert it, and come back on target. When I am doing this at home, dry fire, I’ll take that magazine out of my pocket, put it in the mag pouch, and I will continue to swap magazines, one after the other. 

I want to do these reloads to the point that I put it in my muscle memory and I can do it all the time. Now lets go with live fire. 

You’ll notice in the live fire drill the techniques and the steps that I did were exactly the same as in dry fire, even to the point of retrieving the magazine, resetting it in my pouch, to start the drill over again. 

What this allows is a short period of time for me to establish more and more muscle memory movement to master this skill. 

Walking up to these targets, I see something that I really like. All of my hits are in center of mass. That’s very important to me when I am learning a skill, to still maintain my accuracy and focus.  

You’ll also notice when I am doing a drill like this I work from left to right and right to left. You should learn this skill going both directions, it’s very important. 

As in dry firing and live fire, I did not use a timer. Not until I have learned skill and I can do it repeatedly with good muscle memory would I even go get a timer. 

 

When I am ready to use a timer, what I am looking for, from shot to shot between these two targets, will be about a three second par time. 

So practice this skill and when you see me on the range let me know how you’re doing.