On empty we just drop, with no strip.
Tactical reload we strip with new mag in hand, insert new mag, partially empty mag goes to pocket.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
On empty we just drop, with no strip.
Tactical reload we strip with new mag in hand, insert new mag, partially empty mag goes to pocket.

Exactly this.

Since the first training classes I took in the 90s, I'd always been taught to just let the mag drop when doing a speed reload. Right thumb hitting the mag release and left hand grabbing the reload were done simultaneously.

Tactical reloads were taught as others have described (though, personally, I prefer what I've seen referred to as reload-with-retention).

Not in your line of work, my brother is.

I've always stripped empties out with my off hand. Went shooting today with him and his kids and he was putting his 19X through as many mags as he could today (think he had two dozen loaded up) and he was not stripping mags. He used a mixture of OEM and Magpul mags, various capacities (17,19,21,24,33)

I actually watched him a few times doing reloads and the few times he dropped to his knee to reload, he would flip the gun sideways while ejecting the empty mag then flip it back and reload while standing up and reengaging.

I told him he played too many video games but I acknowledged that he was fast and hit his targets every time. I then told him that if I had free range time and city ammo, I'd be shooting a lot more too.

 
All of my mags drop free. I avoid guns/mags that won't drop free, especially if not empty. This is usually due to the mag pushing the "next up" round forward. I am not a LEO, but come across reloads mostly in IDPA matches. In IDPA I do a "gun empty" or "emergency" reload. If needed, I'll dump a round or two at a target to get to a position where the gun is empty optimally. Most of my fellow shooters, most of whom are more talented than me, do the same. I have practiced both retention and tactical reloads for some time, and am not coordinated enough to make them efficient, time-wise. Occasionally we have some Masters and GM's show up from the Valley, very talented IDPA shooters who perform either retention or tactical reloads so fast you almost never even see the reload. I know how to and can do a Type 3 malfunction clearance fairly well.
 

Probably doesn't help, but I was taught to swing the cylinder out with my left hand, hit the ejector rod, an insert six more with the loader. But I'm a bit older.

Interesting question. Excluding military combat, 99.999 … followed by some more nines percent of reactive reloads (gun empty) occur in training, qualifications, etc. By any statistical measure it therefore shouldn’t matter how anyone does it. I nevertheless discourage my students from pulling magazines out because they seldom do it smoothly and effectively, and it indicates to me that they’re not practiced and confident with any method. Having them just push the mag catch while reaching for the spare seems to go not only faster, but also more confidently.

That said, I admit that like many people my personal experiences about that particular question probably color my thinking. The number of times a magazine has hung up without dropping free when I pressed the catch despite (or perhaps because of) practicing reactive reloads in almost all of my range sessions is virtually none. Other than being practiced, though, part of the reason is because how I do it, using my index finger with both pistols and AR type rifles. I don’t have to shift my grip as much on the handgun, and can apply stronger and more consistent pressure. When I see a pistol magazine hang up it’s almost always because the shooter didn’t get his (or her) hand around into a position to use the thumb effectively.

I suppose that manually stripping the magazine does add some reliability to the process for those (virtually everyone) who have no interest in using their index fingers, so this thread has given me something to think about. Perhaps I should just let people do what they want: pull or let drop. It’s unlikely to ever make any practical difference except if they go to another instructor who might have a hissy fit if they manually strip, and then of course that would reflect back poorly on me.

One of the things I have slowly come to accept is that for the average experienced law enforcement shooter there is little benefit in trying to change long-engrained techniques in hopes of a minor bit of improvement. If someone is operating effectively, what do such efforts accomplish except cause an immediate, even if temporary, degradation in performance?

Hmm ….

If I’ve got a mag or a gun that doesn’t drop mags free, I resolve the issue or replace the offending party all together. Manually stripping a mag should be remedial action at best, IMO.