04-29-2013, 11:06 PM
You want to train for both, but 99% of your mag changes will be tactical reloads. There's a Marine who is paralyzed from the waist down because his unit never trained on any type of reloading procedure. You frequently see him in many of the Magpul training videos in a wheelchair.
Whatever type of organization you are in, you want to train your weapons manipulation in all the types of uniform/gear ensembles you could possibly be in, and from behind cover for most situations, as well as in inopportune scenarios such as
* running from cover to cover where in a worst-case, you didn't have time to reload,
* during break-contact drills,
* around buildings and different types of structures,
* around vehicles, etc.
It's then important to work your individual weapon manipulation and marksmanship drills into your 2-man buddy teams so that communication and coordination are emphasized, which allows constant fire or observation on key avenues of approach/enemy contact, while managing the micro logistics aspect of the soldier's load.
One useful approach to this is to simulate these scenarios with the unit and compete with each other, while the others watch your performance to give you feedback. One unit I spent a little time with did this by having us all take a knee in a circle facing each other, and each guy would go through a mag change individually, followed by the next while someone ran a stopwatch.
That said, most of the mag-change drills need to be part of a Close Quarters Marksmanship live-fire package, since fully-loaded mags handle much differently than empties.
Whatever type of organization you are in, you want to train your weapons manipulation in all the types of uniform/gear ensembles you could possibly be in, and from behind cover for most situations, as well as in inopportune scenarios such as
* running from cover to cover where in a worst-case, you didn't have time to reload,
* during break-contact drills,
* around buildings and different types of structures,
* around vehicles, etc.
It's then important to work your individual weapon manipulation and marksmanship drills into your 2-man buddy teams so that communication and coordination are emphasized, which allows constant fire or observation on key avenues of approach/enemy contact, while managing the micro logistics aspect of the soldier's load.
One useful approach to this is to simulate these scenarios with the unit and compete with each other, while the others watch your performance to give you feedback. One unit I spent a little time with did this by having us all take a knee in a circle facing each other, and each guy would go through a mag change individually, followed by the next while someone ran a stopwatch.
That said, most of the mag-change drills need to be part of a Close Quarters Marksmanship live-fire package, since fully-loaded mags handle much differently than empties.