[Full Size]

Ok, this weekend Our local match will be shot in low light conditions. While this is new to me and I have been practicing a lot I am curious how you would reload while holding a light in yor weak hand.
My technique (shooting a Springfield TRP operator) will be holding my Surefire light in my weak hand (left hand) between index and middle finger with base of light pressed against palm to activate. I have been trying to reload while keeping the light in my hand and have also held the light in my mouth during reload.
How do you reload under these conditions? Pros and cons of either way I mentioned?
I'm anxious for your answers!
-Chris

 

[BillD]

I don't believe I would reload while holding a flashlight. Maybe in a match but not in training or for real.

You can stick it in a pocket while you reload.

If you are trying to win the match, get a railed pistol

 

[Ricky T]

Stick the light under the strong armpit.

 

[eljay45]

Holding the flaslight just as you describe I move my week hand to the mag carrier just as if I had no light. Grasp the mag between your thumb and index finger while still holding the light. Reload and continue shooting. This method prevents having to shift the light around from hand to pocket or armpit or wherever else you might want to put it.

 

[eljay45]

double tap

 

[Greyson]

Ahhhh yes. Ye olde low-light/no-light flashlight problem.

Just finished a 3 days handgun course, 1800 rounds, every shot and reload taken with a flashlight in the weak hand.

All of the above suggestions work. And in some cases may even work better than my next suggestion. However what many of us are doing is putting a metal or rubber ring (key chain loop or in my case a flash-bang pin) on the light that one can slip though a finger on the weak hand.

This allows the user to flip the light around as needed and if one should totally loose control of the light, it is still on the hand. Not on the ground.

I have seen, and done, a similar technique with para-cord but it isn't nearly as effective as a ring. Not to sound too flip, but all the ninjas are doing it.

You will find a ring works well with either a syringe hold or a standard flashlight hold. And the neat thing is it allows one to switch between the two at will.

Regards,
Greyson

 

[jjey3]

If you're using the typical SureFire flashlight, and you're using a modified Hargreaves or a Rogers-SureFire Technique (which it sounds like), then it's very easy to still grasp a magazine with your off-hand index finger and thumb to pull from its holder and insert during a regular reload. Either way, your weak-side palm will still be the workhorse in that maneuver. I have shot over a dozen night matches and I always use either a two cell (G2Z) or three cell (M3) SureFire light for this specific technique. The reason why many often mention to tuck the light under your strong-side armpit during a reload is from the days of using a larger Streamlight or Maglite during your low-light/no-light techniques. It is still a widely accepted method as Sreamlight/Maglite rechargeables are still in large use in many LE applications, and thus, the same training circles focus on that. There's nothing wrong with that technique. The fastest and equally safe method is the one I previously mentioned. Large hands/long fingers are not required. I'm pretty sure it couldn't hurt, though.

Jim


Edit... eljay already mentioned it.

 

[ColtLover]

Good posts on a good thread. You definitely need to free up your thumb. Big hands will help considerably....I should have been a OBGYN.:dope: A magwell will help, too. I use a G2Z but also a Streamlight Scorpion. I dislike lanyards for concealed carry and simply learned through all of this. One thing that helped is all the fly-fishing I have done... the intricate manipulations have helped me a lot in competitive shooting.

 

[dijon]

I use the rubber O-ring that Greyson describes and I have tucked it under the strong side armpit. The O-ring takes some getting used to but it does seem faster to get back into action for me. I did have to get a smaller O-ring than I originally tried to keep the flashlight from swinging back around my finger when I didn't want it to. When I was taking my last LL class my instructor asked how it felt with the flashlight and I said 'damn uncomfortable'... he said I had it right then

Good shooting at your match,
dijon

 

[kevins_garage]

I have seen a few guys use the lanyard technique quite effectively in matches. They simply let go of the flashlight and let it dangle from their wrist while changing their mag (I think it helps to have a piece on the lanyard that will allow you to cinch it to your wrist, so there's no chance of it falling off your wrist/arm completely). When finished, they sort of dropped/swung their hand, caught the light, and went back to shooting. I guess they practice doing mag changes in the dark a lot. I think I do recall one guy say he did stuff a mag in backwards somehow, but don't know for sure what happened. IIRC, it was basically pitch black, not just a low light situation.

 

[RickB]

When we do low-light stuff at our club, the light has to start in a pocket, so most people don't "sling up" when the buzzer goes off. Since pocketing a mag is something I'm already conditioned to do, I'll put the light in a pocket while I reload, then pull it out again after the reload. I don't know that I would want to stow the light, "on the street", but I don't like the idea of having it out of my hand but not positively retained (armpit). I have a cord on my light, rigged in the manner suggested by Clint Smith, IIRC, and I would use the cord if I had advance knowlege that I was going to need the light. In that situation, I let the light dangle while I reload as usual, then swing the light back up into my grasp. It's pretty easy to do, after a few practice runs.

 

[ColtLover]

Lanyards aren't hard to use with a gun in LL reload situation... once you have them on. To me they are really impractical to carry around in the pocket. The Rogers-Surefire technique will help because the light goes between the index and middle fingers on the reload as well. Free up the thumb.

 

[spiderman]

funny, i came on the forum tonight to post the same topic about our night match this weekend.... which match are you shooting this at? im going to be at Albany Rifle and Pistol Club. just wondering if were going to be at the same match...

 

[Full Size]

funny, i came on the forum tonight to post the same topic about our night match this weekend.... which match are you shooting this at? im going to be at Albany Rifle and Pistol Club. just wondering if were going to be at the same match...

Probably not the same match. I live in Fairbanks Alaska and will be attending our local match. I'd be interested to hear how you do. I'll post my results if they're not too embarrasing!
-Full Size

 

[spiderman]

i'll do the same, i got a funny feeling it might turn into a spray and pray type thing, lol. we have one stage thats flares only, no flashlights, and one thats using a police lightbar only, no flashlights, the rest are with flashlights. so this should be entertaining to watch...:rofl: i gotta feeling im not going to be the only one having "issues"... ya let us know how that match goes!

 

[ColtLover]

Probably not the same match. I live in Fairbanks Alaska and will be attending our local match. I'd be interested to hear how you do. I'll post my results if they're not too embarrasing!
-Full Size

If Bill F. is running that show or even shooting... get with him or go see him at his shop if it's till open. He is one of the best shooters that I know and although I don't think he competes nationally very much anymore, he is very saavy shooter and would be a threat to win any match on any level. A nasty revolver man.

 

[spiderman]

alright fullsize, spill, how did you do? i got lucky and took first in both the night match and the monthly match in the Single Stack division :rock: . even a blind squirel finds a nut every now and then, lol. how did you do up there???

 

[Full Size]

Not too good.....

I didn't shoot nearly as good as I could have. Instead of listing all of my excuses I'll say that it was a great learning experience and now I have a better idea of what to practice! It was, however, a lot of fun.

 

[RickB]

Shooting in low light is definitely something you don't want to be exposed to for the first time, with something more important than a match score on the line. It's much tougher than it looks. I missed an opportunity to shoot on Saturday night, but will have another chance in a couple of weeks.

 

[spiderman]

i agree RickB, i did ok on the night match but it was VERY humbling. i was shooting at maybe half normal speed with much worse accuracy. im definently going to be practicing that more often seeing as how i carry a lot at night....