In early 2016 I was assigned to a security detail with the U.S. Secret Service for a Hillary Clinton rally. You may be wondering how I survived the loss of blood shooting from my eyes, but that is a conversation for another day.
Our agency was there to support the Secret Service who had both uniformed and plain clothed agents assigned to the event. I had worked with the Secret Service at a bunch of events over the years, but on that day one uniformed agent in particular stood out to me. She stood out because she looked like what I can only describe as a “tactical grandma.” She was a wiry, gray-haired lady in black BDUs, wearing double thigh rigs, a tactical vest, and carrying about 42 pistol magazines. Although this lady could have taken on a small army, her arsenal was useless against the shrill voice of the propaganda-laced liberal agenda. But once again, I digress. She looked tough as nails and sharp as a whip (Tactical Grandma, not Mrs. Clinton). All that ammo that Tactical Grandma was running around with made me wonder how she kept track of them all and reminded me of an important shooting tip.
Malfunction!
The majority of all weapon malfunctions are caused by defective magazines which is just one reason why you’ll always want to have spares — and at least one spare if you’re carrying concealed. Extra magazines not only supply you with more bullets, they also serve as a fail-safe for worst case scenario malfunctions. This goes for both pistols and rifles. Besides, ammunition is like Nutella; can you ever really have enough?
Why number your magazines? Well, it’s not that important when you’re in the heat of a gunfight. In fact, it’s not important then at all. When it is important is during all that training and preparation you do before the gunfight — the time spent on the range practicing shooting drills and clearing malfunctions.
Game Day
A long day at the range can reveal deficiencies in both your competency and your equipment. Identifying and working through problems is one of the great benefits of training. This point is super important to understand because when you do you will no longer game your training which some of us Type-A’s tend to do. We always want to be the best at everything and typically live by the motto, If you’re not cheating you’re not trying. What we should being doing is use that training time in a safe, controlled environment to challenge ourselves and push the envelope to induce failures of both our ability and of our equipment. Without those failures we can never correct them, improve, and set ourselves up for success on game day — also known as the day when someone tries to kill us.
They All Look Alike
On a typical training day, when you do have a firearm malfunction that is not correctable with a simple tap-and-rack, the next step is to dump the magazine and insert a new one. With the bad magazine on the ground and your ammunition replenished, you continue on with the drill. After the drill is over and the firing line is safe, you and everyone else pick up their magazines, top them off, and continue on with the day. Then two drills later, you have another malfunction, go through the same motions, and finish the day without ever addressing the magazine that was causing all the problems. Why? Because all your magazines look alike! And what’s worse, that magazine may go back into your duty belt or onto your SWAT kit where it lies in wait, hiding in plain sight, to ruin your day when the proverbial poo hits the fan and the life of yourself or someone else is on the line.
However, if your magazines had been numbered, you’d know which one was causing the problem and pull it from your kit. If they’re not numbered, you’ll be left wondering was it magazine number 2 or was it, in Granny’s case, magazine number 42? With a numbered magazine you can know exactly which one caused the problem, pull it from your kit, fix it, or throw it away. It’s an ounce of prevention that will save you a pound of cure.
Half The Battle
Numbering your magazines doesn’t have to be complicated. Maybe you’re a mouth-breather, not good at math, or can’t count all the way up to 42. That’s okay. Feel free to mark them with stencils, stickers, colored tape, letters, hash marks, or emojis. It really doesn’t matter how you mark them as long as you are able to tell the difference between which magazine is which so you can weed out the problem mag.
Like G.I. Joe says, “Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.” The other half is actually doing it.
So, go do it.
__________________________
- Do you cheat and game your training?
- Are you properly caring for your gear?
- Have you ignored problems uncovered by good training?
- Are you ready for game day?
__________________________
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