Home AR-15 RELOADING AN AR-15

RELOADING AN AR-15

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Understanding how to reload the AR-15-type rifle, carbine, or braced pistol is very important if you stage one for home defense. The way you reload should be congruent with the context of use, without visual reference, making sure the magazine is seated and running the charging handle. Rob Pincus demonstrates the proper reload procedure step by step.

THE RELOAD
While shooting the AR, you will recognize by kinesthetic feel when the bolt locks open and the weapon is empty. As the empty magazine drops to the ground, bring your weak hand back to your spare magazine. Pull the spare magazine out of its mag pouch, index the front of the magazine, find the edge of the magazine well, push the magazine in, and make sure it’s seated. Come back up (still with the weak hand) and run the charging handle to get the AR back into battery.

Then you can continue shooting or put the safety on and leave the AR in the ready position.

EYES UP
Note which steps Rob performs without looking at what he is doing. Through your rifle training and practice, you should perform this procedure enough times that you can do it by feel and keep your eyes on the threat. Doing it by feel means you will also be able to perform the reload in low or no light.

KEEP THE AR DOWN LOW AND CLOSE
Rob lowers the AR and brings it in close to his body while doing the reload because a real-life situation will probably not have the wide open space of a shooting range. He may be moving, around a car, back behind cover, in a narrow hallway, or any other confined space in a house. He can move much more efficiently with the gun down low and close in to the body.

He may turn the AR in slightly to find the magwell.

If you have questions about shouldering an AR pistol with brace, check out our video on this topic.

REVIEW
Rob demonstrates the reload again, with close-up camerawork.

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4 COMMENTS

  1. Under pressure, while moving, and while shooting from awkward positions, it is much harder to “kinesthetically” notice the bolt locking open. And why wouldn’t you just hit the bolt release after reloading?

  2. Too bad Rob Pincus votes for Democrats or hopeless third party candidates because of his stubbornness. It’s because of people like him that we are facing assault weapon and magazine bans in Oregon, Illinois and Michigan.

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