I’m an advocate of training in your gear and training more than just shot placement and distance. Gear adds a unique challenge to shooting. Shooting a tight Failure-to-Stop drill slick at 25m in under 2 seconds can be simple. However, add a helmet and plates and you’ll find that getting a solid cheek weld and your stock tucked into your shoulder is significantly harder. The worst time to test gear is when you need it. Train in your gear, and train often.

In the video below I’m practicing emergency reloads while using the Daniel Defense MK18 which I’ve done a review on earlier. It has a Surefire SOCOM556-RC suppressor. The optic mounted on the MK18 is the Aimpoint T-1 micro which has been left on for about 3 years now. Due to the fact that I’m primarily using a suppressor I have a Vltor A5 recoil system, which is basically a rifle length buffer tube and spring. This allows me to control the vicious cycling of a 10.3 inch DI gun with a suppressor mounted. There are other innovative ways to tame the high cyclic rate of the MK18 such as an adjustable gas block or a BCG that is vented.

I’m a huge proponent of practicing all types of reloads. I think that the most important type are tactical. However, depending on what you do or the situation you are in you may need to utilize the emergency reload. The emergency reload is a worst-case scenario. In any case, get out there and shoot some guns gentlemen.