If I run these three sub-processes in sequence - even when I am in the middle of a competition course of fire - my reloading is smooth and fast. The biggest cause of screw-ups for me is to let this process slip out of sight and revert to ‘get the rounds into the mag as fast as possible’ mode.


The easiest way to convince yourself that ‘process’ is more important than ‘speed’, even if its counter intuitive, is try one after the other and see the difference in consistency and average times. You might just get a super-fast reload in headless-chicken mode but, you will get consistently faster average reloads if you focus on process. Another trick that works for me is to imagine the fastest I have ever loaded the gun and then consciously reload at 80% of that speed. I always load faster in 80% mode and have significantly fewer fumbles, than if I operate in 100% mode.


I now want to break down each stage into its component parts (again – don’t rely on instinct to do this – make yourself ‘think’ through each step as you do it. It produces a smoother, faster reload).


Stage 1. With your week hand in the ‘dog’s-head shadow puppet’ shape, plant your curled-up pinky and ring-finger on the outer edge of the left-hand side of the caddy. That’s your guide for the lift – keep them in contact with that edge throughout the lift. Your index and middle finger now curl round the bottom shell, your thumb on the top shell, and strip the contents of the caddy out in one positive smooth movement.


When you look at the shells in your hand they should all be sitting firmly on your ring-finger. (Putting the spacer on the LHS ensures the shells are always in the optimum position as they are stripped out of the caddy.)


That’s stage 1 sorted. Most of my mess-ups with reloading are caused by ‘panic’ stripping the caddy. If the shells are not sitting in the right way in your hand you might as well chuck them on the floor (which, by the way, is what you will end up doing anyway). Smooth IS fast.


Stage 2. This stage seems like the most pointless but is very important. With the shells sitting pertly in your hand, carefully index the top of the first shell into the gate on your gun. I use the tip of my index finger to


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‘feel’ the lip on the gate and then move my hand (and the shells in it) forward so the top of the first shell slips into the gate. With your hand (and shells) now indexed you can move to stage 3.


Stage 3. Thumb the rounds into the magazine at 80% speed, paying attention to each shell. Don’t switch over to instinct now, stay focused on the process. Fumbles at this stage are caused by switching your brain onto something else. Again, don’t try and do this as fast as possible – do it smoothly and at 80% and you will be consistent and quick.


If you find that you are having problems getting the shells in smoothly try rotating the gun slightly clockwise down it’s long-axis (so the rib is between 12 and 1 o’clock). Slight canting like this can make a big difference, especially if you have small hands.


When you organise a practice regime with dummy rounds, you should concentrate on the process - don’t focus on speed, at least until you have conquered process. When you are loading live rounds at club shoots, don’t focus on speed, focus on process. What you will notice is that your speed starts to go up without you trying to load faster. Another benefit of this approach is that if you suffer from competition nerves, the mental focus on process tends to reduce anxiety and you end up shooting faster.


At any organized competition there will be a series of different starting options for loading. UKPSA use three different options and its worth figuring these into your practice drills:


Option 1 is a fully loaded start – 1 in the chamber and 8 in the tube (safety ON). So what’s to practice? Nothing at home but, when you get to the line in a competition, don’t load the gun from a box – load it from the caddies - use that time as practice. I keep two six-shell caddies round the back of my belt specifically for this and it means I don’t cheese off the RO by faffing about with a box of shells on the line.


Option 2 is nothing in the chamber and 9 in the tube, bolt forward (obviously on an empty chamber (safety can be off because there is nothing in the chamber). Again, load from your caddy on the line. The practice


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