3 Gun Competition Strategy - Should you Drop a Partially Full Mag on the Run to Save Time?

There are a million and one techniques that you can apply in a 3 Gun Competition to speed up your time and increase your performance. Everyone must choose which strategies they will apply and which they won't.

One strategy that most people don't apply - and yet can actually be very effective - is to strategically time the dropping and replacing a magazine in their AR-15 while on the run from one location to another while making their way through the shooting stage.

Most people simply wait until they run out of ammo during a 3 gun stage before they drop and replace a mag. There is nothing wrong with this strategy. It is very practical and reflects a tendency to minimize waste.

However, let me present another perspective on minimizing waste: 

• ​Dropping and replacing a mag takes time away from shooting
• Running between cover locations to the next target takes time away from shooting

Consequently, wouldn't it be wise to perform both of these activities simultaneously so as to minimize the amount of time wasted? Wouldn't it be better to be able to focus on shooting when you are standing in a location in which you can shoot, rather than having to reload and unnecessarily add extra seconds to your time?

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating dropping a mag that has 20 rounds in it. However, lets say you:

• Have 6 rounds in your mag
  
• You are about to reach a location in a stage in which you are expecting to make roughly 20 fairly rapid shots without much down time
  
• You are going to have to run 10 yards to get to that location from the location you are in now

In such a case, why not drop and replace your mag during the 10 yard run so that when you arrive and the next location, you can make all 20 shots in rapid succession without having to stop and waste time reloading?

Obviously, this is not a decision that should be made in the moment while you are in the middle of shooting the 3 Gun stage. It is a decision that should be made before even beginning the shooting stage in the first place.

When you are first hearing the course of fire presented to you before the stage, mentally count each of the shots that are going to be required and look for "wasted time" sections of the course in which you will not be able to shoot, but will simply be on the move. If you calculate that your mag will be fairly low on ammo and unable to make it through the next section of shooting on this course, then this may be a good place to drop and replace your nearly empty mag.

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