I have seen the Iraqi Reload technique for the AK before, and frankly my first impression was “meh, I’m not holding my rifle up by the bolt handle thank you very much” but recently a buddy has become a convert. The annoying kind of convert actually…
He is damn well doing everything in his power to convince me it is the “best way.”
I don’t get it. Essentially it is a reloading with a strong hand charging, the only difference is that you are “splitting” the charging in half with the “rack” before the mag is removed, and the “release” after the new mag is seated. I can’t see any economy of motion here, it is the same friggin thing! The right hand is breaking grip, charging the rifle, and reacquiring grip. Breaking up the task doesn’t make it quicker, if anything it might make it slower I would think.
In my mind there are only so many ways to do the same amount of work with the exact same hands…as long as the actions and distances traveled remain the same then there is no “technique” advantage.
Unless one considers holding the rifle by the charging handle to be an advantage.
Am I missing something here?
Ready to be educated.
While in Russia last June I discussed this very topic with some guys from Alpha - they felt the same way I do; it’s a gimmick reload and not something you would want to attempt while moving, kneeling, getting shot at, etc.
That to me settles it as I would venture to say Alpha is the most proficient unit in the world that uses AK’s as a primary service rifle
Thanks for the input guys, I completely agree.
I can’t see any advantage over simply reload and charging…it is the same thing without the added risk of loosing control of the rifle.
For me personally, I like to keep things simple and have the same manual of arms regardless if I’m standing, kneeling, moving, wet, or cold. Especially the cold part…it was -22 with a brisk wind a couple days ago up here. Not a good idea to get cute with weapon manipulations when your hands are starting to go numb.
Not a fan of this type of reload for reasons mentioned. I will however note that I will use a similar technique to do an ammo change over or slug select load with say a Benelli shotgun with a tac style handle. Of course I am not slapping out a mag and am generally doing that ammo change over from a stable position. Not apples to apples and I only bring this up as I was accused of doing an Iraqi load with the shotgun and I found it amusing.
I too am curious what position the Alpha folks take on charging.
My personal opinion is any and all of them can be fast if you practice them.
The fastest reload I ever saw in the flesh was from a Ukrainian guy I went to school with close to 20 years ago now. He flipped the mag out with his support hand, grabbed a fresh on off his belt and rocked it in then ran the bolt with his strong hand. None of the over/under stuff, nor the knocking out the old mag with the new one…yet he was very fast, and perhaps more importantly very smooth.
You can get fast at any technique if you practice it enough.
I find it easier to insert the mag while tilting the rifle about 45 degrees, since the rifle is already there its easier to just reach under and charge since its already in position.
I blame a liveleak video for the name. Anywho, the roots of this reload hail from Saiga-12 reloads in USPSA multigun (especially before people really started racing them out).
There are some advantages that are 12ga specific:
-Easier to properly seat a mag with the bolt held back (makes no difference at all with the rifles though)
-Harder to manually short-charge and cause a misfeed (a training issue really but also something that one is more prone to do with the S12)
It does work OK in that role. You know, standing upright and still and not being shot at. My guess is that some people witnessed some fast S12 reloads and thought it would transfer 100% over to a rifle without understanding the rationale or the cons of said method.
Thanks for the history Dave. Makes a bit more sense.
As I stated above I couldn’t figure out why anyone would want to do this as it is still simply a reloaded with strong side charging…splitting up the action doesn’t make it any quicker as one is still charging with the right hand. All at once, or half now and half later…still the same movement, range of motion and distance to travel.
Now racking the bolt so you can load a 12 ga in a competition…at least their is some logic to it.
So, is it safe to assume this really has nothing to do with Iraq?
