magazine reloading question

[Shiz]

I have noticed that some twist the carbine to the right (to about the 4:00 position) and then twist to the left. Is that to have the magazine drop to the side, or to give it enough inertia to fall in a tight magwell, or is it to check to see if the mag is empty, or it is a malfunction? I notice that sometimes, they don't look.

[GeorgiaBoy]

E) All of the above.

Well, its primarily for C. The rolling to the left is to make the chamber available for viewing, so that with just a quick look you can verify that it is indeed a empty chamber, and not a malfuction. This doesn't take but a fraction of the second to look, so thats why it may appear they arent looking at it.

The the fast roll to the right isn't neccesarily to sling the mag out, its to quickly get the gun back into your workspace. The fact that the mag slings out (and can help in tighter magwells) is just a bonus.

Its a very popular reload sequence, and while it has a disadvantage that your barrel is pointing upward in the event of a accidental or negligent discharge, it is helpful in that you can make sure you don' t seat a fresh mag on a double feed or stovepipe.

[jenrick]

I use it as the first step in diagnosing what's wrong with my rifle. I shoot more then enough to know how my rifle feels when it shoots empty, but I want to visually confirm that before I drop a mag with rounds in it. So if I get a click, mush, etc when I expect a bang the first thing I do is look at the chamber area to see what I've got. If it's a locked back bolt, and no more brass it's reload time. Otherwise fix the problem.

-Jenrick