Transitioning to Backup Gun
If you carry a backup gun, you must train transitioning from your primary to your backup, even though it involves something you may not want to do: dropping your primary gun. Rob Pincus discusses issues surrounding dropping the primary, then demonstrates a drill that includes transitioning when the primary reaches slide lock or malfunctions.
Yep… Ive even tested if it is faster to reload or switch guns.http://www.balloongoesup.com/blog/maybe-two-guns-isnt-faster-and-isnt-as-good-as-reloading/
Ron, my friend Duane Thomas did the same thing while I was on the range with him (his article on it appeared in SWAT). Our conclusion was the same, it isn’t a time saver but pretty much a wash. I believe the New York Reload concept is a hold over from the revolver days. That said, it would be helpful in the event of a failure of your primary or if you needed to arm someone else.
I think you should add one thing to the training. If the slide locks, you should re-holster, and if the gun malfunctions, you should pocket the firearm. I don’t think it is wise to leave even an unloaded gun anywhere…especially not during a defensive situation. Basically the discarded firearm is an anchor for you. That could be disastrous if you need to move to a new point of cover. If you carry a 1911, or one of the popular Glocks, it is not out of the question that a bystander or a secondary BG would have a full mag to shove into your primary gun. I use a laser, so the learning curve on my primary is really easy. I don’t want to be shot by my own gun from behind…that’s all.