Very true! In two of my three OIS cases I counted, knowing exactly when it was time to reload. The first OIS involved one shot, my b/u officer fired two or three (still not sure) but the suspect was dropped immediately. When we transitioned to the Glock I lost count VERY quickly during qualification & I didn’t have to use it on the street.

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Old Cop
LEO (Ret.)

You'll please pardon my ignorance. I don't have the faintest idea what you're asking: "Ok, then what??".

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Wrangler of stray Chiefs
Bob

Fredj338 is asking what plan he has for after he empties his 5 shot gun, has no reloads and has not resolved his problem.

Nope. Never..........When it quits going bang I reload.

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S&W Accumulator

I count.

Back in 1988, when I started competing in NRA High Power matches, I used an old 03A3NM for 4-5 years before my M1MkII came home. For me, the last thing I wanted was to throw the bolt on an empty chamber. I had sixty seconds to fire 10 rounds for record in rapid fire sitting and prone, using stripper clips. The time allowed also required dropping into position from standing. After four years of shooting my Springfield, I started keeping track of the number of rounds fired. I never ran dry in a rapid fire string after the first time. Then it was the Garand "ping", but I have always counted!

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Judge control not gun control!

I worked a bunch of police shootings and only one cop got the number of rounds fired right.

It was a tough old female Navajo patrol officer. She got called to a report of a drunk guy in a housing unit waving a knife at people. She found him and told him to quit acting stupid, advice he ignored at considerable peril by throwing his knife at her. It stuck in the toe of her work boot. He only had one knife, so she only shot him one time, as he remembered he had pressing business elsewhere and turned to depart. The .40 HST went in the side of his right manboob, exited, drew a red line across his chest, entered his left manboob, exited, and flew on into an occupied apartment. He dropped like a sack of spuds and started screaming she had killed him. She cuffed him and told him again to stop acting stupid, which he believed was good advice this time.

She tolerated me because I was her age or maybe a little older. I asked her how many times she shot, and she deadpan stared at me and held up one finger. (Index, at least).

We were outside later finishing up and it was starting to rain. She was sitting in her rig and I asked a young guy with me to ask her something. Her window was down, and he asked her whatever it was, and she stared at him like only a no-nonsense old Navajo lady can and without breaking eye contact she rolled up her window. I loved her for it and laughed about that for months. A dose of humility is good for young agents.

The guy got some stitches and four bandaids and a trip to ABQ to meet the federal magistrate. I don’t think the cop even took a day off.

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“What you got, ain’t new.”

As the saying goes, if you have to ask, never mind.

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

Same here, although it wasn't until we switched to semi-autos. The explanation was count your rounds and change mags when there was still a round in the chamber - "Don't let your firearm go dry." This speeds up your reloads because you don't need to take the time to pull back and release the slide to reload the chamber. 31 years later and I still do it.

There are two situations nobody wants to be caught in:with your pants down in the middle of a crowd and with an empty gun in the middle of a gunfight.
You can live after the first one,probably not after the second one.

I count, but I don't practice or teach to count.

I'm a gun enthusiast, but my practice centers around defensive shooting. In a defensive scenario all my focus is on winning. To win I have to hit the intended target in the right place. That takes focus on sight picture, sight alignment, trigger control and follow through. Counting rounds doesn't help me win.

If there's still a threat, I need to be shooting. If there's a pause, I should be reloading. If I've run out, I should be running to cover. These all take care of themselves without counting.

In competition where .001 seconds matters, I see the value of counting and planning reloads. However, I've never seen a self-defense situation where every shot can be planned.

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Freedom isn't free.

When carrying a 6 shot revolver we were told to count our rounds if possible because we only carried 18 rounds and you needed to know when to disengage and perform a tactical retreat.
When we went to pistols we carried 45+1rounds of 40cal. We where told to run dry on the first mag, reload and if possible count 10 rounds on the second reload and if there was a lull in the fight to do (what they called an administrative reload) a reload (putting the partially empty mag in our mag carrier) then run the second full mag dry. After that use the partially loaded (3rd and last and only mag in our carrier) mag to perform a tactical retreat.
As in any combat fight, you do your best and pray you get the bad guy(s) Stopped before your gun is completely empty.

Be SAFE and Shoot Often!

When I attended the Academy, we were trained to count our shots (on our S&W Model 28’s). Not hard when you only carry 18 rounds, 12 of them in dump pouches. Any Cadet that miscounted and dropped the hammer a seventh time got to drop for push-ups. Counting shots stopped when we went to autopistols.

I still count rounds when I’m watching TV tough, I’m still trying to figure out how you get a dozen rounds or so out of a 1911 (like in “Last Man Standing”).