Ever since my Dad got me my first .22 he always insisted that I count my shots! It became so engrained in me, I simply can not shoot without doing so as it is an automatic thing I do. I even count other shooters shots (next to me) when I am loading up or doing something other than actually firing.

When I train a new shooter, I insist they start counting their shots but most of the time they don't seem to get it! Not only is it very important to know how many rounds you've got left in the magazine or cylinder, but when not in a SD or HD situation at least you don't look like a Dufuss while shooting.

To me this is such a simple thing and I can't understand why it is so difficult for others to do. I could understand guys who have been shooting for years and have never done this, but for new shooters it should actually be easier to learn - I would have thought. This helped me out tremendously when competing in SASS (Cowboy Action Shooting) matches, PPC matches, and just in informal friendly competitions.

Just wondering if I am the exception here or others do this while shooting as well. To me, especially for those who CCW on a daily basis, this should be second nature. You never want to pull a trigger in desperation and the last thing you hear is "click"!

The round count is big with me as well. Just wonder if I would be able to do it in a real situation. Training is key.

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No baby we aint

Never get caught with an empty firearm, I learned that in my USPSA competition days. The same goes for defensive uses, count shots and reload before empty. If you always count when you practice, you are more likely to count in a serious situation.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

It’s hard to imagine NOT counting your shots whether hunting, in competition or anything else. It’s second nature to me.

Some things are just obviously important: counting shots, zipping your pants, turning off the stove ...

Chief, you and I share the same views, but we're just out of style. I get flack from new shooters for just talking about reloads. The modern attitude is to get a bigger magazine so they don't have to reload, much less anticipate when to reload, or even know how to do a speed reload.
In IDPA, the magazines are limited to loading 10 regardless of actual size, and some new shooters complain bitterly. I've even heard "if the stage is 18 rounds, I should be able to load 18."
"If I didn't have to use cover, I could shoot faster" is another complaint that irks me.
Oh well, maybe I am just too old............

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Science plus Art

The only hard part with me is when I switch from a 5 shot to 6 shot revolver, last time at the range I was leaving one good round in the moonclip. I have a preference for the 5 shot revolvers so my 6 shot ones don't get near the usage.

Counting comes to me as naturally as breathing. To each his own, I guess.

I prefer to know how much ammo is in my firearm and when a (tactical) reload may be called for.

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642-1, M&P15 TS

I'm surprised that we still don't have firearms with LED readouts that keep track of remaining ammunition in the magazine like in the movie ALIENS. I remember hearing that the US Army was planning on making such a feature a requirement in future trials for military contracts, but apparently it was never actually implemented.

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Shooting Comfort is bilateral.

My dad taught me 'no matter the firearm, count the rounds'.

It has been both a blessing and a curse.

I always know how many rounds I have left to work with but It ruined movie shootout scenes.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

We were taught to count in our academy firearms training and I still do it too. That “habit” came in handy in a 1974 gunfight w/armed robbery suspects. I knew exactly when to reload my Colt DS w/o the hammer falling on an empty chamber, getting me back in the fight very quickly.

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Old Cop
LEO (Ret.)

Seems like counting may tread closely on the edge of easy chair combat but it probably hurts nothing if you choose to do it...

If you count shots, it makes watching westerns and cop shows frustrating.

... All those 12 shot revolvers and 36 shot Glocks.

I count. I can count all the way up to six. After a I got interested in semiautos, I learned to count some more ... up to 7, 10 and now all the way up to 15. Cool. Sincerely. bruce.

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<><

Constantly maintaining a count of shots fired and rounds remaining is an excellent idea. It is also nearly impossible to do in an actual combat situation.

While in Vietnam and using the M16A1 we were issued 20-round magazines, the 30-round mags came along much later. The 20's had an annoying habit of causing problems when more than 18 rounds were loaded. Many of us loaded our mags with a combination of ball and tracer ammo to help us stay on top of what was going on. From the top, 1 tracer, 4 ball, 1 tracer, 4 ball, 1 tracer, 4 ball, then 3 tracer rounds. Those final 3 tracers alerted us that it was time for a mag change, and that was very helpful during a firefight.

Of course, along about the time for a magazine change it was also time for clean underwear.

No plan ever survives the first contact with the enemy (I think Gen. George Patton said that).

Half a century later and I wish I had access to more tracers.

I count with the J-frame, and 5 becomes 0 pretty darn quick. With the Glock I don't bother.

Field Marshall von Moltke the elder.

I have heard that when in a shootout many trained officer or agents have not a clue on how many rounds they fired, not saying you shouldn't train to count, just saying...... it might not happen when you are getting shot at.

Lawmen I know all say that in a real fight, or realistic SWAT type training, they don't count, and figure out that they're out of gas when the trigger quits making it go Bang.

I usually count shots, but I didn't become a serious handgunner until I was 77 years old, and blind in my shotgunning eye. Now I have revolvers with 5, 6, 8, and 10 shots. It would not surprise me, and shouldn't surprise you, if I was to lose count when the target is moving around and dangerous.

Besides, I would rather not be distracted by counting when I am concentrating on my shooting.

I'm seriously thinking about marking one chamber with a little spot of red paint and making a habit of closing the cylinder with the marked chamber in the no.1 position, so a quick glance at the gun will tell me how close to empty it is. I just need to find a paint that will stand up to gun cleaners but be removable when necessary.

It's funny, but I never really had to learn to count rounds, because ever since I learned to count as a boy, I developed the strange subconscious habit of counting practically everything. I don't know why, exactly, but I'm just one of those extremely perceptive people who makes mental notes of little things, even when they're of no particular importance.
Folks used to say that I think like a detective, but I think that's giving me a bit too much credit, because although I do have something of a knack for picking up on things that escape the notice of others, it's honestly more of curse than a blessing if you ask me. Honestly, I drive myself crazy during downtime, practically counting down the seconds until I had something to occupy my time because unless I'm tired I can't really relax, yet at the same time I'm anxious when I get extremely busy or have a lot of things to do. Everything becomes that much harder when you're always adding it all up then counting it all down.

However, I have a weird habit of doubting what I count, so I often end up second-guessing myself, thinking; "Wait, did I miss one there?" So eventhough I count my rounds as I'm shooting them, I end up questioning whether I actually counted them correctly. I do the same thing when I lift weights too.

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Shooting Comfort is bilateral.

I used to count shots because of shooting a 1911, SA & DA revolvers. Then, after I became a LE firearms instructor, I was always counting shots when our qual scenarios involved firing a specific number of shots, both for myself ... and when qualifying/observing other shooters.

Not being able to show attention to following even simple instructions in a range environment, meaning something as simple as only shooting x-number of rounds at x-number of different targets, can show either a lack of listening to instructions in the first place ... or being unable to remember instructions when having to multitask on a range.

Then, add in some requirements to exercise simple Judgment tasks, meaning shoot/no-shoot situations and targets, while having to assess and decide on-the-go, and that can really start testing the abilities of folks to recognize, orient and think on their feet while deciding if they should act ... and how to act.

Bottom line? Even when I don't consciously think to listen and count rounds, more often than not some part of my subconscious is apparently counting shots heard, whether mine or those of someone else to whom I'm paying attention. It was the years of serving as a firearms trainer that really seemed to cement the habit.

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Ret LE Firearms inst & armorer

Having been in an actual law enforcement shooting, I can tell you that thinking goes out the window. I did not know how many shots I fired until the State Bureau of Investigation Special Agent asked for my firearm and checked. Three shots, three hits.

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Bill

Threat focus can certainly occur and "preempt" other active thoughts.

Having listened to a number of LE folks who have been in on/off-duty OIS incidents, some knew how many shots they fired, and some didn't remember. Listening to cops who have been shot, on the other hand? They seemed to remember how many hits they suffered.

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Ret LE Firearms inst & armorer

If I ever get into a defensive shooting I'll be focusing all my mental faculties on accuracy.

Counting shots is fine for the range and that's about it.

Saw that on the Netflix series "Hell on Wheels" where he tells a new shooter just count the shots and makes sure he runs out before you do then get close to him and shoot him. Of course that will not work so good today with the semi autos.

Chief38–you knew the answer, before Clint pulled the trigger didn’t you!?

Dirty Harry - YouTube

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Possum—The other white meat!

THAT"S RIGHT! LOL!!

Counting shots out serves one well in real-life scenarios. I would venture a guess that most in hostile-fire environments are prone to count their shots. I know it served me well in SE Asia for 509 days.

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GA Carry member
Vietnam Vet

It's a great skill at the range. How you can count shots when you're fighting for your life is a little bit beyond my ken. The tactical reload was developed, I THINK, because someone understood that in the middle of a firefight you need to be focused on things other than your round count. But, a quick break in the action, which can happen = tactical reload.

I always wanted a Colt SAA like the one Kevin Costner used in "Open Range". In the final shootout he fanned that dogleg like it was a Dyson room fan and I have no idea how many rounds he fired. I do tend to notice that in movies and TV shows.

First, I do think that the implementation didn't happen because the explosive recoil plays havoc with the mini-computer you'd have to have in there for the LED readout. Hollyweird can do it. Uncle Sam cannot.

Pray they never figure out how to do it because that will lead to personalized-only-the-owner-can-shoot-it horrific regulation.

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Come and take it!!

Yep. I'm a counter, too.

Counting rounds presumes one can count.

Whether you count rounds, don't count rounds or think you count rounds, your answer to any question as to how many rounds you fired in an encounter should be: "As many as I needed to." Or, "I don't know."

Like many above, I religiously counted rounds during qualification and planned mag changes in competition. Then, in 2012 during a Patrol Rifle Instructor qualification (no alibis), I unexpectedly ran dry. Fortunately, I did so at a point I could reload without penalty. I figured out later that I'd grabbed the wrong mag after a tactical reload. As Robbie Burns once wrote: "The plans of mice and men often go astray."

Dr. No - You've Had Your Six - YouTube

First of all, I think there are more than a few people here who are bragging. 6, 7, 15 shots, etc. I don't believe a single word of it!

After I do about 3 or 4 shots, I'm usually counting ceiling tiles!

reload because you can, not because you have to.

I always count. Particularly important when with the kids to make sure they've cleared the cylinder.

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SWCA #3356, SWHF#611

I automatically count when I'm the shooter. I also count at USPSA or IDPA matches of other shooters. It's just there, no big effort. I lose it after about 15 rounds.

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Bob.
SWCA 1821

Yep. Why feed words that may become bait for someone's fishing trip?

No kidding. My subconscious "counting meter" only engages and keeps a running count for shot strings, not for some cumulative tally after moving and shooting on the run.

Sometimes when watching a TV show or Movie at home, I'll stop and reverse a scene to replay it and count the "shots" fired by some actor, if the back of my mind is giving me some "number" and I'm curious if that unbidden number is accurate or close.

More often than not that subconscious "number" is right on the money, or within a round, either way, but we're only talking about a pistol magazine, not a select-fire rifle being fired FA.

It really becomes annoying (and interferes with the suspension of disbelief) when your subconscious round count software makes you realize the rounds portrayed as being fired by some character exceeds the round count of a real magazine in that make/model pistol. Like an old Western Six-Shooter with an endless supply.

Guess that subconscious "counting software" got more ingrained than I realized.

Then again, I'm only observing, not involved in ducking actual incoming rounds, or trying to thin the mixture of adrenaline in my own system.

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Ret LE Firearms inst & armorer

When I practice I empty a J-frame with .357s as quickly as I can and still maintain accuracy, usually inside of five seconds.

I count, yes.

I've not been in a fight. I've always guessed I would empty the J-frame, just as I train. I hope never to find out!

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Wrangler of stray Chiefs
Bob

Pretty easy to count shots on a flat range with nothing else going on. A whole lot diff in a fight or even in high speed competition. Its a learned thing but under stress, anyone can lose count. Why having more thsn 5-6 matter to some of us.

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

Ok, then what?? Hopefully you have at least thougt about that.

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

Run for your life screaming like a little girl!?

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Possum—The other white meat!

This is true. Been there, done that. Jus' sayin'......

“Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth”
Mike Tyson

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Sure you did

I can only go by my own experiences but in two of my three duty shootings I did count, but that was w/an issued thirty-eight. When we qualify w/the high capacity 9MM for LEOSA I lose count VERY quickly.

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Old Cop
LEO (Ret.)

I count, but am stuck on 6. I do have some 5 shooters, but when practicing e=with those I occasionally get a click. Never happens with a 6 shooter and I don't end up with an empty either. To many cylinders fired from a six.

Another reason I am not big on having a "carry rotation" at least one with variables. During a time of HIGH stress I know instinct is going to kick in big time.

Now there is such a thing as Black Jack...ever heard about that? It's a card game....

I've read critical action debriefs where the officer involved believed he fired " X " number of shots when in fact he fired considerably more. In this type of incident some officers report having experienced disorientation as to distance, time, and number of shots fired. The report of the firearm may seem extremely loud or it may not be heard at all or at a very low volume. Some officers reported everything happening in slow motion. One debrief I read related that the officer said he actually saw the bullets coming past his head. When you're on the square range or shooting competitively, the bullets are only going one way. On the street it ain't that way. End result, it's hard to predict whether a person may be able to count the rounds fired due in part to an adrenalin "dump" during the critical incident, or how he/she will perform.

In a perfect world I prefer to count my rounds. A wise instructor always told me, "Reloading is a planned event". As an aside, early in my career during this type incident I was absolutely certain that I fired only two rounds from my six-shot revolver. Upon checking, it was determined that I had in fact fired five.

HTH.

JPJ

Counting shots is easy when your practicing or even in competition but when your in an actual gun fight it is totally different, depending on how it goes down.

I've shot a fair amount of competition, Bullseye, PPC, USPSA, Metalic Silhouette, and counting shots has saved me many times. Timing a reload, beating the clock, making sure all shots have been fired, etc. When I pull the trigger it's like breathing, I just do it.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244