Tactical Games Loadout – Ammunition, Holsters, and Pouches – Part II

In Tactical Games Loadout – Guns, Optics, and Rationale – Part I, we discussed everything that I recently used to compete with at The Tactical Games in Iowa regarding my firearms, their optics, and my reasoning behind my choices. It is not enough to simply buy expensive brands and call it a day. You need to have a purpose for what you chose, apply it to your mission, and have it make sense for you. Within that same vein of logic, today we are going to discuss all of the ammunition, holsters, and magazine pouches that I went with. Similar to the tenants that I desired in guns and optics, this gear also needed to be reliable and have that high speed low drag factor. Let’s dive into ammo, holsters, and pouches.

Fitness/Competition Coverage on AllOutdoor

The Tactical Games is a physically grueling competition that couples weapon manipulations with real-world fitness tasks. Accuracy and speed are paramount, but safety trumps everything. If you participate in The Tactical Games you are acknowledging the danger and difficulty that this competition demands of the competitor. Only participate if you can safely and effectively deploy the firearms you are competing with.

Herein, all of the information provided is the opinion of the author through his personal experiences in The Tactical Games as well as his background leading up to the event. The gear and tactics suggested ahead are a way, but not the way. Take it like a grain of salt.

Tactical Games Loadout – Ammunition

When it came to ammunition for competing in The Tactical Games all competitors needed to use ball or FMJ (Full-Metal Jacket). For handgun, I relied on some bread ‘n butter Remington UMC, or what I like to call the “golden bullets.” As prescribed, these are full-metal jacket (with a gold looking coating) in a brass casing for that completely yellow look. This ammo historically has been clean shooting and reliable for me so I used it for The Tactical Games.

All of the Remington Ammunition used in The Tactical Games worked flawlessly. The standards that Remington Ammunition meticulously keeps for the ammo they manufacture is impeccable. We are extremely grateful for their generosity.

5x – Remington UMC 9mm 115 Grain FMJ 100-Round Value Pack – MSRP $49.99

For rifle ammunition, I went with another brand within the Vista Outdoor portfolio of companies in Federal. I ran Federal American Eagle .223 Rem FMJ through my AR-15 for this competition – and similar to the Remington UMC – it worked perfectly. The Tactical Games, oddly enough, has a velocity restriction on your rifle ammo (3,200 FPS or less) and this flavor of ammo was right up there: flat shooting, accurate, and reliable.

All of the Federal Ammunition used in The Tactical Games worked wonderfully. Federal has always been known for making great ammunition so they were an easy choice to rely on for competition. We are extremely grateful for their generosity.

1x – Federal American Eagle .223 Rem FMJ Boat-Tail 1,000 Rounds – MSRP $829.99

Tactical Games Loadout – Holsters

When it comes to holsters The Tactical Games requires that you have an actual locking, retention holster for your handgun. Leave all of those “friction fit” or “compression fit” holsters at home. Not only are they not legal, but you are going to be doing rigorous, athletic stuff so they’re flatly unsafe. With all of that being said, I opted for what I consider to be the gold standard in retention holsters, and that is a Safariland ALS. There are a bunch of variations when it comes to Safariland’s ALS holster, so to be more specific, the exact one I used was the 6304RDS ALS/SLS. What all ALS (Automatic Locking System) holsters do that makes them so safe is they feature “an internal locking device that retains the weapon in all directions providing secure retention in an open-top holster for tactical use.” As Safariland so artfully stated, they retain your weapon better than anything else on the market.

While the literal holster was from Safariland, in order to build out a drop-leg holster system I needed quite a few more pieces to the puzzle. All in all, to recreate what I ran in The Tactical Games you would need all of these Lego pieces from ANR Design and Safariland:

Tactical Games Loadout – Pouches

To compete in The Tactical Games (at least for the Iowa event) you were instructed to have 5 pistol magazines as well as 5 rifle magazines. Beyond that information, The Tactical Games was very tight-lipped about all the events so you had to make assumptions as to what gear you may or may not need. I chose individual Blue Force Gear magazine pouches for both rifle and pistol because they have awesome magazine retention, lay flat when not in use, and individual ones I could plug-n-play on my belt to suit the needs/requirements for individual events.

The Ten-Speed® pouch has no sharp edges or hard corners, making for comfortable all-day carry and allowing the pouch to lay flat when the mag is removed.

Tactical Games Loadout – Final Thoughts

Again, for anyone looking to try The Tactical Games, the first thing I would suggest before spending a bunch of money on gear to LARP with is to read the rules. Super boring, I know, but if you’re an old Masters athlete, think I totally can shoot just as fast as John Wick, or whatever… the division you compete in will dictate a lot of the gear you run. Below is my Tactical Games loadout of ammunition, holsters, and magazine pouches I used – and as you can see – the money starts to pile up fast. Everything I ran I would consider mid-tier: good, if not, great quality stuff you’d expect to run without an issue. After 7 events in 2 days of 90° heat, all the gear I chose worked perfectly.

5x – Remington UMC 9mm 115 Grain FMJ 100-Round Value Pack – MSRP $49.99
1x – Federal American Eagle .223 Rem FMJ Boat-Tail 1,000 Rounds – MSRP $829.99
1x – Safariland 6304RDS ALS/SLS Drop-Leg Holster – MSRP $283.00
1x – Safariland QLS Plate (Quick-Locking System) – MSRP $17.00
1x – Safariland QLS Fork (Quick-Locking System) – MSRP $17.00
1x – ANR Design Tactical Belt Mount System – MSRP $16.99
1x – ANR Design Vastus System – MSRP $18.49
1x – ANR Design Thigh Strap – MSRP $14.99
4x – Blue Force Gear Low Rise M4 Belt Pouch – MSRP $29.95
4x – Blue Force Gear Single Pistol Belt Pouch – MSRP $29.95
- Tactical Games Loadout Total (based off MSRPs & Quantities) = $1,687.01

My Tactical Games loadout was a mix of things I personally owned or am actively reviewing for AllOutdoor. If you’re contemplating any of them, I stand behind the statement that they are good quality with my own wallet. I am going to purchase all of these pieces in order to subject myself to more Tactical Games events in the future. It was a good test of fitness and shooting that I authentically enjoyed. As always, let us know all of your thoughts in the Comments below! Additionally, watch for future articles outlining my clothes, other gear, and the mistakes I made.

Adam Scepaniak