imported post
There is a somewhat infamous LEO incident regarding practicing ammo loading. I believe,but not sure, it was the Newhall CHP shootout where 4 officers were killed in the early 1970's.
The CHP officers were range trained to put the expended shells in their shirt pocket in the academy so as to not make a mess at the range course. One or more of the dead officers in the shootout had emptied their gun and reloaded. The empty shells were in their pockets when they were found, causing precious seconds lost . The training was changed to drop the shells on the ground when reloading at the range from then on. The sad moral of the story is you will do what you have practiced in a stressful situation.
Make each repetitive movement like it is the real thing without skipping any necessary steps. Unfortunately, this means using live ammo for a automatic(at a safe place to do it), to make sure the clip is completely inserted and the round chambers without jamming. You should be working towards the 2-3 second range from draw to ready/aimed. If you are not in the sub 5 second range consistently, you need to practice until the movements are automatic. Your life may depend on it. Like it has been pointed out before, unloaded guns don't do much good,when seconds matter, until they are ready for use.