In the days where I was really carrying revolvers doing daily very heavy street cop stuff, I carried an N, K and J frame all at the same time and having a reload technique that worked equally well for all of them with different loaders is how I got to where I am in how I load. With my new Cobra because of the ejector rod, the FBI technique tends to be a good way to go.
Just a Hairy Special Snowflake supply clerk with no field experience, shooting an Asymetric carbine as a Try Hard. Snarky and easily butt hurt. Favorite animal is the Cape Buffalo....likely indicative of a personality disorder.
"If I had a grandpa, he would look like Delbert Belton".
Thanks. I tried and tried different techniques when I was shooting a 686SSR in USPSA. This works well for me with both speed loaders and moon clips.
Speaking of moon clips, I’ve often thought that having the cylinder cut for moon clips, yet doesn’t REQUIRE moon clips is the way to go. I never had a single instance I can remember where I had issues ejecting the moon clip. So here’s my thought in reference to a self defense wheel gun: on the off chance I do need to perform a reload there’s less chance for one of the empties to get hung up. Then use my speed loader for the reload since I have never found a good way to carry a spare moon clip. One day I’ll send my 67 and 65 cylinders off to get cut. Just don’t have the spare cash now and they rarely get carried.
I will readily admit; however, that all my serious wheel gun shooting has been from a gaming perspective and DB and other guys have the real world practical experience with them.
Formerly known as xpd54.
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Better?
Sorry for the crappy video.
I'm going to have to practice this a lot. It seems counter intuitive to me, biomechanically speaking.
I give the ejector rod a pretty good whack. I only have older S&W revolvers with the solid yoke screw and the old style ejector star. These give a full stroke to 38 Special brass. Some of the newer models have a slightly shorter ejector stroke plus I have heard of people with the spring loaded yoke screw having the cylinder fall off.
Some ranges prohibit pointing the muzzle above the berm. The nearly level ejection prevents this.
I carry my speed loaders just in front of my holster on the strong side. That's where everything is happening and I don't have to reach as far. My hand just slips in under my open front cover garment.
I let the cylinder spin free and it will move to where the bullets are.
Just a Hairy Special Snowflake supply clerk with no field experience, shooting an Asymetric carbine as a Try Hard. Snarky and easily butt hurt. Favorite animal is the Cape Buffalo....likely indicative of a personality disorder.
"If I had a grandpa, he would look like Delbert Belton".
One of the things I’m noticing right off the bat is that you’re gear-limited by the speedloaders that you’re using, which appear to be the twist-top HKS loaders. Those are sadly the slowest friggin’ loaders on the planet, and also require you to stabilize the cylinder with one of your hands. Safariland Comp-II and Comp-III allow you to press the loader directly into the cylinder and then drop it away, so you can reload a bit quicker with those. Here’s a dry fire 2.5 second par time from IDPA style concealment:
My strong hand never leaves the grip, my support hand pushes the cylinder from the right side, hits the ejector rod, and then grabs the speedloader off my belt, pushes it home, and closes the cylinder. I have messed around with so many different ways to reload a speedloader gun, and this one seems to be about the fastest that I’ve come up with.
I can tell you've put in the reps... smooth as hell. Those HKS loaders are definitely slowing you down, 03
Reloading my 442 Pro is a PITA, but I do practice it quite a bit, considering five rounds on board is pretty low on the bullets vs badguys ratio. I use Comp-I's rather than the moon clips the gun is cut for, and also speed strips depending on clothing/concealment. The Comp-I's are very easy to use, and are similar to the II's and III's in operation. I've never found a good way to carry moon clip reloads that doesn't risk bending them ( and jamming the gun up) so I only use the clip on the rounds in the gun for more positive extraction. Del-Fatti (sp?) makes a carrier, but they are expensive, and look to be about the same size as a Comp-I. Moon clip fit on different brands of brass is an issue too... some are so loose the rounds flop around, slowing things down, and some are so tight as to be impossible to load into the clip. TK Custom does make clips fit to specific kinds of brass, but they are expensive as hell for what they are. I get that they are precision EDM'd... but they are still fragile, and I'm a tightwad. I wish there was another source making 5 shot J-frame .38/.357 clips that were a little cheaper, but I suppose the market is small.
I use a Safariland "Split Six" carrier sometimes, but you can tell it was sized for .357 length rounds vs .38's, and there is a little play between the loader, belt, and carrier. Jox pouches are on my radar... one of these days I'll order one.