Folks:
Here is a post from something that I was working on this past summer. I figured it might be of interest here.
SAC Tactical
Thoughts of a Brick Agent
Revolver Reloading and Hand Preference
Copyright @ 8-July-2020
“Why?”
That is a dangerous question to ask. Asking folks why they do something forces people to explain their actions and justify their position, hopefully based upon logic. Asking why also tends to annoy folks, especially bosses. That said, asking “Why?” tends to lead to better understanding of the underlying subject at hand.
Fast forward to a recent firearms training session I did for myself. I was getting ready for an upcoming revolver class and decided to work on my revolver skills. One of the courses I shot was the FBI Double Action Revolver Course. Since I had the run of the range, I set my target at 25 yards and decided to work my way back. As I prepared, without conscious thought, I filled my right front trouser pocket with loose 38 Special ammunition. I paused and asked myself: “Why?”. The short answer is that is the way I was trained at the FBI Academy. We were taught to fill our right (dominant hand) front pants pocket with loose rounds so we could fill the magazines of our issued Sig pistols without having to return to the table containing training ammunition.
That thought caused me to wonder where that practice came from. I called another retired agent/gun guy who went through our academy in 1989 in one of the last revolver classes. He informed me that he was taught the same technique. In fact, he elaborated that when he was taught how to reload a revolver, the sequence of reloading progressed through the speed loader, then to the 2X2 pouch and finally to loose rounds in his pants pocket.
After that conversation, I reached out to another retired agent of my acquaintance. He went through the academy in the late 1960s. He did not have speed loaders etc. and reloaded his revolver (a Colt Official Police, which he later traded for a S&W Model 10) using his dominant hand.
The attached photographs are of a late model S&W Model 10 “skinny” barrel revolver, along with a Bucheimer thumbreak holster, a Bucheimer “2X2” cartridge pouch and a Safariland Comp II speed loader and Split Six belt pouch. All the leather gear pictured was issued to agents by the FBI during the revolver period.
My theory is that once the 2X2 pouch, followed by speed loaders arrived on the scene, the earlier practice of transferring your revolver from your dominant to supporting hand continued. Instead of reloading loose rounds from your pocket, an agent would reload from the 2X2 pouch on his belt. That practice evolved into reloading with your speed loader in your dominant hand. The practice explained by the agent trained in 1989 appears to be the culmination of the revolver training doctrine in the FBI at the time.
My reasoning behind my assumption is that it probably is easier to reload loose rounds with a shooter’s dominant hand. Ensuing generations of agents and trainers probably continued the practice when the 2X2 pouches and speed loaders came on scene. The practice remained well into the semiauto era. I remember when I attended FBI Firearms Instructor School nearly two decades ago, we were taught to reload revolvers in this manner. By then the use of the 2X2 pouch had faded from use and we relied upon speed loaders.
Additionally, teaching large numbers of trainees, tends to give you, as a trainer, a different perspective. You must find techniques that work across the board. When I reload a revolver today, I use my support (left) hand to guide my speed loader into the charge holes of my revolver’s cylinder. It is a faster technique. For me. Thinking about it a bit, if I had to teach classes of 50 trainees today how to reload a revolver, I may very well teach a dominant hand reload technique. Obviously, no agencies are teaching the revolver as a primary weapon anymore. That said, I think it pays to know where and under what circumstances a technique was developed. It is one thing to use a technique that works great with a dedicated shooter, and quite another to teach a large group of largely new shooters.
Back to my recent training session. I realized the value of being able to reload loose rounds from a pocket with my dominate hand. One of the agents involved in the FBI Miami shooting in 1986 was able to access a box of spare 38 Special service ammunition from the glove box of his Bureau vehicle (called “Bucar” in Bureau parlance) and reloaded his service revolver with loose rounds. Speed loaders may be everywhere and easily available, but for dedicated revolver shooters, knowing how to reload a revolver with loose rounds is a skill worth having.
One thing I caught myself doing, was dropping the revolver toward my waist/belt. I wondered if I could reload the cylinder with loose rounds and maintain my situational awareness of the threat (my target). All I had to do was bring my support (left) hand up, keep the muzzle depressed and look over the cylinder at the threat. I kept the cylinder in my peripheral vision and did not have any difficulty reloading the cylinder. Of course, I did all of this on a nice flat range on a gorgeous Montana summer day when no one was trying to kill me. I suspect I could do this in the dark and will confirm that with some dry fire practice.
I may never find definitive proof of my theory about why the Bureau taught shooters to switch hands to reload their revolvers, but from the evidence I have gathered, it makes logical sense. Sort of a cool bit of historical detective work.
Bruce