Shotgun reloads: Which and Why?

[joshs]

The chameleon fabrics load two vest is probably the most cost effective way to get into a complete (or nearly complete depending on the matches you shoot) load 2 setup. I also think it is the best solution for load 2. It can take a long time to get it if you don't pay for express shipping.

I'm using the chameleon vest and AP Custom quad loads from the belt. If you are going to go with load 2, I wasn't very impressed with Taccom's offering. Their quad load is nicer, but still not as good as AP or Carbon Arms.

[LSP972]

Leaving aside the load "2," and various carriers, there are two (possibly 3 if you count loading the tube only and avoiding the "ejection" port) schools of thought on loading the first round on an empty 870. Gunsite/Jeans/Cain teach to roll the shotgun slightly right, and take the cupped round from under into the port. Bill Rogers teaches to roll the shotgun port up, look into the port to verify no round is in there (to avoid the mother of all jams), and drop the round in from above. Both methods involve your support hand loading and dominant hand holding the shotgun. This all assumes a right hand shooter.

^This. Coming from underneath is arguably quicker, because once the new shell is in the port you simply slide your loading hand forward and chamber said shell. Coming from "over the top", you must re-position your off hand, either to manipulate the fore-end or return to a proper firing hold if you chamber the shell with the gun still on its side and you off hand reversed (did that make sense???).

Much depends on exactly WHERE you are retrieving the fresh shells from, IMO. And I personally have found that the over-the-top method of loading the open port is less prone to fumbling, mainly because coming from underneath you must relax your grip on the shell when your hand contacts the bottom of the receiver, and use the fingers to guide it into place. From the top, you can keep a tight grip on the shell until its over the port, then just pop it in there.

I would cheerfully pay two dollars to watch Tam jump from a Huey (or a Robinson, for that matter) with ANY long gun, and a Kabar in her teeth...

.

[shootist26]

Do you always roll the shotgun to status check the ejection port prior to your first combat load?

[Kevin B.]

If I have run dry, I do over the top loads.

If not dry, I do support hand loads into the tube.

That is how I do it too.

[Chris Rhines]

Load-2/quad thoughts - I don't know that the carriers really lend themselves to duty use. Most of them stick out quite far from the body, and generally the shell retention is not all that great. The older four-shell and six-shell caddies from Choate, Man Mountain Engineering, etc., would probably work better for that kind of deal. Also, sidesaddles.

That said, quad-loading is the heat for 3-gun and practical shotgun competition - much, much, much faster than a sidesaddle, and much easier to learn than the weak-hand caddy load.

I think that the AP Customs quads are the best on the market by a mile. The Taccoms work well but are a little crude (like joshs, I don't care for their load-2 setup.) The Carbon Arms pinwheels, well, I never had any luck with them. They wouldn't hold adjustment, and the shell retention was way to stiff. I do like the CA FSLs. Whatever carrier you use, I've found that they work better on a vest than on the belt.

Loading off a sidesaddle, I turn the gun ejection port up, put the stock on my shoulder, and stuff the tube with my strong hand.

[ST911]

The load-2 method seems reliant upon a specific spares carry method. I'm trying to imagine how you'd acquire that grip on the shells from other carriers without repositioning at least a couple of times. That would be fumble prone and a time waster.

To load an empty chamber, I cant the gun inward, guide a round into the ejection port, support side overhand. Reloading the mag tube is also support hand. Spares carry is support side, or no more than midline.

I have large hands and long fingers and can guide a round in from underneath, but it's more fumble prone.

[David Armstrong]

And for a very different viewpoint I hold with the support hand and load with the strong hand. That way there is no fumbling around with over or under, seems to be a sturdier and more reliable process. YMMV.

[LHS]

I do my loading with the support hand, and tend to go over the top for ejection-port loading. That said, I haven't gotten into using RDS's on my shotties yet, and that might change things. I used to go over the top to charge my AKs, but now with RDS's, I find it's easier to come up under the gun.

I also alternate up-and-down with my sidesaddle (makes getting a solid grip on an individual shell with my truckasaurus hands a bit easier), using the bottom-facing rounds for reloading the tube and the top rounds for emergency reloads. However, if all I've got left are bottom-facing rounds, I will generally reload from below.

[GJM]

1) I have also found the RDS complicates over the top loading.

2) I have separated buck from slugs on a side saddle, having them face different directions to help with quick identification. However, this seems better for a shotgun that is stowed as opposed to carried in the field, as I have found brass up keeps them more securely in the side saddle when hiking with the shotgun.

3) I am open to being educated, but outside 3 Gun, course specific practice, or an unusual situation, I have never found a shotgun reload as fast as drawing a pistol. THat makes all the various methods for a "fighting" shotgun fall into a more administrative category, as I assume there will be time available, if I load.

4) We haven't discussed select slug in the 870, but my method is to try to leave one space open in the tube -- feed the slug into the tube, and run the action. In the Benelli M2, I grab the charging handle with my right (dominant) hand, hold it back ejecting the chambered round, and drop the slug in. With the Beretta, it isn't as easy as the Benelli, and I feed the tube like an 870, although you have to trip the release to get the slug out of the tube onto the carrier.

[ST911]

Has anyone quantified the difference in time between strong-side and support-side handling during reloads?

I would think there's a loss in the swap. I also wonder if it's mitigated by better dexterity and more positive strong side handling?