Seen on the street in Kyiv.

Words of Advice:

"If Something Seems To Be Too Good To Be True, It's Best To Shoot It, Just In Case." -- Fiona Glenanne

“The Mob takes the Fifth. If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?” -- The TOFF *

"Foreign Relations Boil Down to Two Things: Talking With People or Killing Them." -- Unknown

“Speed is a poor substitute for accuracy.” -- Real, no-shit, fortune from a fortune cookie

"If you believe that you are talking to G-d, you can justify anything.” — my Dad

"Colt .45s; putting bad guys in the ground since 1873." -- Unknown

"Stay Strapped or Get Clapped." -- probably not Mr. Rogers

"The Dildo of Karma rarely comes lubed." -- Unknown

"Eck!" -- George the Cat

* "TOFF" = Treasonous Orange Fat Fuck, A/K/A Dolt-45,
A/K/A Commandante (or Cadet) Bone Spurs,
A/K/A El Caudillo de Mar-a-Lago, A/K/A the Asset., A/K/A P01135809

Friday, October 19, 2012

Speedloading

I bought a el-cheapo speedloader pouch at the LGS on my lunch break.  In thinking through how this would work, it seems to me that the pouch will need to be on the same side of my body as the revolver holster.  The guys at  the PPC match who had revolvers seemed to wear them on the opposite side.  That seems inefficient, for it kind of requires using the weak hand to retrieve it, which then implies that one is transferring the revolver from the strong hand to the weak hand for loading and, at the same time, transferring the speedloader the other way.

Meh.  I don't think so.  Wearing the reloads on the weak side works for automatics, for I'd be grasping the new magazine with my left hand and holding the pistol in my right throughout the loading process.

Which reminds me:  Just about everyone I saw there was releasing the slide of their pistols by grasping the slide and pulling it back.  I don't understand that.  There is a handy little gizmo on those guns called a "slide stop/release".  Why not just press that down and let the slide go forward, rather than take the split second to grab the slide and pull it back?  After all, if pushing down on the slide release wasn't a good idea, John Moses Browning (may peace be upon him) would not have designed it to work the way that it does.

But I digress.

The sequence of events for reloading a revolver would seem to be this from a two-handed hold:

1.  Bang x6.
2.  Activate cylinder release with right thumb, right index finger presses cylinder to the left.
3.  Transfer revolver to left hand, trigger guard rests on palm, hold frame with middle two fingers.
4.  Left hand holds revolver barrel-up, left thumb smartly presses cylinder rod to eject empty cartridges.
5.  At same time as #4, right hand goes to speedloader pouch and retrieves speedloader.
6.  Left hand holds revolver barrel-low (45deg or so), middle two fingers ensuring that the cylinder stays open.  Right hand brings up speedloader, aligns cartridges with cylinder, inserts them and releases the cartridges from speedloader.
7.  Left thumb closes cylinder, right hand discards speedloader.
8.  Right had grips revolver, left hand in support.
9.  Resume firing.

What I now need to do is get a couple of sets of snap-caps and practice this.

I know that there is a method to machine the cylinders of revolvers to use full-moon clips that hold the cartridges as a unit, like the half-moon clips that were developed to permit the use of .45 ACP ammunition in revolvers during the World Wars. But I'm not building a racing gun, so that would seem to be a needless expense.

UPDATE: After I linked to a video in a comment, it occurred to me that it would be better to add it here. And so..

3 comments:

Eck! said...

Seems like a plan to me. A bag of snap caps and
load and dry fire time should make any issues clear.

I suspect it depends if the left hand has dexterity enough to do fine things like hold and push the eject as offered or if a full time right hand hold, release the cylinder and eject using the left to insert and clear the the speed loader works any different. Either way its developing fine movements and getting them integrated so when stress is applied it just happens.

In the end it's where the gun is pointing most of the time and where the various fingers might get near the bang button on a slip. Safety first.

Eck!

Comrade Misfit said...

This guy makes a good argument for shifting the revolver to the weak hand.

Safety, yes. Still, from the time the cylinder swings open until it swings back shut, the biggest risks are dropping the revolver on your foot or pinching your fingers between the cylinder and the frame.

w3ski said...

Thank You for the video. Long time no training here.
You could go to a shooting only sight and I wouldn't mind. Well I would miss the cats and all. I hope you burn much powder today and have/had a Great time
w3ski