Comments on: Reloading a Revolver

By: dcsmith

dcsmith — Mon, 22 Apr 2019 20:11:53 +0000

I have been practicing the Massad Ayoob method. Here’s an old video of his. What’s wrong with his method?

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 28 Dec 2018 01:00:42 +0000

In reply to Dmann. Agreed. Especially if your hands are sweaty due to stress, or bloody due to an injury.

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 28 Dec 2018 00:58:44 +0000

My advice. Don’t swap the gun to the support hand. You risk dropping it in a high stress situation. Maybe your hands are sweaty due to stress or bloody as a result of an injury.

Instead, keep the gun in you shooting hand, release the cylinder using your thumb, insert reload(s) singly or with a speed loader, close the cylinder with your support hand/palm and come back up on target.

You can use your shooting hand index finger to keep the cylinder open and prevent it from partially closing during the reload. When I started in law enforcement everyone was still using revolvers. I was a newbie and adopted this method to reload my trusty .357 Ruger Security Six. It worked then and still does.

By: Dmann

Dmann — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 19:03:25 +0000

I wonder how many people you’ve killed with this Bad presentation. A revolver should Never leave the safety of the shooting hand.

By: Customer Service

Customer Service — Thu, 26 Apr 2018 13:24:30 +0000

In reply to Bob Ramirez.

Hi Bob. I’m guessing it was a typo and you meant turning the “cylinder” counter clockwise not the “barrel”. It’s also a guess that you are referring to rotating the cylinder when reloading using loose rounds. That technique is taught by some because when shooting the cylinder rotates counter clockwise and if you need to get the gun back into the fight before finishing loading all cylinders the live rounds will be closer to the firing position. That technique, however, is very inefficient and requires much more dexterity to perform. Check out these PDN videos on reloading a revolver from Claude Werner. The first one covers reloading with loose rounds and addresses needing the gun before completely reloading the revolver. Utilizing Claude’s reload technique a partially loaded revolver will be immediately ready to fire.

https://www.personaldefensenetwork.com/video/practice-for-loading-a-snub-nosed-revolver-005251/
https://www.personaldefensenetwork.com/video/snub-nosed-revolver-speed-loader-004512/
Thanks
Deryck-PDN

By: Bob Ramirez

Bob Ramirez — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 13:19:17 +0000

I use a Govenor and as was taught to also make it a practice to turn barrel counter clockwise. Do you know why or does it matter?

By: Glenn Hunsinger

Glenn Hunsinger — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 06:08:23 +0000

In reply to Larry C. The longer ejector rod on 3" J-frames provides a longer stroke that nicely ejects spent cases. Consider carrying only a clean gun, and consider that using the same reloading technique regardless of the number of rounds fired might present fewer problems to ponder during a dangerous confrontation.

By: Larry C

Larry C — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 12:03:36 +0000

The example in the picture is of a small five shot revolver. There is an important difference to be aware of here as compared to a full-size revolver. (I am familiar with the S&W J-Frames, others may be different) Step five mentions using a speed loader or speed strip, two completely different things. What is important to know is that the ejector on five shot j-frame revolvers by design does not have a long enough stroke to fully eject the spent casings. A sharp whack may eject them but there’s no guarantee, especially if firing hot +p loads or if the cylinder has dirty chambers. This makes use of a speed loader difficult at best. The purpose of the short stroke ejector on the j-frame was so one could shoot a couple rounds, duck behind cover, swing the cylinder open and, with the muzzle pointed downward, push the ejector rod. Release the rod and the live rounds slide back into the chamber while the expanded spent casings remain protruding from the cylinder. Use the fingers of your dominant hand to pick them out, discard and refill with a “speed strip.” Fun times at the range, not so fun if one is being shot at!! BTW, I believe Bianchi is credited with coining the name, “Speed Strip.”

By: Robert E

Robert E — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 07:00:40 +0000

My difficulty is rotating the empty gun downward, can’t seem to twist my wrist far enough unless I lower my left arm.

By: Glenn Hunsinger

Glenn Hunsinger — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 05:38:55 +0000

Your method obviously can work, but I prefer a quicker method that involves fewer movements. I prefer to push the cylinder release with my right thumb as I push the cylinder open and hold it open with my right index finger. Before I open the cylinder, I use my left hand to retrieve my Safariland speedloader and hold it between my left index finger and left thumb. I point the muzzle up and I place my left palm to operate the ejector rod as soon as the cylinder swings open. I place my right thumb to the right of the hammer to clear space for ejected cases to fall free. I operate the ejector rod one time, then point the muzzle down to insert the rounds from the speedloader into the chambers. I use Safariland speedloaders so I can just shove the speedloader to chamber the new rounds without having to change my grip on the speedloader or turn any knob. Then I let the empty speedloader fall away and close the cylinder with the heel of my left hand as I again level my gun at my adversary. Throughout the process I retain the shooting grip on the revolver. Notice that the revolver never leaves my shooting hand, and I bring my hands together only one time. If an adversary can see what I’m doing, he or she probably won’t have a clue that I am in the process of reloading until I have my muzzle pointed up and the empty cases are falling out; from then the adversary will have very little time to react before I have lowered my muzzle, chambered new rounds and leveled my gun again. This is a pretty simple revolver reloading method that with practice can become quite smooth. Smooth is fast.