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Strong vs. Weak Hand shell reload


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When comparing strong vs. weak hand reload for shotgun, do people tend to prefer strong hand simply because they are manipulating the shells with their dominant hand, or is there some sort of inherent advantage over weak hand still?

I'm technically left handed, but fairly ambidextrous and tend to prefer actions that require fine motor skills with my right hand. Manipulating shells is one of them.

I use weak hand load 2 because I have always reloaded shotguns, pistols and rifles with my weak hand and trying to use the strong hand at this point feels unnatural.

Pat

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I'm a weak hand loader. I like the way the gun is under more (from my experience) control as it's wedged under my strong elbow & I like the way it is pointed directly ahead of me when loading on the move. I also like the way it keeps my hip clear for a holster.
I've looked at (& tried) strong hand but I'm not a fan of burning myself when loading, have seen more barrels snagged on range netting & have seen ND's from people coming on to target from strong loads than weak.

That said, as long either method is trained properly in practice & the majority of the loading is done in between target arrays then both methods will get the job done & nobody goes home early B)

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  • 1 month later...
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  • 2 years later...

Figured id resurrect this thread instead of starting a new one...

 

Does anyone use strong AND weak hand loading techniques in a single stage?

 

I can move faster/better while loading weak hand, but can load strong hand faster standing still.

Anyone ever set their belts up to load both ways in a single stage/match? I have just regulated myself to weak hand loading for consistencies sake.

Edited by dkamps
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22 hours ago, dkamps said:

Does anyone use strong AND weak hand loading techniques in a single stage?

 

I've seen it in IPSC but not in 3 gun.

Strong hand is great when space is tight or loading when moving towards the weak side & weak hand is useful when doing empty gun loads & loading towards the strong side.

 

22 hours ago, dkamps said:

Anyone ever set their belts up to load both ways in a single stage/match?

 

Again, I tend to see it in IPSC matches where waist real estate isn't so much of an issue rather than in 3 gun.

 

I'm a much better at loading with my weak hand & while I can load strong handed, the big improvements in my game aren't going to come from cutting a tenth or 2 off a load..... I'll be sticking to weak hand

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I practice all 4 load techniques, Strong & Weak hand conventional, and Strong & Weak hand quad loading.  I have used 3 of them on one stage.  For example, started with 8 rounds of birdshot in the tube and 1 slug in the chamber, start position was low ready.  At the buzzer loaded 2 more slugs Weak hand conventional, shot the slug targets, and while moving backwards to the right at a 45 degree angle, did a Weak hand quad load with 4 more birdshot and engaged the next array of steel plates while still moving to the right, then moving forward and slightly to the left in a tight shooting area with a mesh walls tight against both sides of the area, I did two Strong hand quad loads and finished off the last array.

The Strong hand only quad loaders were slightly slower loading and moving to the second array and the Weak hand only quad loaders were way slower dinking around loading in the tight shooting area.

I have enough caddies to set up my belt for 8 quad loads of either Strong or Weak hand or a mixture of both and a couple of old style conventional 4 round caddies.  Then when it gets really fun I also have a chest belt!

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7 hours ago, Ming the Merciless said:

I practice all 4 load techniques, Strong & Weak hand conventional, and Strong & Weak hand quad loading.  I have used 3 of them on one stage.  For example, started with 8 rounds of birdshot in the tube and 1 slug in the chamber, start position was low ready.  At the buzzer loaded 2 more slugs Weak hand conventional, shot the slug targets, and while moving backwards to the right at a 45 degree angle, did a Weak hand quad load with 4 more birdshot and engaged the next array of steel plates while still moving to the right, then moving forward and slightly to the left in a tight shooting area with a mesh walls tight against both sides of the area, I did two Strong hand quad loads and finished off the last array.

The Strong hand only quad loaders were slightly slower loading and moving to the second array and the Weak hand only quad loaders were way slower dinking around loading in the tight shooting area.

I have enough caddies to set up my belt for 8 quad loads of either Strong or Weak hand or a mixture of both and a couple of old style conventional 4 round caddies.  Then when it gets really fun I also have a chest belt!

 

Awesome, I may try out setting up my belt for utilizing both loading techniques on the next COF I see that could benefit from it. Might as well try it at a local match.

 

Were you limited by your magazine tube vs doing a quad load with two birdshot followed by two slugs for the initial load (or a load 2 with slugs)? Or could you not carry enough to finish the COF on your belt using all quad load caddies? Only ask because I never practice conventional loading anymore, I figure Ill just start with the slugs in the gun, fire them off and rock a few quads, or load the required amount of slugs with the one slug in the chamber.

 

Shotgun has been my weak link, and I'm focusing on it this year.. If I need to get the caddies and practice for conventional loading I will.

Edited by dkamps
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I wasn't limited by mag capacity, it was just quicker to shove two slugs into the magazine without dismounting the shotgun from my shoulder.  The written course description was "shotgun shouldered, aiming at start point" or something to that effect, so you couldn't lay the shotgun sideways on top of your shoulder or upside down for a quicker quad load.

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I am much more comfortable with my dominant hand. I took bullits advice from an video of his to get competent with both. Usually not necessary in my local matches,  but it has helped a few times. 

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Well, used both ways in a single stage last weekend... and it worked quite well. Didn't have to walk all weird to not break the 180. Felt much smoother movement wise, but ill have to dry fire scenarios at home because it felt choppy mentally.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Strong and weak hand loading offer more option in IPSC COF. I use weak and for empty start, loading in cooper tunnel and when i need running backward. But sometime i need a loading and my muscle memory choose for me ! ;)

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  • 2 weeks later...

I practice both, but am better at the weak-hand load.  To me, it maintains more similarity with how I load the other guns, coupled with a subconscious principle of always keeping your firing hand on the gun.  For me, there definitely is a time and a place for the strong hand load though, such as a long shotgun-heavy stage, where it is too awkward to reach all the way across my body with my left hand to get to the last of the shells.

 

Andy

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Lefty here I load both ways depending on stage. table starts seems easier to off-hand load, out of a barrel it goes straight to the shoulder for a strong hand load. moving left to right strong hand if possible, right to left weak hand seems to keep me from breaking the 180.

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  • 7 months later...

Necroposting here. 

Is there any attention to be paid to the people who say to load strong hand because it allows you to keep your eyes on the threat rather than down at your equipment? Yes, they obviously have police background. 

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Necroposting here. 
Is there any attention to be paid to the people who say to load strong hand because it allows you to keep your eyes on the threat rather than down at your equipment? Yes, they obviously have police background. 

For three gun, no. For cop stuff, no.


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  • 2 weeks later...
Necroposting here. 
Is there any attention to be paid to the people who say to load strong hand because it allows you to keep your eyes on the threat rather than down at your equipment? Yes, they obviously have police background. 
How relevant is this to you? The only cops who carry a shotgun and load off the belt are breachers. Not exactly common.

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  • 3 weeks later...

for what its worth: years ago I was running weak hand reload from stacked caddies.  I went to load two strong hand and then quads strong hand with the SG over my right shoulder w. loading port up.  I was/ am running Invictus quads and have them at a 45 deg angle so that , from my perspective, the left side was lower than right to give a more natural "grab"  I ran this kind of set up for 2-3 years. 

 

Only recently did I switch to weak hand quads. I did have to switch the cant of all my shell holders over.  I think that the week-hand set up is better as there is less movement of the shotgun and the movement of shells from belt to gun is less.  I was concerned about finite muscle movement challenges w. weak hand but after a little practice, I was nailing it.  

 

In my opinion, the most important part is the grab and if you get that down, your good to go. 

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