Weak hand speedloader technique?

[Revopop]

First off, hello! I'm getting back into shooting after more than a decade. I used to live in Iowa and spent too much time around Carmoney (hi Mike!) and ended up becoming a revolver shooter, but apparently while I was gone y'all changed the USPSA rules.

 

In southern Indiana where I live now IDPA has apparently exploded in popularity, I've got a friend who's just getting into shooting, so I went to his first match with him last weekend. I shot a CZ-75 in SSP because that's what I had ammo for, it didn't go particularly well but that's what I expected. To my surprise and delight though I found another guy who shoots a revolver regularly, so for the next match I'm gonna shoot revolver too. My good ol' 625 is 5" which isn't IDPA legal and he shoots SSR with speedloaders, so I'm gonna shoot SSR too, which will be a first for me.

 

I have a Model 10 and Comp IIIs, but all my experience is with moonclips, which I load with my weak(left) hand. I know it's a little unusual, but it's always felt better to me and with the 625 at least it was measurably faster as well. Pretty much everything regarding speedloader technique that I've found online is very old and based on what they used to teach cops, which always has you reload with your strong (right) hand.

 

Does anybody else use speedloaders like this? Got any tips or advice for me on technique?

[RangerMcFadden]

I reload with weak hand comp 3’s.

Send me a PM with your cell phone number. I can send you some videos on how to do it.

[Mcfoto]

When I started in ICORE with my 66 with Comp IIIs, learned strong hand load as I heard that weak hand loading with speedloaders was hard on the crane. After getting my 627 and going to moons, I switched to weak hand. Much easier for me to keep the muzzle down range. Now that Dear Wife has taken over the 627, I went back to the 66. My brain can’t seem to relearn weak hand under pressure. So going weak hand for both.

[Racinready300ex]

If I was going to go back to revolver in IDPA I'd shoot a 625. If the club is doing it right it's all revolver division now. Moon clip guns need to make 150 PF ?? I think. and speed loaders get to make 105 still. I'd take the recoil over the speed loaders. Sucks your gun is 5".

 

I loaded speed loaders weak hand. 

[Revopop]

45 minutes ago, RangerMcFadden said:

I reload with weak hand comp 3’s.

Send me a PM with your cell phone number. I can send you some videos on how to do it.

Thank you, that would be extremely helpful!

[Revopop]

27 minutes ago, Racinready300ex said:

If I was going to go back to revolver in IDPA I'd shoot a 625. If the club is doing it right it's all revolver division now. Moon clip guns need to make 150 PF ?? I think. and speed loaders get to make 105 still. I'd take the recoil over the speed loaders. Sucks your gun is 5".

 

I loaded speed loaders weak hand. 

Yeah, I've got a cut down 25-2 that would be IDPA legal, but the 625 is fully Carmonized and it's just perfect so it pains me not to use it. I even have 15k Federal large pistol primers in the garage! If I get frustrated enough with the speedloaders I'll probably switch to ESR, but if the other guy with a wheelgun is shooting SSR that's kinda where I wanna go at this point.

[Racinready300ex]

31 minutes ago, Revopop said:

Yeah, I've got a cut down 25-2 that would be IDPA legal, but the 625 is fully Carmonized and it's just perfect so it pains me not to use it. I even have 15k Federal large pistol primers in the garage! If I get frustrated enough with the speedloaders I'll probably switch to ESR, but if the other guy with a wheelgun is shooting SSR that's kinda where I wanna go at this point.

 

Something to note in IDPA, the hammer cannot cycle with the cyl. open. So if your hammer is drastically bobbed ... "Carmonized" it may be illegal anyway.

 

Granted it's unlikely the equipment check guy really knows that much about revolvers to notice. 

[Revopop]

1 hour ago, Racinready300ex said:

 

Something to note in IDPA, the hammer cannot cycle with the cyl. open. So if your hammer is drastically bobbed ... "Carmonized" it may be illegal anyway.

 

Granted it's unlikely the equipment check guy really knows that much about revolvers to notice. 

Interesting, wouldn't have even occurred to me. I've got a 4" 25-2 that I might try out eventually, but TBH if nobody else is shooting ESR I'd probably go with a bottom feeder anyway

[pskys2]

3 hours ago, Revopop said:

Interesting, wouldn't have even occurred to me. I've got a 4" 25-2 that I might try out eventually, but TBH if nobody else is shooting ESR I'd probably go with a bottom feeder anyway

The main issue is the trigger can't cycle while the cylinder is open.  So open the cylinder and pull the trigger, my ICORE/USPSA guns will cycle as I removed the cylinder latch spring.

 

That 625 would be perfect for ICORE L6!

[Revopop]

1 hour ago, pskys2 said:

The main issue is the trigger can't cycle while the cylinder is open.  So open the cylinder and pull the trigger, my ICORE/USPSA guns will cycle as I removed the cylinder latch spring.

 

That 625 would be perfect for ICORE L6!

Oh I would _love_ to shoot ICORE, but I've never lived anywhere close to a club.

 

Currently the nearest USPSA match is about an hour away in Kentucky, but locally there's up to 4 IDPA matches a month, 2 Steel Challenge, and some other oddballs like .22 bowling pins, precision rifle, AR matches, etc once every month or two. Lots of opportunities if I can afford the ammo

[perttime]

I don't know how everybody else does a weak hand reload but here's what I do with Comp 3 speedloaders:

- open the cylinder. The trigger finger might push the cylinder but the weak hand makes sure it opens fully. Strong hand thumb rises to vertical, to be out of the way.

- turn the barrel up and push the ejector sharply with the weak hand

- bring both hands to belly level, barrel points down

- weak hand grabs a speedloader between thumb and fingers, with the rounds on the pinky side

- insert rounds at belly level and drop the speedloader

- close cylinder with weak hand thumb while the gun goes up.

[pskys2]

11 hours ago, Revopop said:

Oh I would _love_ to shoot ICORE, but I've never lived anywhere close to a club.

 

Currently the nearest USPSA match is about an hour away in Kentucky, but locally there's up to 4 IDPA matches a month, 2 Steel Challenge, and some other oddballs like .22 bowling pins, precision rifle, AR matches, etc once every month or two. Lots of opportunities if I can afford the ammo

I had a similar icore dilemma, plenty of everything else though.  Chance comments led me to start an icore club.  But I did have the luxury of a small group who liked revolvers.

[MikeBurgess]

I reload weak hand with both moon clips and speed loaders.

I push push the cylinder open with my strong hand index finger. With speed loaders I need to make sure I move my index finger off the cylinder so it can rotate freely before my strong hand gets there with the speed loader. This allows the cylinder to rotate to lign up with the rounds in the speed loader that can't rotate because you are holding on to it. 

The other thing to think about loading with speed loaders is to push them in till they release then forget they exist. I see way too many people push them in then pull them back and toss them to the side then go back to closing the cylinder. Push click close cylinder gravity will get rid of the loader for you

[Bill Nesbitt]

This is the way I used to do it back when I was shooting revolvers a lot. I had to make this video to see what I was doing because I couldn't explain it. I let the cylinder spin free so it can turn to line up with the rounds. I experimented with how to have the speed loader placed in the carrier to get the most consistence. You can see that it didn't line up exactly during the different times. Rounds have always ejected cleanly except that one time at The Carolina Cup.

 

[pskys2]

19 minutes ago, Bill Nesbitt said:

This is the way I used to do it back when I was shooting revolvers a lot. I had to make this video to see what I was doing because I couldn't explain it. I let the cylinder spin free so it can turn to line up with the rounds. I experimented with how to have the speed loader placed in the carrier to get the most consistence. You can see that it didn't line up exactly during the different times. Rounds have always ejected cleanly except that one time at The Carolina Cup.

 

Very smooth the Speedloadeers looked like you were doing moonclips.