I have two J Frame S&W 5 shot pistols. One is a model 36-1 and the other is a model 38. I presently have Pachmayer grips on both pistols and desire to buy speedloaders for both pistols while keeping the handfilling Pachmayer grips. However, I would be willing to go back to my original wood S & W grips, particularly on the model 38, if needed, in order utilize a speedloader. What brands and models of speedloaders would work? Thanks in advance. Terry

smlake:

Maybe just a semi-useful answer because I don't have S&W grips but Spegels. I imagine that the S&W grips have a cut-out like the Spegels. With the Spegels, Safariland speedloaders work very well. I got a bunch from Brownell's.

HTH,

Chris

p.s.--Welcome to the forums! You'll find good people here (imho).

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/at least she finds me handy.

I use Safariland Speedloaders, my opinion, the best on the market...
CookE...

I've had to modify all of the grips on my J-frame to work with speedloaders, but I just got a set of Precision Hideout grips and their Combat grips work fine. You can go wrong with HKS speedloaders, and if you want to spend the money the Five-Star speedloaders are great.

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"I'm your huckleberry."

S.L. Variant is the best J frame speedloader in my opinion. Hard to find though.

Products

I also use HKS as everyone in the house is familiar with how to operate them. Many like the Safariland Comp I.

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Centennial Every Day

Safarilamd Comp 1 and HKS in use here! If you do go back to the original grips may I suggest that you look into a Tyler T-Grip! They work without the bulk. Dale

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"Long live the S&W 3rd. Gen.!"

Hogue Bantam grips work with all of them. I prefer the Safailand. TC

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There's no justice, just us.

In my opinion, the best speed loader for a J is the Bianchi Speed Strip. The 642 does not have full length ejection for 38 Special and it is usually necessary to clear empties with your fingers after ejection. I find that I can reload quickly with Bianchi Speed Strips once I clear the cylinder of empties. I think that the chances of a reload with a 642 in time to make a difference are remote. Better make those 5 shots count.

For some reason, the steel frame Js seem much quicker to reload and the Ruger SP101 nearly as fast as a full size revolver.

I carry two five round Quickstrips in their small pouches. In the bottom of the pouches I have two extra rounds. I have and have used the Bianchi in IHL pouches. I just prefer the little five rounders. Doesn't anyone else use them? TC

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There's no justice, just us.

Pachmayr Compac grips for J Frames are designed to work with speed loaders.
I use Safariland, because you just push the bullets in and they are released with that one motion.
With HKS, unless you use one hand to stop the cylinder from turning,
it turns in the same direction when you turn the knob on the speed loader to release the bullets.
That is why I prefer the Safariland.
Just open, dump the used and shove in the new, close it and go.

But doesnt this sort of beg the question of why a speedloader when you have to clear the empties with your fingers? Absent full length ejection of 38 cases, these guns (at least some models) really are 5 shooters. I think the extra ammo simply makes the carrier feel more secure. With a 640 357 Magnum you have full length 38 ejection and that makes a huge difference to the point that the 640 is more like a 5 shot service revolver. With a 642 if you feel like you need a reload, you need a 2nd gun, aka "New York Reload". Better yet, use the 642 as a back up gun.

Now, consider the fact that I carry a 642 with 1 speed strip because I am simply not willing to carry a bulkier gun. It has 1 and only 1 advantage: nobody knows it is there except me.

I can tell from your remarks that I will need new grips to accomodate the speedloaders. My Pachmayer grips are probably at least 20 years old and are too bulky to allow the use of any speedloader. You guys have been extremely helpful and I now know where to start to solve my problem with these two really neat little Smiths.

I started with HTK and have reasonable success with them. Then I read about the Safariland and how you could keep your gun hand on gun and reload with your other hand. Made sense to me. So I have tried them, and tried them, but just cannot get consistent enough (yet to carry).

The HTK is a twist knob to release cartridges and Safariland is a push button which is the part about being consistent as it needs to line up pretty close to cylinder holes, any misalignment seems to cause a moments hesitation for cartridges to drop. Of course the whole point to me is to able to do this just as fast as you can.

Another factor with the Safariland is that they seem harder to reload, needing a flat hard surface, my hand doesn't seem to offer enough resistance.

Your mileage my vary, I really want the Safariland to work as it makes more sense to me. I have the same problem with J and N frames. I do not have stock grips but use CT, and they are staying on the guns.

Your mileage may vary, just my .02 cents. Maybe someone who uses Safariland can tell me what I'm doing wrong. (BTW, Safariland has a dvd to purchase on their site on this very sujbect, but I do believe that the site is the most difficult site to use)

I found that comment interesting too but had a different reaction. I've owned at least a dozen .38 Special J frame revolvers and have never had problems ejecting the spent rounds (especially the first five in a clean gun).

The idea that extra ammo is some sort of "security blanket" is silly. The J frames can be reloaded just as easily as an other double action revolver.

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Centennial Every Day

I not sure I follow your comment about empties having to be removed by fingers.

Open cylinder, hold gun (barrel to sky) between 45 degrees and vertical, push ejector rod - the empties are removed without touching them, lower gun (barrel pointing to ground) insert HTK and twist knob (or Safariland and push button), close cylinder, your good to go.

I usually carry a J-Frame also, and I have been using a leather belt pouch for extra ammo or a Bianchi style Speed Strip. I just find the speed loaders awkward to carry. Granted, the two methods I use are probably not quite as fast as the Speed Loaders, but I ALWAYS have a reload with me, where as I could never stand carrying the bulky Speed Loaders.

chief38

WRONG on a 642-2!!! at least mine and it has been back to S&W 3 times over cylinder issues.
Open cylinder.
Hold gun vertical.
Hit ejector rod with left hand.
MANUALLY REMOVE 2 or 3 empties with ends of cases still in chambers.
Point gun toward ground and insert first 2 rounds from Bianchi Speed Strip. Rotate cylinder and continue loading or use a HKS Speed Loader.
Close cylinder.

IF You Are Still Alive after all this, continue trying to defend yourself.

The 640 38 Special does not do this.
The Ruger SP101 does not do this.

In my opinion, the 642-2 just barely meets the definition of a defensive weapon, and certainly not the definition of an adequate defensive weapon. I consider the 640 and SP101 both to be excellent and adequate. I purchased the 642 because I considered the S&W CS9 to be a bit heavy for daily carry, but considering the near absence of any meaningful reload capability in the 642-2, perhaps its time to revisit that CS9.

Glad I don't have a 642. My 442 never has a problem dropping empties.

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Thirty characters. Exactly...

I've got a 442, the wife has a 642; we never have a problem dropping empties with the ejector rod.

The question is which version of the 642 do you own? 642-1 (no lock) or 642-2 (lock). My gun has a history of cylinder binding and lock ups (not IL issue). It now actually works reliably, but is slow as all get out.

The 640 (no dash) is fantastic, what J is supposed to be. I purchased it as a replacement for the 642-2, but I keep on procrastinating about selling that 642-2 due to its light weight and the fact that I really dont care about it- so I dont mind the wear it gets being carried. Strictly speaking, I should rid myself of that 642-2.

My 442 has the lock, her 642 (with pink grips) does not. We've put about 250 rounds through each so far with no problems.

With only 250 rounds, you really dont know how the gun performs. As my gunsmith explained: "John, you have carried this gun for years without ever really shooting it and never knew what problems it had or didnt have. Now that you are shooting it, you are finding the problems that have been there since day one. Send your gun back to S&W."

I get problems can develope over time with anything (guns, motorcycles, refrigerators) but I don't see how firing more rounds would cause the guns to quit dropping the spent shells; at least as long as I keep it clean.

You have to shoot the gun to know EXACTLY how it performs. My J's each have had no less that 1000 rounds each through them and I shoot 100 rounds practice every quarter. You cannot take it as a matter of faith that the gun will operate as intended. Very frequently, a brand new gun has to go back to the manufacturer for adjustment or replacement of parts. These are not the 1950's and 60's when S&W was producing the finest handgun ever in the history of the world.

"NEVER TAKE AN UNPROVEN WEAPON INTO BATTLE"

We put 50 rounds through each J frame and 100 through our Sigma every month to keep current so we should know soon enough if the guns are worthy of the trust we're giving them.

My 442 has never given me a problem ejecting empties if I give the ejector a good smack. They will hang up if I pussy foot around with it though. Its the nature of the beast with the short ejector's.

FWIW, I like HKS speedloaders and many times will carry one in a jacket pocket and a speed strip in the change pocket on my jeans. Generally speaking I find speedloaders to be too bulky to carry.

My goodness, don't let this become personal surveyor47.

My experiences are w/my 642-2 and are related in MY statement about reloading via speed loaders, NOT YOURS in which you choose to take a very liberal interruption of my statement.

I have not had the experience you have had w/your 642-2.

Okay, ?, over, done. No more from me.

Absolutly nothing personal intended and I hope that nothing is interpreted that way.

What I am trying to point out is that many people, myself included, are guilty of not adequately testing guns through shooting on a regular basis. There are those who say that these guns are intended to be "carried a lot and shot a little" and people consequently dont shoot them very much. I have learned the lesson of "never taking an untested weapon into battle" (Ghost & the Darkness- Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer) through repeated failures of (2) diferent brand new S&W revolvers, requiring multiple trips back to the factor to make them right. I have also seen bramd new S&W revolvers owned by security guards fail on the range. I dont believe that it is valid to assume tjat a gun is in proper operating condition simply because it is new and well maintained. I have seen too many failures of new guns - including my own- to make that assumption. The police have a good policy to require qualification with backup weapons, because it not only tests the shooter, but the weapon as well.

I bet that you dont see these kinds of weapons failures on S&W semi automatics, because if you did, they would not have police contracts very long. This is something reserved for the public.

I agree with EVERYTHING you said, and well said it is. I'll buy you a beer or a doctor pepper if we ever should meet. I'm in Colorado, and I'm not kidding. Life's too short man, let's go shoot some paper.

Hey Bob,
Look what happened to a guys Ruger GP100 on the 2nd shot! Talk about a snubbie!

Not a good way to start the year... - Topic Powered by Social Strata

surveyor47 makes an ~excellent~ point regarding thoroughly testing a gun before trusting your life with it. I can't tell you how many times I've been shocked by someone telling me they carry a gun that they've never shot. Yikes!

I've shot thousands and thousands of rounds through over a dozen different J's, just about all of them Airweights. I've never had problems with any of them ejecting empties I'm happy to say. I would be very reluctant to ever use the gun in question for anything other than casual shooting since it has proven to have problems with ejection.

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Centennial Every Day

I like the HKS, as I use those regardless of frame size.

I love the Pachmayr compact grips (got big hands). I took a dremel to the side of the grip until I felt confident the HKS worked properly.

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Watch & Pray

I like the Jetloader, which nobody has yet to mention, best for J frames. (They're available from Brownell's.) They are very similar to the Safariland Comp III. However, they're also long like the comp II, which may be a drawback to carry in your pocket. For me, these have been far superior to any HKS loader.

I've used the Jetloaders and found them to work very well.

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Centennial Every Day

jetloaders here to.

I use full moon clips with my moon clip version 442. Open cylinder, dump moon clip with empties, drop in loaded moon clip, close cylinder, resume shooting.

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- Change it back -

Jetloaders here, in K-frame. Great! The best! Safariland Comp I or Comp II for everything else, but I'm sure Jetloaders would be slightly better if I had them.

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Formerly Model520Fan

Grab the star, pull all of them out. The rod is short, the travel is long enough. So far my 442-1 is dropping cases but it is new and clean.

Szumi

I shoot revolver in ICORE, IDPA, Steel Challenge, USPSA, and the new sport PCCA.

Any time I've seen a S&W with extraction problems one or two of the holes in the cylinder are slightly oblong. We see it on old guns and new guns. (Yes, that's right, I said we find the problem on older guns also.)

On new guns S&W is great – they send you a mailing label, you drop it off at a UPS hub and about 10 days later it’s back. On my 625 they changed the cylinder, reclocked the barrel and found one or two other items that they fixed.

I found speed strips work just fine for me. They are easy to conceal (I keep two in each jacket I wear) and with practice it's amazing how fast you can reload. That's the key, practice.

Regardless of the type of speed loader or speed strip you use, none are effective if you don't practice. I practice w/ my Bianchi speed strips w/ dummy rounds several times a week. Perfect practice makes perfect. FWIW

When I CCW carry my 638 I have 2 Tuff Products Speed Strips in special pockets in my jacket for winter. I also still have my Bianchi #22 belt pouch when I am not wearing a jacket. I have probably had that pouch for 35 or so years.

When I shoot BUG matches I use Safariland Comp I loaders for my reloads.
As someone else mentioned probably on the second page, they can be a pain to load up. One of mine does not load as easily as the others.

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ICORE MO2908

Instead of speed loaders, a second pistol is my choice for when the 5 rounds have been exhausted. I can draw it faster than reload the J-Frame.

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Hook686

My 437 had problems ejecting the casings but after shooting a couple hundred more rounds through it, I never had that problem since.

I use HKS speed loaders in both my 437 and model 19..... those are the same type of speed loaders that my mom uses for her duty gun for years and she never had a problem with it so I feel good about using it for my guns.

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Don't look, reload and shoot!

I have Pachmayers on myJframe and a HKS speedloader clears it nicely--- the dinky ejector rod I find is the problem, not the Pachmayers.