Thanks for taking the time to post this and share your experience / knowledge.

The comment about "keeping them topped off" has me intrigued. Are you saying you were doing tactical reloads? I've seen Clint Smith (I think it was) teach this. But haven't seen anyone else. Meaning you push up part way on the ejector rod and let it fall back down, with the gun facing down and the fired cases will stay up but the ones not fired will drop back down. So you pull out the fired brass and reload those cylinders.
Is this what you are talking about?

It seems like crazy complicated and I never practice this. I only practice reloading once it's empty. But I'm interested in hearing if that's what they teach.