Re: holding the revolver in the right hand when reloading (right hand dominant) or left hand.
Back when I was doing some local competitions run by the Sheriff's Department we all shot revolvers as semi-autos weren't approved for carry yet. Think mid-80s in a rural area fwiw.
Anyway, I was carrying and competing with a 4" 686 using HKS speedloaders. I had been taught to transition the gun into the left hand and reload using the right hand. I thought to myself that I didn't want to change hands so I practiced the following technique:
1. Push cylinder release with right hand thumb while pushing cylinder open with first and second fingers of the left hand.
2. Point muzzle almost straight up while maintaining firing grip with right hand. Keep gun at sternum level or just slightly higher. Angle muzzle slightly outward from body (12:00) and slightly to the left to help keep the cylinder crane fully open.
3. Slap straight down on the ejector rod with the meaty outside edge of the left hand. This evolved into sliding the outside edge of my left hand down the side of the revolver.
4. Empties are ejected.
5. Point muzzle straight down at ground while retrieving speedloader from the pouch carried at the 11:00 position.
6. While holding body of HKS speedloader cradled between base of left thumb and middle finger curled around it, giude bullets into cylinder holes. Ring and little fingers were wrapped around the cylinder, helping to align the speedloader with the cylinder. (We shot competition with full wadcutters, btw, so getting all six lined up and into the holes was of critical importance in shaving time.)
7. When rounds dropped into cylinder, twist release with index finger and thumb, maintaining pressure on the cylinder with the little and ring fingers so the cylinder didn't turn with the speedloader while turning the release.
8. Push cylinder closed with heel of left hand, letting the speedloader fall away to the ground.
9. Transition left hand onto the right while bringing the revolver back up into firing position.
It takes much longer to read this than it does to do it. FWIW, shooting a bone stock 4" 686 (except for changing the grips to Pachmyer Pros), I ended up in 3rd place behind two guys shooting dedicated 6" PPC guns. My average, IIRC, was a 497 - 36X.
I do NOT consider myself an accomplished professional gunslinger. At that time, I was a modestly talented amateur. But, I worked as a Reserve Deputy Sheriff, and had every intention of going home after my shifts were done. There was a dearth of training available, and considering my financial situation as the time, I could not have been able to afford traveling to training venues. I read everything I could get my hands on, reloaded .38 Spl. and .357 Magnums and shot two to three nights a week. I lived in the country and had the advantage of being able to shoot in my backyard.
I wasn't world-class, but I was good. 25 years later, I find I prefer to carry 1911s for social occasions. But, there are times that a 1911 is too much. So I just bought a Pro Series 442 and will be trying to relearn much of the revolver skills I have undoubtedly lost over the last two decades.
Long post, but hopefully it sparks some thoughts out there about how to reload a revolver. As always, what works for me may not work for you, so YMMV!
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