Empty one chamber then load that chamber? Essentially which is considered the classic way to do it, and does either way offer any particular advantage?

Load one,skip one,load four more,cock the hammer and set it down on the empty chamber.

But if the gun has been fired, to reload, is it considered proper to punch out all the empties first and then start fresh, or to replace each empty case with a live round as the empties are punched out?

That's what I do.Don't trust my foggy memory ;-)

I punch all the empties then reload.

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- Change it back -

I punch them out then reload. It keeps me from having to count.

Oooh,I shoot em all before reloading.

The "load one, skip one, load four" thing always gets you hammer down on an empty.

If you "unload one, reload it, unload the next, reload it, skip the empty, unload the next" etc, you end up with the empty "somewhere", and you don't really know where it is, so you have to spin the cylinder around until you see it, and then count from there.

Much easier to completely unload, then load one, skip one, load four.

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I always take precautions

That is the correct way to do it if you are not under duress.

IF I was under durress, I would punch one out, reload one, and continue till all 6 cylinders are reloaded, or untill I was WELL under durress and might have to try and shoot with less than a full cylinder reloaded...

This is why I have not carried a single action for protection very much.

When I hunt with my single action 44 Mag or my 475 L I still carry my 4" S&W 44 Mag, or my 1911, depending if I think my biggest threat is BIG with 4 legs or a 2 legged varmint.
I just have to many years On The Job, to much time in Dangerous Places to use only a Single Action.

Now I will say Elmer Keith is one of my "heros", but He did not spend any time around Modern Drug Dealers...

In Todays World, the SAA is just not a Combat handgun, IMHO.

In retrospect I think even Custer would have chosen the 1911.

Well maybe not, as he left the Gattling guns behind....

Oh, back to the Single Action, if back in the day, and you were behind good cover, and shooting at a distance with your SAA, one good plan would be to shoot one shot, eject the empty, reload, shoot the second shot, eject the empty, reload and repeat...

Then when/if there was a charge your SAA would be loaded with at least 5 rounds... Think about it.

Also think about Josey Wales, He carried at least 4 sixguns.... Not a bad plan.

I would want a Winchester rifle as well...

OR....buy one like they use on TV - never have to reload.

"Five beans in the wheel" as Skeeter Skelton said. When I fire an SAA I empty the cylinder, put the 5 cases in the ammo box, pull out the next five.

Wow, this SA stuff is confusing!

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Still Running Against the Wind

I fire all 6 (don't usually carry a single action, just shoot it) so the load one, skip one, load 4 thing isn't really something I do.

I fire 6, punch out 6 empties, then reload 6 and git-r-done again!

If I was hunkered down behind the water-trough with three or four idiots across the street blazing away in my direction from the front deck of the Saloon, I'd probably like to think of popping up and blasting away at one of them an promptly reloading. Especially if I had no backup revolver or rifle to have handy while I did reload.

It would be an obvious tactic for people (or even one guy) to jump up and rush over to a position from which he could hit me if they suspected I was in the process of reloading. By topping up after each shot...and filling the empty chamber, because who cares about an empty chamber when you have to intention of reholstering and are not sure you ever will again...I would be the most prepared possible in the event of a charge coming at me from the other side of the trough.

Whether I would have such presence of mind in actuality is debatable, but talking about it free of any emotional pressure and with time to think about it, it's the way I'd like to do it.

Obviously, if the pressure of being shot is taken out of it, the load one, leave one, load four and lower is the safe way to go about things. Just my opinion on it.

I suppose that I should have properly framed the question with two clauses - under fire and not under fire. I suppose it also proper to be specific in that what I'm asking about would apply to any gate loading revolver with an ejection rod. (Some, such as the Nagant, were nominally double action. And of course some single actions had a different method of ejection - Merwin&Hulbert and classic old Smith&Wessons come readily to mind.)

I suppose my question relates mostly to the "if you're in a hurry" part of things - hunkered down behold the old over turned buckboard trading potshots with the Apaches or whatnot.... and have a gate loading revolver.

In terms of simple speed - would it be quicker to fire the gun dry, then poke all the empties then reload empty a chamber/load a chamber? That would be assuming that the weapon was fired dry of course.

For a continuum of fire, I suspect it would likely be quicker to load one/fire one. (A variation of this idea - load two, fire two - lasted well into the age of the double action swing out cylinder revolver. I know that it was taught in some areas at least as late as the 1980s.)

I suppose modern single action gate loading (I don't know that any modern double action gate loading handguns exist?) further complicate things a bit. Many will use a transfer bar safety -or other mechanism - that allows them to be carried safely without the need for an empty chamber under the hammer.

(As an aside... Is it safe to carry a Nagant with seven chambers loaded, or does one load only six?)

I actually have only two gate loading revolvers currently. One is a Single Action (classic SAA pattern) in the form of a Heritage .22LR/Mag combo. The other is an older pre GCA '68 German import in .32 SW Long that is theoretically at least a double action. (It requires an empty chamber and then jamming a pencil or some such down the barrel so that the cylinder doesn't rotate if one for some reason wanted to carry it.)

I don't generally carry a gate loading revolver personally, but I was still curious about the ins and outs of using one. (I think that if I lived in ye olden days that I'd have tried very hard to find a Smith and Wesson top break...)

Most times any loaded round will roll out of the cylinder w/o any help from the ejector rod. I usually hold the revolver pointed upwards a little so the emptys drop free,,so as soon as the chamber with the still loaded round comes to the gate,,that heavier case just falls out anyway.

If it doesn't,,I'm not looking to see if it's a fired or unfired round,,it gets pushed out just like the rest. Then I reload using the load 1,skip one, load 4 routine.
I can even manage to goof that up on more occasions than I'd like to admit. So I always look at the rims and make sure an empty chamber is rotating under the lowered hammer.

Some say the 32wcf cal Colt SAA have an advantage in that you can lower the hammer between cartridges and carry it with 6 in the cylinder and the hammer down. You may be able to in the 38/357's also, I don't have one to check and see.
I think any of the 44 & 45cal Colts place the rims too close together for the firing pin to sit in between them with the hammer down all the way.

Personally, I'll stick with 5 in the original style actions. I've seen too many 'accidents'.
The most recent was with a Ruger old style Single Six. 6 rds were loaded, then the hammer very carefully and slowly lowered (using 2 hands on the revolver),,,the gun still fired. It just ain't a safe thing to do.

Mine are all transfer bar guns. I load 6 at the range and empty them all before reloading the cylinder. In the field varmit hunting I replace them after each series of shots.

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Front sight and squeeze

I doubt that a SA was a first choice even when they were common. If you had an expectation of some shooting I suspect the competent did about like they do today--go to a long gun as a first option if at all possible. Not as good but still better than one limited-capacity pistol that was slow to load--a second pistol when the first one runs dry (and to leave with). Best was (is) to bring lots of well armed, mean friends to share the good times.

Lots of shootings in the day were drunken affairs or drygulchings so style and technique weren't emphasized much. Although they don't know it, the gang punks of today are carrying on the tradition of being lethal idiots with no concern for "collateral damage"...

As a last backup when everything is empty and they are close enough empty both 10 gauge barrels into them!

If you don't have the 10ga,,,and if I remember correctly from the B-movies,,the proper last back up move is to throw the S/A revolver at your opponent.

This post is not going to make me popular, but I belive in saying what I belive, even if it`s not popular or what people want to hear.
I belive the majority of people a 120 years ago DID NOT load five, but all six! Too many times through the years I have read of relics being found fully loaded or some family finding grandpas hogleg packed away with all six. In fact I dont recall ever reading where one was found with 5 loaded and a empty under the hammer!
Obvisely one chamber under unloaded under the hammer is the right way and I now carry my colts at that way. I will confess when I started out around 1960 with a ruger single six I regularly did carry with all six chambers loaded, and never had a accident.
Since most gun writers want to preserve the sport and make our ancesters and hero`s look more knowledgable I think they somewhat filled in writers license. I wish someone would actualy show me in 1880`s print where colt actualy published or put it in a brochure to do it that way. In fact I challange anyone to show me a authetic brocuer or anything at all. I want to be proven wrong on this! I know most will say "It was common knowledge". Shouldnt there be a civil war manuel or similar telling soliders to only cap five, were that so? I would think manuels that normaly tell stuff like that would be in collections somewhere!
EDITED: When I first was a lockheed guard in 1965 our chief was a very old retired LAPD leut. We were issued colt offical police`s. He insisted we carried them with a empty under the chamber! I knew he was wrong but wasnt about to argue with the old grouch.

This is what Wyatt and Doc taught me:
empty one chamber, and then load it. empty the next chamber, and load it.
OR:
drop the empty magazine, insert a fresh loaded magazine, release the slide, continued firing.
If you use up all your magazines and the gunfight is continuing-CALL TIME OUT!

I usually empty the revolver and reload as I eject each empty.

You rang? Well Skeeters article is where the name came from.

I do the load one skip one routine at the range and just the fired ones in the field. If I ever get into running gun battle, I'll figure out as I go. Putting the mountain revolver into play may be my best bet.

I even carry FA83's and my Smuger with an empty chamber under the hammer. Old habits are tough to give up.

My biggest pet peeve with gun writers and testors is they almost always shoot a 5 shot group! All my revolvers are 6 shots. If I have a bad chamber it might not be taken into account!

Reloading the fired chamber after each shot on a traditional SAA revolver seems like a complicated way to slow down your rate of fire, and a particularly bad idea if "you're in a hurry."

Round One. Starting from the hammer down on a revolver loaded with five rounds, you cock the hammer and fire. Round Two. Next, bring the revolver to half-cock, open the loading gate, load the originally empty chamber, close the gate, bring the hammer to full cock and fire. Round Three. Bring the revolver to half cock, open the gate, eject the fired case, reload the chamber, close the gate, bring the hammer to full cock and fire.

Firing 3 rounds this way is more complicated and slower than firing 3 rounds by simply cocking the hammer and pulling the trigger - or holding the hammer back and "slipping" the hammer.

Emptying and loading each fired chamber requires you to bring the hammer to half cock and open/close the loading gate 5-6 times as often as just shooting until empty and then reloading.

Colt SAAs did tend to fall on the hammer spur sometimes when dropped. Also, when saddling a horse the left side stirrup and leathers would be thrown over the top of the saddle while cinching. When the stirrup came down it too had a tendency to come down near the hammer spur on a right side holster. If it hit hard enough on a loaded chamber...bang. Some years back I was going through old newspaper archives and found an account of exactly that happening, around 1885 or so.

There don't seem to be many advisories of any kind in the old days about
safety--certainly nothing like today. There were a LOT of "accidental" shootings when people pulled long guns toward them by the muzzle or hit a wounded animal with the butt, looking down the muzzle.

It was a different time in many ways.