using Safariland Comp III loaders SW K or L frame revolvers,

last year every so often, I would screw up a reload with some rounds not loading in the cylinder. luckily I keep a spare reload on me and I just dump live rounds on the ground, reload and finish the stage.

I did this again last week in one stage and was disgusted with myself. While I cannot duplicate in my mind what I did to keep rounds from dropping into the cylinder.....

I think it just best to analyze the proper method and start over from square one.

Using Comp III, it should be a push and follow through letting the speed loader fall on its own.

I may be retaining the speed loader in my hand and pulling to soon by already thinking of my next move when I need to allow the rounds to seat in the cylinder.

by letting the speed loader fall on its own, I would think that would keep me from pulling the speed loader away when it was not ready.

any suggestions are appreciated.

Hold the speedloader by the rim and when you reload push hard and let the CompIII drop. Make sure the gun is pointing straight down and then complete the load.

Keep practicing. It takes a lot. Make up some dummy rounds and load for at least 15 minutes per night. Some serious shooters practice their reloads for 1 hour ever night.

To me this is where the cut down speed loaders helps. They get the rounds farther into the chambers. The speed loader will push the rounds almost all the way into the chambers and having then hang if the recesses in the speed loader body is pretty well eliminated, as is most of the speed loader body.

I use cut down Jetloaders. Even the center "trigger pin" is cut back .125". The Jets are easier to "cut down" than the Safarilands but it's commonly done to the Safarilands too. Downside is you definitely need a loading block.

I grab the Comp III's by the stem and push the plunger with my palm. As soon as I push with my right palm I am pushing the cylinder closed with my left thumb.
I don't care where the speedloader goes. I guess I just push it away and as soon as the cylinder closes, my right hand is going back to the grip.

I do see shooters push in the speedloader and they are still holding it with fingers and sometimes try to pull it out and toss it away. This will often lead to you pulling out rounds from the cylinder.
Dry fire with dummy rounds and you can probably duplicate it and adjust your loading technique.

Good Luck!

Last year I went to a front dump pouch as some of the ranges I shoot matches are very sandy or lack grass or concrete. My mags and speedloaders get gritty and sometimes the have to be reused.....so I went to a dump pouch and this actually has turned bad in the area of screwing up the revo reload.

I will no longer worry about retaining the loader or mag upon reloads.

Thanks to all

I may have mis-understood the question. When I feel the speed loader release the rds I just let go of it and let it drop. With the trimmed bodies they won't hang up even if a round doesn't want to go in the chamber. Our stages are normally dirt and gravel and I run the speedloaders "dry", no lube, no silicone, no nothing so they don't attract dirt. Brush/blow them off and load 'em for the next stage(s).

Tomcatt,

yesterday I was working on my building/reload area so I had a lot of thoughts about this.

I think I have identified the culprit as the dump pouch and me trying to keep my mags/loaders from falling onto the ground.

One time in the past, I inserted a re-reloaded mag from a range that was sandy. I heard crunchy mag insertion and along the same, I had a speed loader feel gritting after falling onto the ground.

I agree, just blow them clean for the next stage or match.

I am very interested in how you thin the speed loader body for faster insertion. I am also interested in trying some Jet Loaders and may do a search comparing Jets to Safariland Comp III.

I don't think my reload needs attention except in the area of letting the speed loader go once the rounds have released.

TIA

Modified Jetloaders. Not my idea, people have been doing this mod for a long time. The Jetloaders are easier to mod (and clean) than the Safarilands but the idea is the same.

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I had a similar issue with a 1980s 686. My Comp III reloads with my M66 and M19 were fast and trouble free. Every third or so reload with the 686 Comp III (for L frame of course), the loader wouldn't want to release the rounds. Never really figured that one out.

If the rounds aren't "straight" going in the chambers you'll bind the speedloader and it won't release. Not enough grip clearance can do this. With CompIII's or Jet's not only does the body have to clear the grips but the "handle" sticking back has to clear the grips too.

This is a link to an article (w/pictures) on modifying Safariland Comp 3 speedloaders. It also works for Jetloaders.

http://www.coolcerts.com/IDPA/Modify...eedloaders.pdf

Buck

Yep, that's how. With Jets you can easily remove the "center section" you see in photo #7 instead of "working around it". The round center pin that "triggers" the release (you see it clearly in photo #7 also) I shorten .125" on the Jets.

Thanks haggis.

Tommcat.....can the comp IIIIs be taken completely apart to avoid cutting around the center?

I don't think so, at least not reasonably. Seems there are pins that are installed "blind"? It's been a while since I really looked at one and I don't have any Comp IIIs. I got into games with "on the clock" reloads with speedloaders (vs moonclips) later in the game (ICORE Retro/Classic) and looked at the Comp IIIs and Jets and bought Jets.

CQB,

Here are You-Tube videos on disassembling a Comp 3 loader

Safariland Comp-3 Disassembly - YouTube

and uniformly machining off the front of a Comp 3 using a drill press.

Machining a piece of plastic without a lathe - YouTube

I've watched both of these, and they are good instructions for modifying a Comp 3 speedloader. They should be what you need.

Buck

Good video. If you go to 7:56 in the video, that pin, (just pushes out) is the only one you need to remove on a Jet to trim (by hand) the loader body. I used an exacto saw and a sanding block to square/finish the cut face. It also appears the Jets can be trimmed shorter (and benefit from it) than the Comp IIIs.

A big part of using Comp III's or Jet's is to allow the loader to do the work without interference from the operator. Get the muzzle pointed straight down and leave it there while the rounds are dropping into the cylinder.

When I've analyzed bobbled reloads, its usually 1) failure to keep the muzzle straight down while the rounds fall or 2) attempting to "muscle" the rounds in by moving the loader while the rounds drop or 3) dirty cylinder charge holes not allowing a quick, smooth cartridge drop.

There is no replacement of lots of dry reloading with dummy ammo. You must build up that muscle memory. Once built, do not defeat it by trying to move the loader away too soon. I simply let the loader fall away once its done its job.

that WAS my issue.

SW CQB 45

YOU DIAGNOSED YOUR PROBLEM IN A REASONABLE AND LOGICAL MANNER. I HAVE BEEN USING COMP III'S IN COMPETITION FOR 20YEARS. I HAVE NEVER NEEDED TO CUT THEM DOWN. WHEN EVER I HAVE HAD A FAULTY RELOAD IT HAS COME FROM TWO THINGS.
1ST, NOT DROPPING THE SPEEDLOADER, BUT PULLING IT AWAY FROM THE CYLINDER. 1ST(a) NOT WATCHING THE RELOAD (CHECKING MY TARGET FOR SCORE, THE TYPICAL SCORING THE TARGET AS I SHOOT) WHICH CAUSES ME TO PULL THE LOADER OFF THE CYLINDER.
2ND, NOT HAVING THE MUZZLE OF THE REVOLVER POINTING DOWN (VERTICAL) BUT CHEATING IT SIDEWAYS (HORIZONTAL).

AS AN AFTER THOUGHT, DON'T TRY TO MOVE LIKE LIGHTENING, BE SMOOTH. FLUIDITY OF MOTION IS THE KEY. NOT RAPID JERKY MOVEMENTS. I HAD ATTENDED A CLASS BY HEMPHILL SEVERAL TIMES AND THIS WAS WHAT HE TAUGHT. SHOOT THE 1ST 6, RELOAD, REESTABLISH YOU GRIP, FIRE THE NEXT SIX. HE WAS VERY FAST WITHOUT BEING PANICKED . HE SAID "I'M A BIG MAN I DON'T MOVE FAST, BUT I GET THE JOB DONE RIGHT THE FIRST TIME."

JP

How many commenting about trimmed speedloaders have tried/used them? Yes the std Comp IIIs and Jets work, the trimmed ones just work better. They're more forgiving to less than perfect technique.

Thanks to all for the advice.

Ok.....got another problem. And I think its me.

First of all....I am a large person with 3x hands and usually break stuff that I rough handle.

Another re-occurring issue is an empty case gets hung up on the edge of my bill davis large rubber grip. I am always having to sweep it away with a finger that cost me valuable seconds.

Last match, the hung up casing got under the extractor and I was able to use my finger nail to get it out....reload and fire the last 6 rounds very fast....like 6 shots in 3 seconds and they were all scores.

I don't slam the ejector rod for fear of breaking it so I may be doing enducing the single case hang up by not being aggressive.

With those who use the bill davis lg rubber grip.....is there some mod or work on smooth but harder dump of the ejector rod???????

Tia

CQB,

Your second problem is shooter induced as well and if you don't correct it you could easily get an empty case caught under the extractor star. Ask me how I know!

When you're unloading the empties, you have to get the barrel pointed straight up, perpendicular to the deck. If you don't and leave it even slightly parallel to the deck one case will inevitably end up laying on the frame between the grip and cylinder. Add in an unintentional double stroke on the ejector and you have a piece of brass caught under the star - not fun at the 7 or 15 yard stages.

Remember to let gravity help with the unloads and reloads by having the barrel perpendicular to the deck. Your 3x hands should help with the mechanics of holding the gun this way to use gravity.

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Non illegitimae carborundum

Mkt....I think you might hit the nail on the head.

It happens with both my ppc m15 and my svc 686 and I might be holding the barrel short of square to the deck causing that one empty to slide along the reciever and stop on the edge of the grip.

This is the first time I had one get under the star in a timed event....so I figured I better fix instead of just keep sweeping that one empty.

Thanks...take care

YEP A TECHNIQUE PROBLEM. HOLD POINTING STRAIGHT UP TO UNLOAD , STRAIGHT DOWN TO LOAD. JP

Trim the grip for clearance. It helps when we don't do things perfectly. It's nice to have equipment that's a little forgiving rather than having it bite you when things are done less than perfectly.

If you are shooting PPC there is plenty of time for a reload, make it smooth and quick but unhurried. The grip may be interferring with squaring up the loaders. I found that the N frames reload easier and smoother than K frames and L frames too, although L frames are still much better than K frames. I have always used Comp l's for N frame and Comp ll's for L frames and they work very well.

Good advice on the straight up muzzle, straight down reload. Also, chamfering the extractor can make it easier for a case to slip under the extractor. The muzzle up, muzzle down method mitigates that, though.

I don't know what others do, but when reloading, I focus on one charge hole, the one falls at about 11 o'clock, and make sure I start a round in that hole, and the rest just fall in, let go of the loader, go for the grip, close the cylinder under the loader, letting it fall, coming up for the next shot. Work on the technique in slow motion until it becomes automatic, then you can gain speed.

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Richard Gillespie
FBINA 102

The fastest reload is grab another gun. Drop the first revolver, and grab the second one. That's why you shoot the first string with a Taurus.

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S&WHF 366