Loading Revolvers vs Pistols

[LevelOne]

Originally posted by tom turner:
I've shot hundreds of competitions with pistols and revolvers.

One of my favorite memories was winning the pot at a steel match's "Special Match." About 30-35 shooters competed. I won with a revolver against some mighty fine shooters . . . all using high capacity autoloaders.

RULES:
1. 18 steel plates or poppers, spread in a 60 degree angle in front of the line, from various distances between 10-35 yards.

2. ALL GUNS STARTED UNLOADED, IN A PISTOL BOX

3. First one to drop all EIGHTEEN targets won the pot.

4. ONE MANDITORY RELOAD (as to not favor the Glock 17 shooters using 33 round extended magazines.

I came to the line with a S&W M25-2 revolver in .45ACP that uses moon clips . . . and thus I'd have to load, then reload two times UNLESS I missed even once . . . and if I did, I'd have to reload again.

Thus, I'd have to be real fast, real accurate and real smooth. However, I shoot this gun better and faster than my competition 1911 anyway so I looked forward to the challenge . . . as well as possibly waxing the auto guys who normally don't face wheelgunners due to various classifications.

I won the match by nearly two seconds! Better . . . I got to rag the guys mercilessly for a few months!

Part of the fun of competitions is the fellowship!

Frankly, most deadly handgun fights last less than three seconds. Neither guy is gonna stand still and allow the other guy to shoot him. Gun games are nothing like a real, mortal confrontation. However, the games can surely make us far better handgunners who eventually develop skills at a higher level that greatly increase our chances of survival against those who don't compete and get smooth and fast!

There's an old saying, "Beware of the old man with a revolver . . . he probably knows how to use it!"

Okay this is going to be real newbie question. I see that your sets of 6 bullets are all linked together with say a wire type mechanism.

So is that all you have to do is drop all 6 in at once into the revolver instead of putting each bullet in one at a time?

 

[Vanilla Gorilla]

LevelOne, those are called moon clips. Those do hold the six rounds together and the whole assembly gets inserted and ejected together.

 

[HiCap]

Originally posted by john traveler:
If you have ever attended a practical shooting competition, you would know that semiauto shooters can effect a reload very fast: say, two seconds between the last shot from the first magazine and the first shot from the second magazine.

Revolver shooters can be fast too, if they use speedloaders. Last shot to new first shot, say 3 to 4 seconds. It's all a matter of practice.

I have constantly beaten an experienced shooter with his SIG in IDPA using a model ten and speedloaders. He can reload a bit faster, but when time and accuracy are combined as with IDPA, I beat him. But not by much, however.

So, you pays yur money and takes your choice.

 

[Wyatt Earp]

Level One, allow me to make a minor terminology correction.

What you refer to as "bullets" are properly called cartridges. Some people also call them rounds, which is an old term from when most firearms were loaded with round lead balls. Still, the terms round and cartridge are interchangable.

The bullet is only the projectile. The cartridge is composed of the bullet, case, powder, and primer.

 

[Centurian77]

One reason the FBI went to auto's was after two agent's were found shot to death behind a car trying to reload their revolvers.

Ironically it's also one of the few times that a registered select fire weapon was used in a crime.

However for most, the basic rule for a gunfight is: three seconds, three shots, within three meters.

 

[stuccoman]

Thank's fellas! Not only have you enlightened Levelone, you have surely helped me and others gain some good info that will be needed to be safe, educated gun owners/carriers.

Thank's Again!!!

 

[LevelOne]

Originally posted by Wyatt Earp:
Level One, allow me to make a minor terminology correction.

What you refer to as "bullets" are properly called cartridges. Some people also call them rounds, which is an old term from when most firearms were loaded with round lead balls. Still, the terms round and cartridge are interchangable.

The bullet is only the projectile. The cartridge is composed of the bullet, case, powder, and primer.

Thank you. I knew my terminology had to be off somewhere along the lines.

 

[tom turner]

Naaah LevelOne, no problem with your terminology . . . for you are hungry and you are learning! We're so glad you are here, asking great questions!

The one's we all worry about are those ignorant politicians and citizens who use the wrong descriptions of things such as:

Assault weapon - An "offensive" term (no matter how it is used by the press) to inaccurately describe semi-auto rifles legally owned by civilians as if they were MILITARY rifles. Ummm . . . military weapons can fire as machineguns and submachine guns. Our civilian weapons cannot. No, our civilan weapons were NEVER designed for assault purposes, just for self defense!

"Rifles with high capacity CLIPS" - My revolver shown above uses thin clips to snap the cartridges into, but modern rifles and pistols use MAGAZINES, not clips! A magazine fully encloses the loaded ammunition.

Here's a great video by an ignorant national politician, as she tries to push a law that would ban stuff she's clueless about. It would be funny, if she wasn't so damned ignorant on firearms! She's just an ignorant pawn, albeit a dangerous one!

Here, she's "written" a bill banning "barrel shrouds" and "high-capacity clips" . . . but knows nothing about things she wrote a bill on:

Stupid, Ignorant Anti-Gun Politician!


Again LevelOne, THANK YOU for seeking to understand firearms better. Only through learning about things can we prevent ignorance from ruling our lives! Glad you are here!

Tom

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

Many people can draw a second gun faster than they can reload, depending on where the second gun is.