My article on revolver speedloaders for CCW

[9mmepiphany]

The rounds were all properly secured in a Safariland leather carrier on my duty belt, and as I searched for a rigid model after the unintentional release, I found that even they had soft leather tops.

LD

Now I'm confused,

The Safariland carriers we used with our K-frames had a plastic insert inside the leather to support the edge of the body and keep the bullet tips from touching bottom.

Downward pressure on knob/body of the Comp-I/II wouldn't release the cartridges, you'd need upward pressure on the center star...between the cartridges

 

[W.E.G.]

I carried the same two size 10A HKS speedloaders in duty pouches for a couple years.

They never took a dump by accident during the many outings they rode with me.

 

[2zulu1]

I've conducted another experiment in an attempt to get four HKS speedloaders to dump their rounds. Two poaches were placed in a Lyman media tumbler for twenty minutes.



Dustier after their 'tumbling', it would be interesting to see if they still performed.



No rounds were dumped, even after grabbing the top button and spinning the handloaders back forth.



44mag on the left and 357mag on the right held together w/o
incident. All four loaders dropped their ammunition into the appropriate cylinders.

 

[Malamute]

Was the inadvertant Safariland dump carried in the over the belt (split 6) type carrier? I think I've had one release when carried in that type. If one isnt familiar with them, the loader is carried with the belt through the middle of the loader. It makes it much more compact to carry. I use them, but am aware of the possibilty of a release if the carrier is pushed down hard from above. The belt apparently pushed the release button hard enough to activate it.

I've had some Safarilands not release cleanly on several occasions, taking a VERY LARGE amount of pressure to release, meaning I tried very hard and couldn't get them to release in several tries, then pushed them extremely hard and got them to release. Not sure why, they seemed to work fine the next try. I've also just flat worn out several HKS loaders, the rims of the cartridges wore the points that hold the shells in, and locked up the loader (knob wouldnt turn, and couldnt release rounds) when I went to use it. It was back when I rode motorcycles a lot, (the old fashioned vibraty kind), and walked a LOT. The movement seems to have eventually worn through the points enough that they locked up. Turning the loader upside down allowed them to release. Best to look at them once in a while with that in mind, and toss any that start to get wear. They arent expensive, and one shouldnt be afraid to toss them if they dont work right or show wear. Had one or two HKS's come apart also. The spring loaded ball detent came out, so the center part wouldnt stay in any one position.

I've tended towards the Safarilands after using the HKS's for years. After using the Safarilands, which I like very much, and think they are defiantely faster than the HKS, I'm leaning abck to the HKS. They are easier to deal with if they dont work as expected. The Safarilands that seized up were Comp 1's I think, perhaps 2's tho. I really like the comp 3's, wish they made them for 44's. Not mentioned in the article, the comp 3's have a spring that slaps the rounds into the chambers when it releases.

 

[2zulu1]

My experience has been just the opposite with all the local LEA going with the Safariland Comp-II back when we issued revolvers. Plain clothes officers did indeed carry their reloads in the Split-Six type carriers. We never had a reported incident from the field or a observed incident during qualifications of the Comp-II releasing rounds except when being loading into cylinders.

We did has incidents of the HKS releasing rounds when drawn out of pockets or off the belt, there is a temptation to start rotating the wrist before the loader clears the carrier...much worst were the Dade or the Kel Light (the first for dropping rounds, the second for not letting go of them)

What were y'all carrying? The Safariland website doesn't have a listing for comp-II N-frames nor the 7-shot L-frames that are now common.

 

[9mmepiphany]

What were y'all carrying? The Safariland website doesn't have a listing for comp-II N-frames nor the 7-shot L-frames that are now common.

A combination of of S&W K-frames, M-15/13/19/66, and Colt Pythons (Comp-I)

 

[Lawdawg45]

Was the inadvertant Safariland dump carried in the over the belt (split 6) type carrier? I think I've had one release when carried in that type. If one isnt familiar with them, the loader is carried with the belt through the middle of the loader. It makes it much more compact to carry. I use them, but am aware of the possibilty of a release if the carrier is pushed down hard from above. The belt apparently pushed the release button hard enough to activate it.

I've had some Safarilands not release cleanly on several occasions, taking a VERY LARGE amount of pressure to release, meaning I tried very hard and couldn't get them to release in several tries, then pushed them extremely hard and got them to release. Not sure why, they seemed to work fine the next try. I've also just flat worn out several HKS loaders, the rims of the cartridges wore the points that hold the shells in, and locked up the loader (knob wouldnt turn, and couldnt release rounds) when I went to use it. It was back when I rode motorcycles a lot, (the old fashioned vibraty kind), and walked a LOT. The movement seems to have eventually worn through the points enough that they locked up. Turning the loader upside down allowed them to release. Best to look at them once in a while with that in mind, and toss any that start to get wear. They arent expensive, and one shouldnt be afraid to toss them if they dont work right or show wear. Had one or two HKS's come apart also. The spring loaded ball detent came out, so the center part wouldnt stay in any one position.

I've tended towards the Safarilands after using the HKS's for years. After using the Safarilands, which I like very much, and think they are defiantely faster than the HKS, I'm leaning abck to the HKS. They are easier to deal with if they dont work as expected. The Safarilands that seized up were Comp 1's I think, perhaps 2's tho. I really like the comp 3's, wish they made them for 44's. Not mentioned in the article, the comp 3's have a spring that slaps the rounds into the chambers when it releases.

Yes they were.

LD

 

[youngda9]

I carry a dump pouch with a full re-load when carrying a revolver. Speedloaders are just too bulky for CC. Not necessary IMO for 99.99999% of civilian encounters IMO. I practice with the dump pouch and can do it very fast, I'm not undergunned.

 

[9mmepiphany]

Do you at least use Speed Strips in your dump pouch?

 

[David E]

I practice with the dump pouch and can do it very fast,

How fast, exactly, is "very fast?"

 

[9mmepiphany]

I'd think it would be painfully slow. I can reload faster out of cartridge loops than out of a dump pouch. We used to have competitions during our academy...the SO had loops, the PD had pouches

 

[David E]

I'm reminded of some doofus that posted that he utilized speedloaders.......by using it to dump the rounds in his palm then loading from there.... THEN claiming how well it worked!

 

[9mmepiphany]

Would he have been related to the guy with the 1.5 second magazine change?...the one with the distorted perception of time

 

[2zulu1]

A combination of of S&W K-frames, M-15/13/19/66, and Colt Pythons (Comp-I)

That would make for a nice combination for you. When I began in the early 70s we had M28s, probably the reason why HKS speedloaders were very common.

Do you know when Safariland began making speedloaders?

 

[9mmepiphany]

I attended the academy in '79 and the Safariland Comp-I (small knob) were widely available at LE supply stores...I still have some Comp-I loaders for my M-27

Most of the officers on the street carried the HKS Six-Second,

...the Dade


...or the Kel-lite


...the really cutting edge guys carried the Second-Six loaders, because they didn't depend on gravity to load the cartridges

 

[Trebor]

9mmEphinany,

Are any of those loaders still made and sold? Got any links?

I've heard of the Dade, but not the rest.

 

[David E]

I carry a dump pouch with a full re-load when carrying a revolver. I practice with the dump pouch and can do it very fast...

Again, how fast is "very fast"........really?

 

[9mmepiphany]

9mmEphinany,

Are any of those loaders still made and sold? Got any links?

I've heard of the Dade, but not the rest.

The only large manufacturers who have survived from that time are HKS and Safariland.

The Dade loader is still available on eBay, but the Dade Machine company has been long out of business. I still have mine from my PPC days

Kel-lite stopped producing theirs when they were bought by Streamlight. Their philosophical descendant is the Maxfire, which shares it's same simplicity and lower cost, but also it's same weakness of not easily releasing all the shells

The death kell of the Second-Six was the Jet loader...which we now know as the Safariland Comp III

The only new player is 5-Star, which many see as a product improved HKS

 

[MrBorland]

The death kell of the Second-Six was the Jet loader...which we now know as the Safariland Comp III

Was there an earlier JetLoader which led to the compIII? Current JetLoaders and CompIIIs are 2 separate speedloaders. Both are popular in competition. I prefer JetLoaders, myself. Cut down, of course.





FWIW, SL Variants offer the spring-loaded speed of JetLoaders and CompIIIs, and are available for guns not covered by JLs & CIIIs. Tough to find, but if you want to run a 7-shot or an N-frame fast with speedloaders, for instance, the SL Variant is for you.

 

[9mmepiphany]

Good catch, I was lazy in posting

Sorry, I meant that the Jetloader lead to the development of the Comp III...I'm surprised they didn't sue Safariland, unless they are a lot more different than they look

 

[Trebor]

Looks like I gotta do another article now.