Howdy
Rule #1: Never shoot reloads unless you loaded them yourself!
Now that we got that over, I have been shooting single action revolvers for over 40 years.
I have Colts, Rugers, and antique Smith and Wesson Top Breaks.
I always only load five, even in a Ruger, which is perfectly safe to load six into. I find it is much easier to stay consistent and only load five in all of them, rather than load six in some and five in others.
I have been shooting CAS for almost 20 years, and we are only allowed to load five, no matter what brand we have.
The other thing is, even with a modern double action revolver, I usually only load five at the range, because ammo comes in boxes packed 5 to the row. Easier to keep track that way.
Holsters:
I form fit a few holsters years ago. I did not soak the holster in water for a few hours. That is not necessary. A quick dunk into a pail or sink full of water is all that is necessary. Then wrap the gun really well in a couple of zip lock bags and jam the gun into the holster. Allow it to dry over night, that's all there is to it. Don't put it near a heat source, just let it dry in room air. You want the gun to be well wrapped so the moisture will not reach the gun. If you wrap it in a few zip lock bags, the holster will dry a tad larger than if in just one. Stands to reason, more bags are thicker and will swell the shape a bit. As stated, you don't want the holster floppy, you want it stiff, so it holds its shape. Lined holsters are always better than unlined holsters. A lined holster will usually have an inner layer of soft calf skin that will not wear the blue as much as the thicker leather that forms the body of the holster.
You have heard the saying you get what you pay for. You paid a pretty penny for that Smoke Wagon. Why buy a cheap holster for a nice gun?
Here is my Duke rig that I have been wearing for almost 20 years in CAS. This one was made by S.D. Myres. Notice how wide the belt is, almost three inches.
A number of years ago I picked up an antique Smith and Wesson New Model Number Three. I wanted a nice holster for it so I called up El Paso Saddlery and ordered a Slim Jim holster for the NM#3. El Paso has zillions of dummy guns they mold their holsters around. I chatted on the phone a bit and mentioned that the lower area of the frame in front of the cylinder would probably need some extra space.
Fits pretty good. I paid a little bit extra for some nice Border Stamping.
The holster is open on the bottom without a plug.
The great thing about El Paso is everything is custom. They had no problem making my holster fit onto a 3" wide belt. You have the choice of lined or unlined, left or right, straight hang or cross draw and a whole bunch of other stuff. You get what you pay for.
It turns out this holster also fits a Russian Model.
And Schofield.
It even fits an antique Merwin and Hulbert. Notice the 7" barrel of this revolver pokes through the bottom of the holster. A nice feature of a holster without a plug at the bottom. Notice too there is some obvious wear around the lip of this holster after having been used for a bunch of years now. I like to store these holster with a tennis ball stuffed into them. Helps keep the top from compressing down for an easy reholstering during a match.
I actually have two of these holsters, I liked the first one so much that I bought another one just like it a couple of years later, for when I bring more than one antique revolver with me to a match.