For the lefties

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wvfarrier

wvfarrier

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Ive been a revolver nut most of my life but being a lefty, there is simply no way to reload fast. Ive practiced for probably hundreds of hours but the fastest I can manage is about 4 seconds and thats only if everything goes correctly. The steps involved:
Shoot my gun empty
Switch gun to right hand while pushing cylinder out
Push out empty cases
Reach across my body to grab the moon clips from my right side.
Insert moon clips while swapping back to left hand.
Resume firing.

Its A LOT of steps and can get incredibly frustrating. It makes me crazy that there are so few left hand revolvers.

I can reload my 1911 in close to 1.5 seconds.....pretty significant difference if your life depends on it.

So, for all you lefties who EDC a wheelgun, how quickly can you reload?
 
Why are not your moon clips
on your left side?

And for speed, maybe you have
too many moon clips on you. Just
try having one or two.

Maybe having 1911 mags on right
side started you off in a left-handed
way for revolvers. :)
 
Maybe I’m not reading right, but it looks like you have to much movement. You have two hands on the gun. For a reload, I already have the gun in my right hand, so I just use that hands thumb to press the cylinder release.

At the same time my left hand is curling under the gun to push the cylinder out with the fingers of my left hand. Now the gun is cupped in my left hand with those fingers holding the cylinder open.

Immediately, I am reaching back with my right hand for my speed loader, which I carry on my right side. Insert loader, twist and drop the loader.

Right hand grabs the right side of the gun while my left thumb is pushing the cylinder closed and my hand is rotating back under the gun. Both hands are now back in position and ready to fire.
 
wvfarrier said:
Shoot my gun empty
Switch gun to right hand while pushing cylinder out
Push out empty cases
Reach across my body to grab the moon clips from my right side.
Insert moon clips while swapping back to left hand.
Resume firing.

Its A LOT of steps and can get incredibly frustrating. It makes me crazy that there are so few left hand revolvers.

I can reload my 1911 in close to 1.5 seconds.....pretty significant difference if your life depends on it.

So, for all you lefties who EDC a wheelgun, how quickly can you reload?
Click to expand...

1. Shoot gun empty.

2. Smoothly shift grip to right hand, holding the grip as if shooting right-handed..

3. Activate cylinder release, and push cylinder open with right index finger, while continuing to hold grip in right hand.

4. Point gun upward, and work ejector rod with left hand.

5. Reach to your LEFT side, with the left hand, and grasp reloading device.

5. Point gun downward, and Insert spare ammo.

6. Close cylinder smoothly with left hand, while smoothly placing left hand into support-hand position.

7. Resume firing, with RIGHT hand. ;) Yes, the right hand. If your right hand is “weak,” well, work on that. I did. What one man can do, another man can do.

I just described Michael de Bethencourt’s right-hand revolver reload, except that one starts with the revolver in the left hand, and does the switch at the hand-meets-hand moment. I do not use his left-hander’s reload, because it seems so much less smooth,



Actually, when I started a police academy, in late 1983, at age 22, long-stroke DA revolver shooting was a new-to-me skill, so, I chose to be a right-handed “primary” handgun shooter. Write lefty, eat lefty, brush my teeth lefty, shoot little J-Frames lefty, shoot duty revolvers RIGHT-handed, carry duty revolver on right hip. What’s not to like? Keep in mind that I knew that I would be patrolling mostly alone, in a one-man car. In most US cars, the right hip is more-accessible, while driving. I chose to adopt a right-hand carry habit. You are simply looking to improve your reload speed, not completely transition to right-hand-primary.

Long-stroke DA is a gross motor skill. Your “weak” right hand is capable of gross motor skills. You can do this. Getting those first few shots off, after the reload, aimed at your opponent, faster, may save your life.
 
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Watch one of Jerry Miculek's videos where he shows how he reloads a revolver. Should be pretty useful for you given that he actually changes hands for his reload.

Also, keep an eye out for where he has his ammo. That should help too.
 
More than thirty years ago, I found myself the only LH law enforcement recruit in a class of forty-four. No one there had a functional and swift reload technique for revolvers for left-handed shooters. One of the instructors and I came up with one. Using this technique, I was able to rival most, if not all, the others' reload times in my class. The technique, once mastered and all other factors being equal, adds probably between 1/4-1/2 of a second to a reload. I'll try my best to describe it.

As the need or want for reload is determined, the cylinder release is actuated with the trigger finger of the shooting hand. This is easier on Colt and Ruger revolvers, but can be mastered on others (the middle finger can also be used if it has better reach or more leverage.) As this is being done, the weapon is lowered to near-belt level and rotated upward. The gun is passed to the right hand as the cylinder is released in this manner: the right thumb tip poking the cylinder open as the gun is received, and continuing through the frame to support the weapon on the thumb base. The left hand is quickly drawn away and moves to the belt for the speedloader. The right hand ends up holding the weapon in the following manner: inside of frame top strap resting on back of thumb base, middle pad of index finger on tip of ejector rod, and remaining three fingers across front and side of cylinder. Thumb base (right) is supporting the gun from beneath the top strap.

The gun is kept pointed up, but rotated laterally slightly to the left to insure the empty cases fall clearly as the right index finger thrusts the ejector rod.
At this time, the left hand is arriving back at the weapon with the speedloader. The revolver is rolled back muzzle-downward, pointing slightly to the right to keep the cylinder from falling closed, and the speedloader is deployed. As the left hand allows the now-empty loader to fall freely, it grasps the grip and the right hand is withdrawn from inside the frame, closing the cylinder behind it with the four fingers as the gun is rotated back laterally to the right to a more "upright" position (grip perpendicular to the ground), and raised back to appropriate level.

This sounds more complicated than it actually is. I ended up actually being asked to help teach it to my academy instructors, and, later, to left-handed LEOs. The nice aspect of it is that it ends with the shooter's strong hand back in control of the gun even before the cylinder is finished being slammed shut. The weak hand is never on the grip.

There is a version of this known as the Griffin reload technique on YT somewhere that I saw a few years back. It's identical except that it has the shooter's right hand releasing the cylinder, something I want done before the right hand even has control of the weapon.
 
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Ya know.....all these years and its never occured to me to wear my moonclip pouches on the same side ‍♂️ as my gun
 
It is easier to do than to describe, but here is how I, as a lefty, do a revolver reload:

Shift left shooting hand to cradle the revolver, use right thumb to engage cylinder release.

Open cylinder with left hand fingers and cradle cylinder between left palm and fingers while turning upwards.

Use right palm to slap ejector rod. Verify all cases extracted, if not, use right fingers to clear.

Reach for reload (speed loader/moon clip) with right hand while using left hand to turn revolver down to receive the recharge.

Insert rounds, drop speed loader if used, close cylinder with left thumb, shift back to shooting grip.

I have never timed this, but after having done it many, many times it is ingrained in muscle memory. As such I don't believe that I could do it faster.
 
I learned and practiced using de Bethencourt’s lefty reload video some years ago but never timed it. It seemed practical, and reasonably fast, but if I had to depend on reloading a revolver in an emergency I'd want a NY reload. Revolver reloading is just never going to be as fast as an autoloader. I think police of the revolver era routinely carried a NY reload, and probably for very good reasons.
 
What @MedWheeler describes is pretty much how I do it. Though, I hit the ejector rod with my left hand rather than my right index finger. I don't feel like a "left handed" revolver would make things any better for me.
 
crestoncowboy writes:

I've never saw a lefty revolver. Saw plenty of bows, shotguns and rifles. Are there any others?
Click to expand...

Charter Arms made one, a left-handed version of their five-shot Undercover in .38 Special. It was called the "Southpaw." Never laid eyes on one myself, and don't think I could get used to it. It came in at a tad less than the Korth. ;) Not sure if it's still in their lineup.

The cylinder release on the Smith and Wesson BG38/BG38CT (the later, polymer-framed Bodyguard revolvers) is mounted on the rear of the frame, making it ambidextrous. The cylinder still swings to the left, however.
 
unclenunzie writes:

..but if I had to depend on reloading a revolver in an emergency I'd want a NY reload.
Click to expand...

That's how I go now. Whatever is on my belt, which is sometimes a revolver, is backed by a Ruger LCP-MAX in a front pocket. I'll reload my primary if I've gotten to good cover first.
 
I took some time today and practiced with a Desantis Second Six mounted in front of my holster. Definitely an improvement
 
Many years ago I befriended a shooter at my local range who was left handed. Incidentally, he was also deaf so we communicated by writing notes back and forth. He shot a S&W Model 29 mostly.

Here's his drill:

After firing all the rounds, he used his index finger to push the cylinder release forward and pushed the cylinder out with the thumb of his right hand. He then turned the gun muzzle up, sights away from him, and used his right hand to punch out the empties. He then turned the gun muzzle downrange and canted slightly so as to leave the open cylinder uppermost. Then he loaded more cartridges into the gun. Using his right hand, he then gently closed the cylinder. Worked for him.

Bob Wright
 
Sistema1927 said:
It is easier to do than to describe, but here is how I, as a lefty, do a revolver reload:

Shift left shooting hand to cradle the revolver, use right thumb to engage cylinder release.

Open cylinder with left hand fingers and cradle cylinder between left palm and fingers while turning upwards.

Use right palm to slap ejector rod. Verify all cases extracted, if not, use right fingers to clear.

Reach for reload (speed loader/moon clip) with right hand while using left hand to turn revolver down to receive the recharge.

Insert rounds, drop speed loader if used, close cylinder with left thumb, shift back to shooting grip.

I have never timed this, but after having done it many, many times it is ingrained in muscle memory. As such I don't believe that I could do it faster.
Click to expand...

Yep, that’s how I do it. I think what a lefty has to decide is how left handed they are. Except for writing and shooting, I’m ambidextrous and using my right for the speed loaders just seems easier than my left hand.
 
loneviking said:
Yep, that’s how I do it. I think what a lefty has to decide is how left handed they are. Except for writing and shooting, I’m ambidextrous and using my right for the speed loaders just seems easier than my left hand.
Click to expand...
The fact that I am right eye dominant already has me shooting long guns from the right side, so even though I shoot handguns better from the left side, I am still dexterous enough to go either way. Life would have been simpler to keep everything right handed, especially when trying to find holsters, but long guns/right & hand guns/left always "felt" the best.
 
I'm right handed but I shoot pistol left handed.
I use a modified Systema 1927 system.............

Fire last shot, use right hand to reposition the gun in the left palm.

Activate the cylinder latch with the right thumb and push the cylinder out with the two middle fingers of the left hand, little finger hooked around the hammer to give a good grip and thumb on the ejector rod.

Turn the gun muzzle up as I give the gun a downward shake AND press the ejector rod with the left thumb to eject the cases.

While I'm doing this I'm getting another speed loader.

Move gun into the body to steady it, muzzle down.

Insert the speed loader and as I drop the rounds, rotate the cylinder with the left hand thumb to insure there's no binding to prevent the rounds from chambering.

Hold the gun with the right hand as the left hand closes the cylinder, transfer the gun into the left hand and continue shooting.
 
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