Skill Set: Revolver

This something that I cover at everyone of my SAFETY & BASIC SKILL CLASSES.  It was present hear by Tiger Mckee in such a professional manner, that I thought it was worth posting!

Remember the 3 P's! Preparation, Practice, = PERFORMANCE!

Skill Set: Revolver-Load & Unload

Revolver in left hand, with two middle fingers and thumb on left hand holding cylinder.

In the last talk about revolvers I mentioned there are several different ways to perform one task. For example you can shift the revolver over to the left hand, for a right-handed shooter, to load and unload, or you can keep it in the right hand. For left hand shooters things can work several ways as well. This week we're going to look at loading/unloading.

The first technique is for holding the revolver in the left hand, and probably the one most people are familiar with. Initially you're holding it in the right hand. The left hand moves underneath the revolver to the right side, with the middle two fingers and thumb forming an "O" around the cylinder. Use the thumb of the right hand to press the cylinder latch, and as it flips to the left the two middle fingers go through the gate, so you end up holding the revolver with those two fingers and the thumb around the cylinder.

To load, point the muzzle down and feed the rounds with the right hand. The thumb and middle fingers that are holding the cylinder can be used to rotate it if necessary to load the rounds. (I use the indentions between chambers on the cylinder to count, feeling them as it's rotated.) Once the cylinder is loaded the right hand reacquires its grip, the left hand shifts back to the left side of the revolver and locks the cylinder in using the heel of the hand. Be sure to use enough force to ensure the cylinder locks into place, otherwise you won't be able to press the trigger.

For unloading use the same technique to open the cylinder. Point the muzzle up. With the revolver in the left hand use the heel of the right hand to forcefully smack the ejector, three times, to unload or empty the brass. Let the rounds or brass fall to the ground, just like you would during a fight. If you're in the house and you don't want to damage your expensive defense rounds let them fall onto the bed or couch. Then it's muzzle down to feed the cylinder.

Revolver held in right hand to load/unload. Notice trigger finger holding cylinder and right thumb on right side of gun.

Or, you can do all this with the right hand holding the revolver. To open up the cylinder you bring the trigger finger up to the cylinder and the thumb to over the grip to the right side of the revolver. You have to get the right thumb on out of the way to be able to feed rounds. The left thumb presses the latch and the trigger finger pushes the cylinder to the left, follows it through the gate and applies pressure, keeping it from spinning freely or flopping back into a closed position. Muzzle down. The left hand loads rounds, rotating the cylinder if necessary, and then closes the cylinder, locking it in place.

Unloading follows the same procedure. Once the cylinder is open the muzzle goes up, and the heel of the left hand punches the ejector. I use the barrel as a guide, positioning it between thumb and first finger in the web then sliding the hand down to hit the ejector. After it's empty point the muzzle down to feed it.

How do you determine which technique works best for you? It takes experimenting and practice. For example with a small frame it's pretty easy to keep the revolver in the right hand. For someone with smaller hands, and/or larger frame gun, it may be better to shift the revolver over to the support hand, which gives you a little more control of the gun. One hand may work better for feeding rounds than the other, which could dictate which hand needs to hold the revolver. Ultimately your decision should be based on what works best for you. Also, keep in mind that time isn't the only deciding factor. One technique may be a little bit quicker, but sometimes you end up fumbling or dropping rounds. For defensive use choose the technique that's always effective as opposed to basing your decision on what's the quickest. Time is definitely a factor, but being efficient, getting predictable results from your actions, is more important.

As always the best way to practice and develop your skills is with dry practice. Use dummy ammo to experiment, determining what technique works best. There's no reason to be wasting ammo trying to figure out what works good. Then, once you're performing these skills well, go to the range for live fire practice.

On the next installment of revolver skills we'll look at carrying spare ammo. And, as usual with revolvers, there's a variety of ways to do this.

Tiger McKee is director of Shootrite Firearms Academy, located in northern Alabama.