revolvers

Things I don't get volume whatever

Posted on by Caleb

Safariland makes several flavor of speedloaders for revolvers, ranging from the smallest Comp-1 loader all the way to the “competition” oriented Comp-III loader.  The reason “competition” is in air quotes is because people say that the Comp-III is “too large” for concealed carry.  I don’t get that, and here’s why. On the left you have a Safariland Comp-III loaded with 6 rounds of Black Hills 125 grain +P JHPs.  On the right, a 17 round magazine for a Ruger SR9.  The Ruger mag is about the same size as pretty much any other pistol mag on the market, and it is much taller than the Comp-III.  The speedloader is a little bit wider than the pistol magazine, however not so much so that it magically becomes “too large” for concealed carry.  I would imagine that if I had a Glock 21 magazine for comparison, it would be as large or larger than the speedloader in every dimension.

Now, admittedly I would have to carry 2 extra speedloaders to have the same ammo on my person as a guy carrying a Glock 17 who had no spare magazines, but that’s not the point.  The point is that saying that the Comp-III is “too large” for concealed carry just doesn’t make sense.

Now, there are arguments against the Comp-III for concealed carry, such as if you carry it in your pocket with other items, the chance of something getting in the speedloader and causing it to dump the rounds in your pocket is decent enough that I’ve had it happen.  Obviously, the solution for that is to carry in a speedloader pouch or in a pocket that has nothing in it but the speedloader.  The other option as I’ve discussed before is to use HKS speedloaders for concealed carry, which I do.  The “twist” knob on the speedloader is less likely to let go in my pocket, and while it gives up some time to the Safariland loaders, I’m willing to make that trade in J-frames and small guns.

But there isn’t any logical reason that the Comp-III is too big for concealed carry.  It’s smaller than most pistol mags, and is lightweight and easily utilized.  Why wouldn’t you want to carry the most efficient tool for the job?

Caleb

6 Comments

  1. Caleb,

    I’ve found the S.L. Variant to be the cream of the crop. They are simple the best speedloaders that I’ve seen. I have never lost a round out of one.

    You should give them a try. I only know of one place that has them – http://www.bobmacs.com/Products.htm

    I’m not connected to this fellow and get no money from him. I’m simply that enthusiastic about them. These things are excellent.

    Take care.

  2. Oh man, I agree that the SL Variant loaders are awesome; the problem is that sometimes they’re difficult to get your hands on.

  3. Because the Comp III will vomit its rounds at the slightest excuse, whereas I’ve carried an HKS rolling around loose in my purse for literally years without it dropping a cartridge?

  5. Why ?…. because I could carry 3 hks speed loader in the space that 1 of those will fit…… because I have practiced with the hks (changing hardware requires changing the software, which is harder than the former) …… because I already have the hks loaders, and don’t have a bunch of “extra” money laying around …… and most importantly, because Tam sez they won’t reliably do what I want them to: hold the rounds until I want them in the gun.

  6. I do actually use the HKS for concealed carry – you’ll notice that I was only addressing the argument that the Comp-III is too big for CCW. There are plenty of reasons to NOT carry it, but size isn’t one of them.

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