Loading last chamber "hot" in revolver to signal reload?

Well, the revolvers in question don't hold *that* many rounds to begin with.

Why not just fire them all right away and reload immediately? Saves the guesswork. :D

I'm in the camp of 'all shots should be hot', or at least as much as you're comfortable with.
So making the last shot a hotter load would seem to adversely affect your accuracy, not something I'd want with my last shot of a 5 round J frame.

For a carry situation, 5 shots should be enough, any more and you screwed up by not carrying a double stack semi-auto cause you're in a gun fight now.

I'd be interested in seeing the results of randomly slipping in 10 hot loads in a box of 50 and loading them up. See if your accuracy suffers when you're 'surprised' with a hot load. I'm pretty sure mine would.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Wildcat

Well, the revolvers in question don't hold *that* many rounds to begin with.

Why not just fire them all right away and reload immediately? Saves the guesswork. :D

---

Perhaps "in all this excitment" we can still count to five. :)

Wanderson,

"Hot" rounds aren't less accurate. But the one after it comes slower. (Need more recovery time)

I really don't see the downside, other than POI. Loading one .357 round isn't "complicated", doesn't make the gun less reliable or cause the shooter to fire any slower or less accurately than they would have six .38s. Arguably, having your last round be a magnum might better end the fight than one last .38.

It is good out-of-the-box thinking, at the very least.


And I can always feel the slide lock back, even in an adrenaline filled action shooting match. I certainly could miss the change in feel of a heavy load or locked back slide in a real fight, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't use the cues if they are there.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Renegade

I prefer to use a tracer on the second to last round. Got this tip from Gecko45.

---

Will tracer ignite and be obvious at typical pistol gunfight ranges? Is there a fire hazard?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gödel

Will tracer ignite and be obvious at typical pistol gunfight ranges? Is there a fire hazard?

---

The closest I've fired pistol tracers was 15 yds. Some definitely lit. Some did not. But they were very old.

Fire hazzard? Oh yes! (As in every round that landed in grass started a little fire!)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ron3

The closest I've fired pistol tracers was 15 yds. Some definitely lit. Some did not. But they were very old.

Fire hazzard? Oh yes! (As in every round that landed in grass started a little fire!)

---

My impression was that tracer takes time to ignite enough to see - and that might put the visual indication beyond the fight range. Plus, tracers are poor stoppers compared to JHP.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBqZvTYta0M

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Det-Sog

THAT!

As someone that began his LEO career with a wheel gun at what seems a hundred years ago... We carried ONE type of ammo. HOT. With a wheel gun, it's shot placement and ROUND COUNT. There was no "spray and pray" back then. We were taught to keep a round count. Back then, there was not 46 rounds of ammo on your belt. You had 18... Yup... 18 rounds to do your business or make an egress. That, and you better be able to reload because the bad guys were counting rounds also.

Funny... When I did my CWP certification a few years ago, they let us use the police video scenario trainer. They asked how many shots I fired.. I always remembered exactly. That threw everyone off... Old habits...

---

Carried a revolver for the first 10 years of a 30 yr LEO career. Count those rounds. 18 rounds was all you had on you. Stay near the car and your briefcase for more ammo.

Gotta love these threads that are seeking validation camouflaged as a question.....

OP, instead of arguing ad naseum with those who tell you this is a dumb/bad/less than optimal idea, why don't you try it and report back?

I carry revolvers very often (as a primary). Maybe I'll learn something new.