I was reading Richard Harland's book "Ndlovu" (thanks Biebs!) and he advocates reloading the right barrel immediately after firing. He goes on to mention that Ian Nyschens did the same thing.

It really got me to thinking about the best way to load a double in a hunting situation where seconds could count. I know that some hunters carry two rounds between the fingers of the non shooting hand but I can't see myself doing that.

Using a cartridge belt with the rounds centered over the midline seems to be the best set up for a fast reload. Is it better to load one barrel at a time or pull two rounds from the belt and try to shove them in at the same time?

I would really welcome advice from someone who has experience doing this in the field.

I wear my belt with the first cartridge just right of center, about half way to pocket. Unless I need to fire the second shot immediately, I load the right barrel as quickly as possible. I would guess that I need to load one barrel rather than both around 75 to 80% of the time. I also practice loading one round more often than two.

465H&H

You will react under stress as you have trained and practiced. You should be able to reload without taking your eyes off the animal to look the rounds into the rifle.

For me, I wear 15 rounds in a custom made belt, centered on the front of my body. I practice loading snap caps for my non-ejector DR with my left hand, both single and double rounds - I always reload the right barrel if the left was not required for immediate follow-up. Same set-up for my DG bolt rifle, but I re-charge the magazine with my right hand.

Having a high quality ammo belt, pouch or slide is an important part of your equipment and that's not a place to save a few bucks, as your life and that of your hunting party may depend upon your ability to reload quickly. I, like many DG hunters on AR, have all my belts and slides made by Henry Flores of Falcon's Forge. He is a true leather craftsman who takes pride in his work and wants to satisfy all his customers. There are many pictures of Henry's work here on AR.

BTW, nobody trys to hold two spare rounds between their fingers when firing a DR, except for Robert Redford.

I've got two belts that I like, one by Murray leather, and one that I got from Chris Sells ( new guy on here ). I do have the ammo in the belt, slightly off to the right side, as I am right handed.

At the SAAM school, we practiced reloads on both bolt guns and doubles. As you posted this in the doubles section, I can report what has worked well for me so far.

I hold two spare rounds, bullet end towards me, in my left hand. My double has ejectors, after firing both, I can open it one handed, and stuff the two new ones in by reaching across to the breech. It's important to note that I hold both new rounds with only thumb and pointer finger, in the crook of those two fingers, not between the other fingers. I have better control with those two fingers, and the motion is more natural.

I never thought that needing/wanting extra rounds, was all that necessary. This last trip to the Caprivi, we walked into a group of elephants, I wanted all the ammo I could carry!Luckily, I only needed the two in the barrels, but the presence of a couple cows that were very interested in flanking us, made me glad for the ten extras on the belt. I do carry ten on the belt, plus four in my pocket - two for the barrels, plus two in hand if needed, not left to rattle around.

Practice, practice, practice.

Have someone time your efforts. have someone walk toward you from the side as you practice with snap caps. If they reach you before you are reloaded and ready to fire again. . .Well you get the idea. Amazing how just a little stress will miss you up! Just keep practicing.

Rxgremlin,

This is a very valid point you've brought up and where most people tend to fumble a bit. Reloading in hurry.
With a double there is indeed a instantly available second shot. What I've experienced , when I first started using a double for back-up, and seen while guiding hunters is getting the tendency to just let rip with the second barrel! Experience coupled with sage advice have taught me this lesson.

1)Make the first shot count and don't get rid of the second unless you absolutely have to!(thick bush tight confines as you never know if something else may pop out!) This is under normal circumstances. If the beast is running away , with little chance/probability of turning or diverting, then by all means let him have it!

2)Reload as soon as possible after the shot(s) are fired, especially if you fired a only one barrel, No matter what. An empty double is worthless.
If I remember correctly this happened to an old time great ,Glen Cottar, made the error of not reloading immediately and almost paid with his life. Downed a buff with one barrel walked up to it taking it for dead. It promptly rose, charge and Glen failed to stop it with his second barrel. Where upon it gored him quite badly.

3)If you are on a follow up (wounded DG/or other..) or you feel the situation may require a quick reload/third shot the following is what I was taught and I use:
For a right hander carry ONE round in your left hand. Clamp the head of the cartridge between my index and middle finger, bullet point faces down. That way I can grip firmly with your thumb, index finger (you can also just grip it with you all the remaining fingers), not mar forend too much or loose grip of the forend.. Much Quicker and SAFER to load ONE barrel in a hurry than fooling with two! When it comes to reloading after the shot, break the rifle and pop in the round close and you're ready to go. Obviously if you have time for to reload two then by all means. If not then this is quite quick technique.
Simultaneously as you break the rifle open and move your left hand to reload, move your index finger so that you grip the round with your four fingers and place your thumb on the case head. Find the chamber with the tip of the bullet and push it home with your thumb! Almost like a "backhand"..;-)

Like all things practise is key. Practise what you feel comfortable with. Always practise and shoot/hunt as if you're alone, don't rely on others or guide/ph too much. They will obviously assist if told or they see/feel the need but always have that in the back of your mind. I always tell hunters this and let them get on with it. I always try to encourage that hunters not rely totally on the guide/ph/friend as what happens if the back-up has a malfunction, steps in hole, line of fire is obscured for some reason, has to cover another animal etc etc etc....??? This makes a hunter more proficient and adds to the overall experience. The best teacher is milage and mistakes (hopefully are not life threatening and causing bodily harm just a WAKEUP call) !!

Coming back to shooting a double. Its a wonderful weapon but always make the shot(s) count!!

If I haven't managed to explain this properly let me know and I'll try post some pictures.

Hope this helps.

Happy shooting and hunting.

Leon

As Rusty says the key is practice, practice, practice!

It makes absolutely no difference how you reload, as long as you practice it till you are fast, and ACCURATE! If the last word of the last sentence is not there all else matters not!

IMO, the best thing one can learn about re-loading a double rifle fast is, to learn to load both barrels simultaneously, while keeping the target in your peripheral vision. In my case, I like to load with my left hand while keeping my right hand on the pistol grip, with the butt stock under my right arm. I load both barrels from two cartridges from a two round fixture on the back of my trigger hand. That is only about five inches from the chambers.

I have watched a lot of video of re-loads from an ammo belt and I find most of them are very slow. Like Mike Jines, I used a two cartridge wrist band on my trigger hand and that was fast, but a pair of cartridges on the back or the trigger hand is even faster. However at the end of the day, fast is good, but if it is not paired with a practiced dexterity, and accuracy for the next two shots, all may be lost in the African dust!

No matter how you do it, it must be practiced, and though with snapp-caps seemingly does help, working with the recoil of real shots is far more beneficial in my opinion.

The picture at the bottom of this post, shows the trigger hand still on the pistol grip, and the left hand loading both barrels simultaneously. Those hands are Elmer Keith's and he has forgotten more about using a double rifle under pressure than most will ever know!

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quote:

Originally posted by MacD37:
As Rusty says the key is practice, practice, practice!

The picture at the bottom of this post, shows the trigger hand still on the pistol grip, and the left hand loading both barrels simultaneously. Those hands are Elmer Keith's and he has forgotten more about using a double rifle under pressure than most will ever know!

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Mac,

Thanks for posting in this thread, I had seen your picture of Mr. Keiths reloading hand, and could not remember who had that in their sig line. That is exactly the grip I was trying to describe in my previous post - it is very possible to do this blind, in the dark, while keeping the prey in your view.

Agree with the loads from the ammo belt also - no way to do that as fast as shells ON the hand, which is still a bit slower than shells IN the hand. In ANY case, the key is practice, and more practice.

In the world of green faces - "The amatuer practices until he gets it right. The professional practices until he can't do it wrong." If you've been around truly competent operators, mag changes and reloads are so smooth, they don't even look fast, but they are.

Thanks to everyone for their advice. I have been practicing and I seem to do better loading one round at a ime. When I try two rounds at once the cartridges tend to get splayed in my hand and dont insert smoothly into the chambers.

Take a look at the Keith Double Duty from Trader Keith; it holds two cartridges and drops them into your right or left hand very quickly.

Depends entirely on the circumstance. If an elephant of buffalo is almost on top of you, you won't have time to reload, so give him one barrel and wait until the last minute and stick your last bullet in his brain.

Otherwise always keep one live round in one barrel as you reload your fired shot.

Its just that simple in my opinnion.

I reload from my belt. I don't use a leather belt loops as they grab the bullets and the belt lifts as you try to pull them out, and they also seem to work out of the loops as you hunt.

My belt is two Nylon ammo streatch belts from Cabellas I think, had them sewed together so that they hold the whole bullet in place with the bottom loop sewed closed at the bottom and the top loop around the top with olny an inch between the two, almost covering the whole bullet.. I left about and inch of bullet exposed at the top and an inch in the middle. They come out easy and fast, the bullets stay clean even if left for a year in the belt. I think the whole rig cost me $6.95 and I been using it for a decade or two..You can get the belts from Cabellas. I keep the 12 rounds in front.

I also have a half canvas and half leather belt made in Zimbabwe that I like almost as well.

quote:

Originally posted by rxgremlin:

I know that some hunters carry two rounds between the fingers of the non shooting hand but I can't see myself doing that.

I use either a belt with loops or a cartridge case on my belt BUT I carry spare rounds between the index / middle finger AND middle / ring finger. I started getting used to it by carrying the A-zoom snap caps around like that. Now it feels funny when I dont have them

quote:

Originally posted by PSmith:
Take a look at the Keith Double Duty from Trader Keith; it holds two cartridges and drops them into your right or left hand very quickly.

PSmith, I have one of the "DOUBLE DUTY" and I use it on the left side of my belt. I'm right handed and always load with my left hand! After shots 1 and 2, I reload 3 and 4 from the back of my right hand, and if needed shot 5 and 6 come from the DOUBLE DUTY still with the left hand. My right hand never leaves the pistol grip while reloading.

The picture of Elmer's hands is exactly how I grip the two from the back of my right hand with the rounds between my left fore finger, and thumb. This allows both barrels to be loaded simultaneously. The DOUBLE DUTY is a good fixture but makes it necessary to fumble the rounds so as to line the cartridges up to load both barrel in one smooth move.

My best time for four shots is 4 seconds flat, with all shots on target at 25 yds. That is the distance where most charges start. No matter how fast one reloads, if all shots do not hit the target's kill zone that speed matters not!

Holding the cartridges for the reload in the left hand between the first and second and second and third fingers as shown in many magazines on double rifles is simply not very well thought out. The heavy bullets hanging down while that hand is on the fore-end tends to cause the cartridges to be dropped under recoil of the big doubles. I tried for several years to prefect that hold, with very little success and do not recommend that method.

What ever works best for you is what you need to practice! I've found mine!
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