Carrying Ammo
With a semi-auto, carrying spare ammo is easy. You carry it in magazines. For revolvers there are several options — each has advantages and disadvantages so you’ll need to experiment to discover what works best for you. How you carry ammo can dictate the techniques you use to load the revolver.
In the old days you carried spare ammo in “dump” pouches. They work like this: Open the pouch and it dumps ammo into your hand. Feeding rounds into the cylinder while trying to hold onto a handful of loose ammo is hard under good conditions. Under stress it’s extremely difficult.
Today there are belt pouches to hold the rounds in place, such as El Paso Saddlery Company’s 2x3 Pick Box, a pouch holding six rounds segregated into three compartments. You open the pouch and then you pull out one or two rounds at a time to load into the cylinder. I really like this pouch. It protects the ammo from the external elements, plus most people won’t know what it is.
“Loops” or “slides” go on your belt and have loops to hold individual rounds. They work well, but don’t provide the rounds with any protection like the pouch mentioned above. They do have a slim, easily concealable profile, but if they’re uncovered, people will immediately be able to see you’ve got ammo on your belt.
Speed strips are flexible rubber strips that hold rounds. Once the rounds have been inserted into the cylinder, usually two at a time, you bend the strip, which releases the rounds. Strips are an excellent way to carry spare ammo, but you don’t want to just stick it into a pocket. A pouch, whether it’s on a belt or in a pocket, keeps rounds from collecting dirt and grime which can hinder loading or lock up the cylinder.