cartridge belt

D

dundee

New member
I am about to get into cowboy shooting and my wife has offered to make my leather for me. She has in mind a cartridge belt a little different than most seen. The cartridge belt normally has lots of loops for cartridges BUT from what I saw from 1 match and a couple of video tapes NO ONE loads from the the belt, they load the guns at an official loading table and shoot the guns dry.

?? how many matches have you guys seen where it is necessary to reload from the belt?? Please indicate wheather it was pistol reloading or rifle reloading, I have different calibers guns.

??does anyone use cartridge bags on their belts. (a pouch containing cartridges) a search on SASS wire found a ruling saying the pouch must be a plain pouch, no loops or other aids in the pouch.
 
Now I don't know much about it yet, and am looking to get in to cas as well, but all the rules I read, make it clear that only the shot guns and maybe rifles will need to be loaded on the fly. All the hand gun rules say they will be loaded and unloaded in designated areas, not while you are shooting.
So my bet is that any bullets on your belt will just be for show.
 
i shoot a couple of Cowboy matches a month and any of the situations you describe have come up at one time or another. Occasionally a stage will require a sixth shot that you will have to get off your belt or pouch and i've shot some where you would have to shoot ten times with one revolver. also i've shot some where you start with the rifle empty and have to load 5 or whatever. One thing you are not likely to see is loading on the run...i'm not a rules afficioado but in Cowboy you are not supposed to be moving around with a drawn gun. i've seen guys get penalized for drawing before they get to a door or window....The gun belts are for more than just show---lets say you are shooting your rifle and it ejects a live round due to a short stroke or a jam....you cannot pick up bullets or shotgun shells from the ground...they have to come from your belt......Dick
 
Thanks for the info. I guess I thought it would be the same as quick draw, where you only have loading booths. Guess I will order the belt loops.
Sorry dundee if I bum doped you there.
 
I have always carried my cartridges in my loops, my new set up will have a cross draw, strong side holster, 25 loops and 8 shotgun loops.

When at the loading station with a spotter close by I remove 5 live rounds lay on the table, when told to load I do so, but yes all rounds are in the loops until I use them. The loops are not for show only.

The Montanan
 
Dundee,

In most cases all the loading for your pistol and rifle will be done at the loading table and not on the clock, but you will find some stages will call for a reload on the clock. I have shot where the shooter had to empty a pistol and do a full reload on the clock, but this is not the norm. Most of the time if you have a reload it will be 1 round in your pistol or if it is a rifle reload I have seen 1 up to 10 reloads on the clock. It is always good to have an extra rifle round or 2 with you because if you accidently eject a live round you are allowed to reload on the clock so you don't have take a miss. I shoot different calibers in my pistols and rifle. I have rifle caliber loops on my gun belt. I have a separate belt for my shotgun rounds which also has my pistol caliber loops on it. If you chose not to have loops you can load from a traditional style pouch or you may also load from a pocket. The pouch and pocket will take a little more time to load from.

Angel Diamond
SASS# 16562
 
Shooting at a lot of different clubs. For the record there is not a SASS rule that you load only at the table. There are "rules for loading at the table". There is likewise no SASS rule limiting reloaded rounds. In SASS RO-II there is reference to good stage design and limiting or eliminating reloads on the clock. And certainly at larger clubs where you are running through 150 shooters this is a concern. Reloads equal additional time used. The norm at big clubs vs. smaller clubs CAN be different. Smaller clubs it is not the same issue. I'm not talking on the run. But you could shoot your pistol empty and have to reload five on the clock. About half the folks here, turn their belt around and load from cartridges off the belt. I take mine from the belt and count onto the table. But the ammo loops turned to the front is not just for looks. Reloading on a stage or horse is a lot easier if the loops are in front. Yes, some use their ammo boxes. Some get into it and realize turning the ammo loops to the front works better. I shot Saturday at a newer club. There were thirteen of us. To get more shooting on a limited number of targets, we reload all five pistol rounds on the clock.
 
I'm one of those who turn their belts around. I usually load from the belt also. I got into the habit of laying out two sets of five rounds and one set of ten (or however many needed for the rifle) on the loading table and loading from these. This way I can't load an extra round accidently. I usually have a pair of pistol cartridge belts and a shotgun belt. Thought about getting a shotgun shell holder but we have eight round count shotgun on our stages about half the time. We've even had shotgun only stages with ten or twelve round counts:cool:
Personally I like reloading on the clock though I realize many don't. I really like stages that make you think instead of easy stages. Our club uses reloading on the clock on a somewhat regular basis, every couple of matches there will be a reload stage. Last Sunday we had to fire eight rounds from the rifle then load four more, that was fun. I even had an advantage there in that being lefthanded I usually load with my right hand. I didn't even have to loosen my firing grip to reload!
 
I like that. First time I had a lefty tell me he had an advantage. Great. I'm always having to rethink courses to make left and right handed people have equal problems. Another words not to run a strictly right handed course. Then we have a couple of shooters color blind. So I've got to watch designation by color. I go by shape of targets. Great...but do you have a left handed belt???
 
Ned
One belt has a crossdraw holster on it and the other belt has a righthand holster on it reversed to the left side. I got a really good deal on that belt/holster combo and just never got around to getting a lefthand holster. I wear the shotgun belt above my waist.
I liked loading the rifle on the clock. Never done reloading with the rifle before, only pistols. Being a lefty it's easy. I just lay the rifle to the left, so that the loading port is up and start loading. My shooting hand doesn't even need repositioning.
The guys who design the stages at our club are pretty good about evenhanded stage design. Of course we have the professional complainers, though somehow they always seem to be absent when we're setting up before or taking down after the match :rolleyes:. We've also got some really pretty cool props to build stages around and a permanent CAS storefront town where we hold our matches.
 
fal308- I'm with you on those professional criers. The ones who just come to play but never to work. And the first to nick pick over little things wrong. I think I've got their brothers at our club. I also have full shotgun cartridge belt. Comes in right handy on those shotgun stages with twelve or more!!!
 
Thats one thing that always bothered me about the Bonanza TV show, none of the people had cartridge loops ??


What kind of western is that !
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top