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Loading ‘97 while it’s still grounded?


Sgt. Saywut

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I was trying different ways of loading an 1897;  I find that four shells in the weak hand is pretty awkward, so I was looking at other ways.  I’m positive it’s been covered before, but is it permissible to drop a shell into the empty receiver while the shotgun is grounded, then pick up the shotgun and chamber the shell, fire, and load and fire  the other three in turn from the weak hand?   I realize that on some stages it won’t be possible to position the ‘97 flat on its left-hand side, so this method might not work.  But is it acceptable where the stage is amenable?

 

ETA:  I should have made it clear that I mean while running a stage.  Shotgun is carried empty to the stage and positioned, still empty.   Loading only when the timer is running. 

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While legal, I know some folks who purposely lay their '97 down on its right side if they are shooting their rifle at that position so that a rifle empty doesn't land in the '97 action.  (I just started shooting a '97 this year, and I do load the first shell into the action before picking it up).

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It's very legal when you have a hand continuously on the 97 from the point at which a shell is placed in the port until you get it up off the staging and fired. 

Shooters working to be fast will be doing that anyway. 

 

Good luck, GJ

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Yes it is legal to load one through the port when it’s grounded, quicker too some feel.

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4 minutes ago, Kingair said:

Learned something today !

Then when you do close it-Thumb another round into the mag tube.

To bad that we can't load our SG's with 2 rounds at the line, like what is done in W3G.

OLG

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1 minute ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said:

Then when you do close it-Thumb another round into the mag tube.

To bad that we can't load our SG's with 2 rounds at the line, like what is done in W3G.

OLG

 

Gonna start practicing !

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21 minutes ago, Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 said:

It's very legal when you have a hand continuously on the 97 from the point at which a shell is placed in the port until you get it up off the staging and fired. 

Shooters working to be fast will be doing that anyway. 

 

Good luck, GJ

You don't have to keep the hand on it.  I was corrected on this.  You can always clear an empty or hot round on the carrier prior to the next gun being fired.  Clearing a hot round by firing it is fine.

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do yourself a favor and watch widder on utbube running a 97,,,  don't bother with the load one, close it and load one in the tube, even Evil Roy had stopped doing that even before switching to a dbl

 

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10 minutes ago, Cheyenne Culpepper 32827 said:

do yourself a favor and watch widder on utbube running a 97,,,  don't bother with the load one, close it and load one in the tube, even Evil Roy had stopped doing that even before switching to a dbl

 

 

Gonna watch his video tonight !

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1 minute ago, Cheyenne Culpepper 32827 said:

do yourself a favor and watch widder on utbube running a 97,,,  don't bother with the load one, close it and load one in the tube, even Evil Roy had stopped doing that even before switching to a dbl

 

 

I did watch his videos, and he’s incredibly fast, but I prefer to keep my strong hand in place.  Otherwise I fumble for the trigger when I bring my hand back down after loading.  I know, practice and more practice.. BUT.

 

I’ll be loading from a bandolier - go ahead, moan and groan and crack jokes, but I want to go that route ;)  It’s much easier to pull out all the shells I’ll need before picking up the shotgun , than to reach under the shotgun with my strong hand to pull two shells away from the shotgun, then bring them back around to the port. 

 

I know the bandolier will slow me down.  I accept that.  For me though, it’s part of having fun - marching to the beat of a slightly off-tune drummer.   So, I’m looking at ways to load from the bando, hence the 1-3 method. 

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1 hour ago, Cheyenne Culpepper 32827 said:

do yourself a favor and watch widder on utbube running a 97,,,  don't bother with the load one, close it and load one in the tube, even Evil Roy had stopped doing that even before switching to a dbl

 

But-it's fun to do. :lol:

BTW-The T/O's time me with a Sundial.........:D

I shoot Duelist, with .44's burn'n Warthog loads and an '87 lever SG.

OLG

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Every time I hear someone pondering the best way to load a 97, I am reminded of this video.

Not recent, but still interesting to watch for more than one reason.

 

 

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Jessie is a heck of a shooter, and a wonderful person.


I'll be honest, tossing a shell in the gun while it's on the table is NOT the best method.  I always cringe when I see that.  Got too much time studying and data showing it's slow.

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I saw a shooter end up with ba MDQ due to this technique and heard of many others.  I have also seen several that were very close.  Be careful.  It can be very easy to have an AD when you pick up the shotgun.  One hand is on the slide and the other is on the trigger and the next thing you know *BOOM* and there's a hole in the prop!

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Thanks for the comments, folks.   I’m still learning ways of loading a ‘97 from a bandolier, drawing shells from the left-hand side while shooting right-handed.   I’m leery of holding shells in my strong hand while shooting, as I’d prefer to have a firm grip with that hand,  but I’ll keep experimenting.  If you have videos of other methods, I’d love to see them. 

 

Running an 1887 lever shotgun while drawing from a bando is a whole different ball of wax, but just as challenging and fun :lol:

 

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My wife loads a '97 with her left hand from a bandoleer.  She is right handed so that allows her to always have control of the gun with her dominant hand.  The bando keeps the shells close to the shotgun for fast easy loading over the top with her left hand.

 

I use the throw one in as I am picking it up technique, the load over the top left handed from an ammo belt.  Nothing dangerous about it, just keep your booger hook off the bang switch until you are ready to fire.  Granddad taught that to me about all guns as a young'un!

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23 minutes ago, Tracker Jack Daniels, 58780 said:

My wife loads a '97 with her left hand from a bandoleer.  She is right handed so that allows her to always have control of the gun with her dominant hand.  The bando keeps the shells close to the shotgun for fast easy loading over the top with her left hand.

 

If your wife doesn’t mind sharing, how does she load from the bando?  One shell at a time, or does she go 2-2 or what?  Is there a video of her doing this?   I’d like to study other people’s techniques in loading a ‘87 or ‘97 from a bandolier; I’ve seen one or two videos with a SxS, but not the other two. 

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She pulls two at a time.  We don't have any videos.  There was a video at one time on YouTube by Tupelo Flash showing the loading technique from a bandoleer.  She loads her '87 in the same manner.  

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When I pull shells from my bandoleer I tip two out and tip two more out into my hand it seems to allow me to kind of double clutch the first two and aids the grip of the second two. Since I’ve been using that method my fumbled SG shells has almost disappeared and my SG times have improved. When Tupelo Flash loads his 97 over the top in the above videos he really tips the shotgun. I used to do that (he taught me) but I’ve found that I don’t have to tip it near as much to get results. If you ever get a chance to see videos of Single Barrel or Mad Dog Mark you’ll get an education in how to load a 97 over the top while pulling four shells. Very impressive.

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