I have decided to form a special club for 5 shooters!

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

I creating a new club for 5 shooters.   Anyone can join.  It's totally free.  It's completely unofficial, and it should be a lot of fun for people who like to be different.   No, I don't mean it is for a grand total of five people.  I mean for people who like to shoot revolvers with only 5 holes in the cylinder, which according to the handbook are legal.  You just have to either rest the hammer on a safety notch, or load 'em with just four cartridges and add the 5th one on the clock.

This is for people who wanna have fun shooting unusual guns, and who don't mind probably winding up near the bottom of the standings.   The benefit is that you get to brag about how you used an incredibly impractical gun, and somehow managed to finish the shoot.   

To be a member of this club, you must, obviously, have at least one, preferably two, 5 shot revolvers, and after suffering through the match with one shot loads on the clock, you must post here on the Wire that you did it, and give an assessment of how you did.   But if you manage to shoot a clean match, you MUST brag on that fact.

AND, you get to call yourself a member of the 5 Shooters Club.

This is all meant in a spirit of fun, has no real "status" of any kind, and even if there wind up being a lot of us, odds are that most of us will never shoot a match together.

So, if anyone thinks this sounds like silly fun, you are cordially invited to join.  

Maybe if enough of us try it, we can create our own badge or some such nonsense.

Anyone care to join?

[Abilene, SASS # 27489]

If there has to be a one-round revolver reload during the stage to join, then it will be a very tiny club as I have not seen one of those in a lot of years.  I had a choice of 5- or 6-round conversion cylinders for me '58's so I went with 5.  Super-simple at the loading table since you don't have to look for the empty chamber, just put the hammer down on the notch between any two chambers.    I have shot clean matches with them but really no difference compared to 6-shooters.

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

I think you are missing the point.  You purposely use a "5 shot" revolver that you load with 4 because you choose to do so to be "different."   That 5th shot has to be loaded on the clock because it is "unsafe" to load all 5 chambers.  It's not meant to be a serious alternative.   Something purely for fun.  Sure, you can use a 5 shooter with a safety notch, but that kinda defeats the purpose.

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

I hope the two of you have fun.

[Abilene, SASS # 27489]

4 minutes ago, Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933 said:

I hope the two of you have fun.

I already got kicked out.  

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

Nah, yer still welcome   I just wanted to make sure you understood what I meant.   It iS rather ridiculous after all.   I mean, sure, one pistol I use could very well be a cartridge converted 1860 that CAN be safely loaded with 5.   But my second pistol would be...   Uhm...   Something I have to obtain that can only safely loaded with 4.   

See?   FUN!    

This is absolute silliness.   But, it would "encourage" people to occasionally use guns that the handbook says are legal but most of us never think to try using because they are just not practical.    And variety is a good thing. no matter how goofy it might be.

[Yul Lose]

I’m not sure the other shooters that I shoot with are going to appreciate the added time it takes for me to fumble around reloading a round on a couple of 5 shot revolvers. Most of them would chastise me about not loading 5 and using the notch between cylinders. They’d come up with another name for the 5 Shooters club pretty fast.

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

2 minutes ago, Yul Lose said:

Most of them would chastise me about not loading 5 and using the notch between cylinders.

That's why you use a pistol that doesn't have the safety notch.   Then they can't chastise you!  

Embrace the crazy!

[John Kloehr]

I'm not likely to ever win a match anyway, but knock yourselves out. You should also go with shotguns which have only one round loaded at a time and a shorter rifle so the tube mag only holds 9. Probably beat me anyway, but I might have a chance.

 

And I have no budget for even the 5-hole revolvers, so I'm out. Still admire your spirit of fun. It is part of the draw for this sport, to actually have to run the gun.

Edited October 28, 2025 by John Kloehr
Ever since I had to correct Otto on the spelling of Zelenskyy, Otto has been doubling trailing "y"s

[Griff]

I think you're being a little whimpy... Seriously?  With suppository hand guns?  Where's the challenge in that?  Maybe I'm already in... started a local match with my Patersons.  I was going to shoot gunfighter, but one of the pair, just would not cock one-handed.  And this was after having it worked on so it WOULD fire more that just round and locking up.   (Shoulda tried firing BOTH of 'em one-handed before the match).   I cheated, tho'... loaded all five at the loading table... It was so slow that I had serious complaints about the time it took.  Mid stage one, I told the scorekeeper to move me from Frontiersman to Frontier Cartridge!  Switched to my Colts for the rest of the match.  It mighta been one stage, but still last!  Fun?  A resounding NO vote here.  Far, far to frustrating to be fun.  Fighting to operate your firearms takes all the fun & joy outta shooting!

 

But, hey... you do you.   The 1st time it locked up, I took it apart to unload the other four chambers, and clean all the fouling out everywhere... and ended up leaving it a box of parts, packed up the trainwreck and shipped it back to the seller to fix.  Luckily, the maker's representative was there and got it reassembled and back to me... Got it back and again, it locked up after one round.  This time I used a local gunsmith... and was told NEVER, EVER bring him a Paterson.  But, hey, at least now it'll fire all five shots, even if it take two hands to cock the thing!    I haven't found another gunsmith that's willing to attempt to tune a Paterson.  I did find a 3rd Paterson... and it's a mite better than the other two... but... NOPE, not going there again.  (At least until I can find someone that'll tune a Paterson...)   They sure are neat looking on the wall!   Is it still duelist if you draw, aim and fire it one handed but cock with the other hand?

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

I've wanted a cartridge converted Paterson in .38 S&W ever since I saw one on the cover of Guns of the Old West magazine a few years ago.

[Abilene, SASS # 27489]

59 minutes ago, John Kloehr said:

... and a shorter rifle so the tube mag only holds 9. ...

You're on the right track here, John.  Make it a button mag requirement.  Load 5, reload 5.

18 minutes ago, Griff said:

...and ended up leaving it a box of parts, packed up the trainwreck and shipped it back to the seller to fix...

Most people don't know what the innards of a Paterson are like.  Looking at a parts diagram is like, huh?  The next guns all had more or less the same action other than size.  I guess they learnt their lesson with the Paterson!

[watab kid]

i like it - i have a pair , im intending to shoot a match next year with them , i just got a new rig to carry them in , ill never meet up to all those added stipulations but ill do my best to , 

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

The more I think about it, the more clear it is to me that the pistol(s) in question for this club, while they do have only 5 holes in the cylinder, don't necessarily have to be "four shooters."   The whole point it encourage people to use some of the more unusual guns that are legal in our game.

Requiring a button mag rifle (Or a Spencer)?   Nah.   Don't wanna make it TOO comlicated.

Although I will say that I have shot a couple of matches with a single barrel shotgun.   It was fun.   But that's not part of this club.   

But the operative slogan is; have fun!