A speedloader is a device used to speed up the loading of a firearm.
Types
Revolvers
- Speedloader
Used to load all chambers in a cylinder at once. This is the most common type of speedloader.
- Moon clip
Used to hold various amounts of cartridges together as a single unit. Can be found in various types, such as the half-moon clip (half a cylinder), full-moon clip (entire cylinder) or ones holding two neighboring cartridges; the two-cartridge moon clips are used for revolvers with an odd number of chambers in a cylinder (i.e. 5 or 7 rounds), but also allows for all revolvers to fire a various mix of rounds in the cylinder (i.e. 2 adjacent rounds of .45 ACP, 2 rounds of .45 Colt and 2 rounds of .410 bore in a six-round Smith & Wesson Governor cylinder). While very similar to the standard revolver cylinder in terms of purpose, a moon clip remains in the cylinder while firing and is used to aid in extracting the empty cases after firing.
Rifles
Magazine-fed
- Stripper clip
See article.
- "Thumb savers"
Cheap, inexpensive devices fitted on top of a magazine used to aid in loading high-capacity magazines with a high spring pressure. When fitted, these depress the top round in the magazine, allowing the next round to be partially inserted into the magazine with no pressure on it. While technically supposed to increase reloading speed, these "thumb savers" address the ease of reloading more than addressing the actual reloading speed.
- Stripper clip guide
Adapters that fit onto magazines for stripper clips to be used to quickly load magazine-fed rifles.
- Magazine loaders
Accept loose rounds and make use of a crank or lever to load rounds into a magazine, or by simply pushing all the rounds into the magazine by hand. Unlike "thumb savers", however, these magazine loaders are more akin to speedloaders since they do greatly increase the speed of reloading.
Tubular magazine-fed firearms
- Quickloaders
For front-loading rimfire tubular magazine-fed rifles, quickloaders are used to greatly speed up reloads. Quickloaders are simply a tube with a magazine capacity of cartridges which is sealed at one end and has a gate on the other, à la Girardoni air rifle; to use the quickloader, the follower for the rifle is removed, where the quickloader is placed over the open loading port. The gate will then be opened on the quickloader, where gravity feeds rounds into the magazine. The follower is then replaced, and the quickloader kept or discarded.
Shotguns
- Quickloaders
Very similar to rifle quickloaders, except an adapter is required to use these quickloaders on shotguns.
Machine guns
- Belt loaders
Very similar to magazine loaders, except used to load belts faster.
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