New York Reload: Does It Work?
Not much cool gun stuff comes out of New York. It’s a state run by a single city, and that city hates guns. That doesn’t mean it never happens. Every so often, we get something great out of New York. We got Pat Rogers and Jim Cirillo, we got Remington, and we can’t forget about the famed New York reload. I desperately wanted to find an origin, a single person who came up with the idea or phrase, but I can’t seem to. The New York Reload, according to most sources, came out of the practice of NYPD officers carrying two revolvers. When the first gun ran dry, instead of reloading, they drew a second gun.
It bears mentioning that the classic New York Reload, or NYR, is all about revolvers. These days, that’s forgotten, and anytime someone carries two guns to pull a second instead of reloading, we call it a New York Reload.
Revolvers can be tricky to reload, and I imagine police officers with little experience and not enough training figured two revolvers are better than one. It wasn’t uncommon for police agencies to issue dump pouches that required shooters to reload one round at a time. Issuing speed loaders or speed strips wasn’t common until the 1980s.
Would a speed loader or speed strip make much of a difference? Firing six shots and drawing a second revolver seems faster than using a speed re-loader and certainly faster than a speed strip. The real question is, is the New York Reload an effective tactic in the modern era? I’m no revolver pro, but I do want to try my hand at the tactic and figure out if it is worth the time to learn. So, let’s grab two guns and a handful of ammo and hit the range to find out!
Testing the ‘New York Reload’
My test guns were an S&W Bodyguard .38 Special and a Ruger LCR in 9mm. These are both five-shot revolvers with double-action-only triggers. While they are a bit different, they are both popular concealed-carry revolvers.
Both guns represent the classic tough-to-reload revolver with a somewhat limited capacity. Neither of these guns works well with speed loaders because their small frame and grips block access to the cylinder.
I grabbed a shot timer to measure the time it takes to conduct a New York Reload. I also slapped a Desantis pocket holster in my pocket so I could carry one in a concealed position. My main idea was to make the drill and this whole exercise more applicable to concealed carry rather than trying to be a 1940s NYPD cop.
I started by aiming the S&W Bodyguard, and at the beep, I pulled the trigger, registered the click of an empty gun, and dropped the S&W. From there, I went into practicing my pocket draw and getting the Ruger LCR in action. I always started with the Smith & Wesson at the ready and only fired the LCR.
Pocket carry is a fairly common method for carrying a backup revolver. It’s also a deep concealment position that would be challenging to draw from. I felt the S&W would be my primary gun in this scenario and would be carried in a traditional carry position.
Finding Time
After a few practice runs, I went live. In my first few attempts, I scored a 3.5-second NYR. As I got more reps in, I got a bit faster and even dipped into some sub-3-second reps. My average hovered around 3.10 seconds or so.
The key to doing the New York Reload quickly was being confident in just letting your empty gun drop to the ground (I dropped it onto a bag stuffed with a sleeping bag to prevent damaging the gun).
It feels unnatural to drop a gun purposefully, but it’s one of the keys to a fast NYR. You don’t need to throw the gun or even lower it before letting it go. As soon as the gun goes click, you just let it fall from your firing position, and you bring your hands back to find your second revolver.
I don’t have a ton of practice with revolvers, but I do have a lot of practice with pocket carry. I’m used to that drawstroke. I found getting the gun out of my pocket easy and quickly got on target. If you want to be quick at the NYR, you need to be skilled at drawing your spare rod.
Is It The Fastest Option?
Call of Duty taught me long ago that switching to your secondary is always faster than reloading your primary. I think it’s obvious the NYR beats loading a single round at a time in your revolver, and it beats speed strips, but what about speed loaders?
I grabbed a Taurus Defender 856 TORO and an HKS Speed Loader to figure that out. The 856 was loaded with six empty brass rounds. I concealed the speed loader and set up my shot timer. Just like before, I used a shot timer, and at the beep, I pressed the trigger, registered the empty gun, and conducted a speed reload. I conducted several speed reloads.
My average time hovered around 4.5 seconds. Again, I’m not a great revolver shooter and not that skilled at speed reloads with wheel guns. However, I have limited experience with NYRs, and it’s considerably faster than a speed loader.
What if I did the same drill with automatics? I did the same style of New York Reload with two small automatics and had similar results as I did with revolvers. Then, I popped a magazine in a mag pouch and did a speed reload with the magazine. My slowest time with an automatic was 2.20 seconds.
A New York Reload is faster than using a speed loader with a revolver but slower than reloading a semi-auto handgun.
Sideline Benefits of the NYR
Carrying two guns has its benefits. Sure, you can ‘reload’ a revolver quickly, but that’s not the only advantage. Two guns allow you to have a spare if one fails, which is vital with a revolver because when revolvers fail, they fail big.
This also allows you to carry two guns in two different places. If you find yourself in a situation where one gun can’t be accessed, you have a second gun at hand that might be more accessible.
Carrying two guns is also a pain. It’s twice as heavy and requires two holsters and two well-trained draw strokes, a tactic that requires a lot of practice to master.
In the End
Those NYPD officers were right when they carried two guns. It’s faster than any other method for reloading a revolver, especially if you’re not going to take the time to master a revolver reload. It’s easy to see why the technique was adopted and flourished, but it’s now an era in the past due to the popularity of semi-auto handguns. Sure, it works, but magazine-fed semi-auto offers the fastest reload overall.
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