For those who don’t get to join me at the area ranges, our Snub Noir shooting events are rather simple though challenging. Seven stages, seven distinct reloading tools, (loops, 2x2x2, speed loaders, etc.,) one mandatory reload per stage, and fifty rounds. “Cheating” is always encouraged. Case in point. Mike Doc Barranti of Barranti Leather makes one of the best loop ammo carriers I’ve ever worked with. It is always my tool choice for the Loop Ammo stage of our shoots. Naturally, wanting to cheat, I contacted him about reducing the length of the loops by 25% while raising the loops to the top of the belt slide. It worked very well, so naturally, I asked about a third carrier with loop lengths reduced by an additional 25%. This latest loop carrier reduced my reloading time notably. So, I felt rather please with my “cheat” until one of the Snub Noir members send me this. It is one of the production versions of the belt slide, loop carrier Jim Cirillo worked up. Decades ago, when street cops competed in shooting matches with their street gear, they too looked for every available cheat. (Again, the very skills Snub Noir was conceived to practice and archive.) Here is Jim’s addition to the idea of the reduced loop length and lifting the loop locations. He added a wedge of hard material to angle the rounds away from the officer’s body when he pressed up on the bullet nose from the underside. Not exactly what archeology calls this lost technology as Jim made note of the device in his book, but for me, an “Ah ha!” moment when I realize the folks who came before me were smarter than I am. So, I’m looking forward to reaching out to Mike Barranti (again) and then getting a chance to test the Cirillo slide at the first available shoot.
