Centipede Reloader
I was excited to receive my test sample of the Centipede loading strip. The idea of having two cylinders-worth of ammo in one bundle with a lower pocket profile than the typical round speed-loader was quite appealing to me. I’ve been playing with this Centipede strip for about 6 weeks now and would like to provide the following comments.
I started out my trial by carrying the strip around the house draped over my belt and pant waistband (I have a thin belt). Throughout my normal chore routine in the house I found a few rounds had dropped down my pant leg and into my slipper. The next step was to trap the inner row between my belt and pant waistband. This seemed to work better, in that I did not drop any rounds on the floor.
I did notice when I loaded the strip, with a full single row on one side, the strip tended to curve (like a banana). When loading the second row, the banana-affect seemed to pinch the cartridge opening’s, hindering the insertion of the remaining rounds. To combat this, I tried loading rounds as I alternated sides. Several times I caught the rounds collapsing the hole with the corners of the walls between rounds – because my technique was “snapping” the rounds in from the front of the opening. So then I decided to push the rounds in from the “top”, bullet nose to rim. This prevented the sides of the rounds from crushing the corners of the walls.
All of my problems to this point may disappear if the hole diameters in the strip were a bit larger and further away from the edge of the strip. To accommodate this change, the opening would have to be enlarged by “knocking-off” the sharp corners. This is a benefit, in that the sharp corners were causing issues when trying to snap rounds in from the front of the openings.
Now comes the loading of the revolver; I found it somewhat awkward to hold the fully loaded strip while trying to insert two cartridges into their respective cylinder chambers. The strip might benefit from a larger tab at the ends to provide more surface for positive purchase.
During loading from the first row, I found that a couple rounds would end up in my hand from the unused row. Of course that last row loaded with no problems, after all the loose rounds were placed back in it.
I also noticed in the YouTube video ( https://youtu.be/fdaKyB5QvE ) mention was made of using a more pliable material, my opinion is that the supplied material for this prototype was durable enough. Using a more flexible material shouldn’t be necessary and may even cause other issues.
I look forward to the final production run. And thanks for considering me in this review process.
Jeff Toth
