Last week, I posted a video from a USPSA match where a bunch of my gear went flying while I was moving during a stage. At the time I was using an old version of the 4Wheelguns ICORE Classic Division Speedloader holder, which had an open bottom allow the noses of the rounds to protrude through. Since I bought that, 4Wheelguns has changed their design and close off the bottom of the loader, which I hoped will improve retention.
The old, discontinued model
One of the other issues I had with the old model was that because it was just a huge, long piece of kydex with two tek-locks, it wasn’t very flexible, and was uncomfortable to wear for extended periods of time. So when I was shopping around for a replacement, I decided to use several of the 4Wheelguns IDPA Speedloader holders instead. With seven of those, I could go to the line at a USPSA match with 48 rounds on board: 6 in the gun and 42 in my Comp-IIIs. For me, the most important feature of the new loader would be that it wouldn’t dump my rounds all over the place, so I headed to Big Sioux Rifle and Pistol club to shoot their USPSA Match on Sunday and find out. The Sioux Falls guys put on a good match – 5 stages, including a classifier, with one pretty tricky memory/texas star stage that had about 100 different ways to shoot it. Three of the stages had enough movement that my old speedloader holder would have popped rounds out on the deck.
IDPA Compliant Speedloader holder – image by 4Wheeguns.Com
The new model from 4Wheelguns held each speedloader with perfect retention. Everything was stable while I was moving, and I could really fly and make use of my footspeed on a couple of stages without worrying about throwing .38 Special all over the place. Definitely an improvement. The only criticism I’d have about the gear is that the “wall” that covers the body of speedloader goes a little too high for my taste. I’m thinking about trimming it down a little bit so that I can establish a slightly better grip on the speedloader. However, even as I type that, I can’t say that I’ve had any issues getting a good grip on the loaders with the standard design.
I realize this review is for a small community of people – dedicated IDPA SSR shooters and ICORE Classic shooters are not a dominant force in the shooting world, but we want good gear as much as the next guy. I’m going to be using the 4Wheelguns speedloader holder through the IDPA National Championship in September and beyond. One little issue: because of the 7 tek-locks now occupying my belt, I had decreased contact area with the outer part of my CR Speed Belt to the inner. Simple fix was to put a piece of velcro on the back of each speedloader holder.
For people that know me, here’s how much I like these speedloader holders: I like them so much that I paid retail price for them. Honestly, they’re great. Using a tek-lock instead of a flexible, plastic clip is what puts them in the category of “great” instead of good gear. I hate little plastic clips, because I break them. I’ve never managed to break a tek-lock. The one on my revolver holster is four or five years old and still works just fine. If you want to shoot IDPA SSR or ICORE Classic, get these speedloader holders.
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