How long does it take to reload a TL5 revolver?

[xnery]

I am trying to come to a conclusive answer on this. I'm either getting contradictory advice from the books, or I'm overlooking something.

In High Tech, on page 87, it says that a S&W Model 10 revolver takes 15 seconds to reload (including opening the cylinder and ejecting the cases). According to the same book, the S&M Model 10 has Shots of 6(3i). The Basic set says that 3i means 3 seconds per bullet, so shouldn't that gun actually take 21 seconds to reload (including opening the cylinder, dumping the cases, retrieving and inserting 6 bullets, and closing the cylinder)?

I can't seem to figure out why the numbers are so different.

Also, the Basic Set says that the benefit of Fast-Draw (Ammo) differs per weapon, but never really gives any numbers.

I would really appreciate any help, thanks everyone.

[Ulzgoroth]

Reloading the revolver takes:
- Swing out the cylinder.
- Eject all cases.
[per shot loop begin]
- Draw cartridge.
- Insert round.
[per shot loop end]
- Close cylinder.

This gives the 15 seconds for a full reload. It also specifies exactly what Fast-draw ammo does for this process, to cover that question.

The (3i) is a bit strange. Maybe it's an approximation, since the full rules can't possibly fit in the table? Very few weapons seem to have perfect (#i) reload times. By the HT87 writeup, the loading goes:
1: 5s
2: 7s
3: 9s
4: 11s
5: 13s
6: 15s
Which is fairly close. Though it would presumably take longer if you didn't want to knock out any cartridges you already had loaded.

EDIT: Nearly all TL5 revolvers seem to be rather slower mechanisms, though. The only one that claims (3i) is the S&W #3, which appears to be (even faster) break-open with ejector rather than swing-out.

[weby]

Also in many revolvers you needed to poke out the cases one by one after opening it and before inserting new ones.

[combatmedic]

Is this a cap-and-ball revolver or a metallic cartridge revolver?

[Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2]

What about pre-cartridge black-powder revolvers? Shouldn't those take several minutes?

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2

What about pre-cartridge black-powder revolvers? Shouldn't those take several minutes?

Muzzle-loading revolvers are addressed in general on HT86. A bunch of specific revolvers get their own explanations in their entries in the revolvers section.

[Þorkell]

Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

The (3i) is a bit strange. Maybe it's an approximation, since the full rules can't possibly fit in the table? Very few weapons seem to have perfect (#i) reload times. By the HT87 writeup, the loading goes:
1: 5s
2: 7s
3: 9s
4: 11s
5: 13s
6: 15s

Just note that the table on p.94 of High Tech has been errata-ed

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by Þorkell

Just note that the table on p.94 of High Tech has been errata-ed

Huh. That actually makes things more confusing, because the S&W Model 10 isn't one of the guns that that errata changes.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by combatmedic

Is this a cap-and-ball revolver or a metallic cartridge revolver?

The S&W Model 10 is very much a metallic cartridge revolver. It's also TL6 with its' "1902-" date rather than TL5.

If model numbers don't help you, the S&W Model 10 is what you'd think of as the "standard" .38 Special revolver. It or essentially identical weapons were the overwhelming choice of US police departments until 9mms started to catch on in the 80s.

[xnery]

So if one revolver has shots of (5i) and one has shots of (3i), would it still take just 15 seconds/rounds to reload each? That's the impression that I'm getting from High Tech.