Remedy for loading lever bruise

[shooting on a shoestring]

I've shot a 36 cap and ball Remington clone since the early 70s. Dad bought it for me for Christmas when Walgreen's was getting out of the black powder business. They continued selling smokeless, primers, popular dies etc... for several more years.

I've never liked using a standalone loading station. Always preferred to load and shoot as I would in the field. That meant lots of pushing on the loading lever with the heel of my hand. Sometime after several cylinders, I'd start bruising and getting a tender spot where the end of the loading lever met my hand.

Fast forward to this afternoon shooting a kind of new to me 44 Remington clone. Same old issue when I finally had an idea. I needed a short length of hose to slip over the loading lever when in use to spread out the impact on my hand. Then in a flash of inspiration I remembered seeing a spent shotgun shell behind me. Beautiful! found a 28 gauge. Cleaned it up a little. Came time to squeeze in the balls, slipped it over the loading lever and found comfort! Loading done, dropped it in my possible bag. Man what a difference!

[Beagle333]

That's a good idea. I always have to use something when loading the Sheriff's models. Those little levers can really dig into my hand after just a few loads.

[PanaDP]

Perhaps a wooden knob that is a slip fit over the end of the loading rod?

[StrawHat]

I have found a 6" length of small bore pipe to help a lot. I had one that was a good fit over the lever. Lost it and have not looked for a replacement.

[DRNurse1]

I learned about BP from a neighbor. He has a wrist thong with a thick piece of leather attached. It dangled when he was shooting but he flipped it into his palm when pushing on the ram-rods to distribute some of the pressure. Just my $.02 since I didn't figure out why he did that until after I got the bruise. DRNurse1