Thanks everyone for the replies so far. Seems maybe I'm not missing much, but I may give the HKS a try anyway, just to get a chance to know what I don't know yet.
I thought maybe the Pachmayr loaders would be "the thing" ... they came out not long after I started my J-frame shooting. Initial reports were mixed, with many people reporting problems with them. I ended up not bothering to try them either. I have sometimes wondered if they ever improved them in the meantime.