Punctilious contender from left loading weapon (8)
I believe the answer is:
stickler
'punctilious contender' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both people as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?
'left loading weapon' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'left' could be 'l' (common abbreviation) and 'l' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'sticker' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'from' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for stickler that I've seen before include "Particular type" , "Punctilious, insistent person" , "pedant" , "Trickles away for one who insists on" , "Someone who insists on something" .)