Moonclips?

[30mag]

What is the purpose of moonclips?
Do they allow you to shoot automatic ammo (9mm) in a standard revolver? (i.e. .357)
Or, does the revolver have to be specifically designed for that caliber (9mm) and the usage of moonclips?

[foghornl]

Moonclips are designed to shoot rimless ammo (9mm, .45ACP, etc) in a rimmed-cartridge designed (.38Spl/.357Mag or .45Colt) revolver, respectively.

[esq_stu]

I've had a number of guns that use them.

They give the ejector rod something to grab in order to remove the spent casing;
They enable loading of more than one round at a time - like a speed loader. I know people that compete with .45 revolvers and use the clips;
Some guns are made for them and have a larger gap between breechface and cylinder;
Some guns can be modified to use them if the gap is not wide enough;
The Taurus "stellar" clips are very thin and not reliable IMO. If you want anything thicker, you can get them but will have to take some metal off the cylinder;
From what I've seen, one gun's clips are not compatible with another's. I had a Taurus 9mm - the Ruger SP101 and S&W clips would not work on the Taurus;

[Majic]

Moonclips are designed to shoot rimless ammo (9mm, .45ACP, etc) in a rimmed-cartridge designed (.38Spl/.357Mag or .45Colt) revolver, respectively.
Moonclips are design for shooting rimless cartridges in revolvers but the 9mm shouldn't be shot in a revolver chambered for .38/.357. The 9mm cartridge should be shot in a 9mm revolver. There are moonclips for rimmed cartridges also. You can get a factory moonclipped revolver or have a .38/.357 revolver modified to accept moonclips. Those revolvers will still shoot the .38/.357 cartridges.

[BlindJustice]

The original revolver that moonclips were developed for was the
M1917 which actually is the military designation for the S&W N-frame
as well as Colt New Service. The M1917 was issued to troops in WWI
since they were making as many 1911 Colt Semi-Autos as they
production capacity for, to arm the troops.

The M1917 and the various models S&W has produced from then til present is one that has an extra gap between the rear of the cylinder and
the frame face behind it, in order to have room for the moon clips. The
S&W 610 is chambered for 10MM AUto and .40 S&W and also is like the .45
ACP chambered revolvers. 9MMx19 Revolvers are small in number and S&W
isn't currently producing one. WHen you read of revolvers that are chambered for a rimmed case like the .38 SPecial/.357 Magnum either the
cyllinder was cut (relieved) so there's room for full moon clips or it was
done aftermarket by a gunsmith. I've seen gunsmith charges for cutting a
cylinder for moon clips in the $175 range. S&W offers a 627 8 shot .357 Mag
from their performance center that comes ready for moon clips.

I have a S&W 625 in .45 ACP and use Full moon clips, I load up 10-15 moon clips prior to going to the range, after firing I take the full moon clip holding 6 empties and toss em in a big ziploc bag. At home afterwards I have a simple $3 Wilson COmbat tool to get the empties out and I bag thee
empties for reloading or trade. Each tyhpe of moon clip must match with the
pattern of the cylinder patter and size.

Full Moon clips are faster than speedloaders, the ..45 ACP revolvers are also capable of firing the .45 Auto Rim cartridge - created in 1920 the .45 AR
has a thicker rim than the normal rimmed cartridge in order to take up the same space as the full moon clips,so it is positioned for
correct headspace to the firing pin. THe .45 Auto Rim cartridge uses H&K 25M speedloaders and work well but aren't as fast as full moon clip reloads.

Randall

[Vern Humphrey]

Moon clips can only be used in a revolver made for moon clips and half-moon clips. They require extra headspace. If you try to load 9mms with moon clips in a .357 revolver, you won't be able to close the cylinder.

[Jim Keenan]

While the Model 1917's and some other revolvers require shortening the cylinder for use with moon clips, some modern revolvers are made so clips can be used not only with rimless cartridges but also with the standard rimmed cartridges for faster loading. These will also work without clips, since only enough of the rear of the cylinder is cut away for the clip, leaving metal to support the cartridge rim and permit normal extraction.

Jim

[rcmodel]

If you try to load 9mm in a .357 revolver, you will find they will only go in half way!
They simply won't fit!

The tapered 9mm case is bigger at the rear then the .357 chamber.

rcmodel

[Vern Humphrey]

The tapered 9mm case is bigger at the rear then the .357 chamber.
Correct. Three five sevens are about 0.381" just forward of the rim and 9mms are about 0.391."

If you have them in moon clips, you may get them to chamber, since the case will not enter the chamber so deeply. But then you can't close the cylinder -- too much metal sticking out the back end.

[30mag]

hmm..
Cool, I was just wondering.
Someone mentioned it somewhere else... figured I should start a new thread.

So, just to clarify, a .357 that will shoot 9mm (designed specifically for use with moonclips) will shoot .357/.38/9mm, but a .357 won't necessarily shoot 9mm (with moonclips).
Um... what I'm asking is that if I owned a .357 revolver, could I shoot 9mm and .357 back to back, no problem?

[rcmodel]

NO.

As already discussed, a .357 chamber is smaller then a 9mm case.

If you reamed it out to fit 9mm, then there would be no case support on the last 1/4 - 1/2" of the Magnum case, and it would not be safe to fire with .357 ammo.

IMO: A dedicated 9mm cylinder cut for moon clips should also be chambered to 9mm specs, with a headspace shoulder in the chambers so you can shoot individual 9mm rounds without moonclips if you have too.
They would not extract, but you can punch them out with a stick!

rcmodel

[Mad Magyar]

Now, if you had this in your drawer, you wouldn't need moonclips for this 9mm.
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q148/veritas2369/547001-1.jpg

[Sistema1927]

Moonclips are designed to shoot rimless ammo (9mm, .45ACP, etc) in a rimmed-cartridge designed (.38Spl/.357Mag or .45Colt) revolver, respectively.

Uh, in a word: NO!

You cannot shoot .45 ACP in a .45 Colt revolver using moonclips. You cannot shoot 9mm in a .38/.357 revolver using moonclips.

You use moonclips to shoot .45 ACP in a .45 ACP revolver and to shoot 9mm in a 9mm revolver. They are not "magic" ammo conversion devices.

[Technosavant]

Moonclips do two things:

1) In revolvers designed for rimless cartridges like the .45ACP or 9x19mm, they provide a way to headspace the cartridge at the back instead of on the case mouth (how they usually headspace in a semiauto).

2) In revolvers designed for regular rimmed revolver cartridges, they facilitate rapid unloading and reloading without fumbling with loose rounds or needing to use speedloaders. Personally, I prefer full moon clips over any kind of speedloaders.

[S&Wfan]

http://216.77.188.54/coDataImages/p/Groups/363/363373/folders/282194/2256768new25-2plusmoonclips-edited.jpg