45ACP speedstrips?

[cfullgraf]

In my opinion, moon clips rock, but they require a good set of tools for loading and unloading. The best that I have found are from BMT Equipped. A bit pricey for many, but it takes the tedium out of loading and unloading moon clips.

http://www.bmtequipped.com/purchase.php

 

[9mmepiphany]

In my opinion, moon clips rock, but they require a good set of tools for loading and unloading. The best that I have found are from BMT Equipped. A bit pricey for many, but it takes the tedium out of loading and unloading moon clips.

http://www.bmtequipped.com/purchase.php

That is what I use also....just loaded up 270 rounds this afternoon for a match tomorrow

When I started with moon clips, I was taught to load them with vice grips and unload them with a cut-down golf club shaft

 

[StrawHat]

I built a tool to load them. Also use water pump pliers. Unloading still with the tubing. Not as fast as the fancy tool but no longer in competition so no need for the volume I used to shoot.


Kevin

 

[mcb]

I have a BMT for my 627, spectacular tool for rimmed cartridges. There tool for rimless is great too but not quite as slick IMHO. I still use an original mooncliptool.com tool for my 610 & & 625. That said I still often use a homemade golf club handle demooner since it makes it quick and easy to sort out partially fired moonclips after a match. I can selectively remove spent and unspent rounds for sorting into reloading or remooning piles.

In the grand scheme of things you can still have 100+ moonclips and a BMT Moonclip Tool and still have less invested than 6 tuned magazines for a Limited or Open 2011.

 

[mcb]

45 AR was developed for folks who prefer not to use moonclips. (Probably why I have very few.) It provides ACP performance in a rimmed cartridge. And since the ACP was design d to mimic the long Colt, that isn’t shabby.

Not sure where you are going with this but I like the idea of being able to load up the cartridge and not have to worry about it ending up in a 1911.


Kevin

My point was simply that using 45 AR nullifies the two biggest and unique advantages of a 45 ACP revolver. One, common and widely available ammunition/brass. Two the use of moonclips facilitating one of, if not the fast reload in the revolver world. And 45 AR brings no advantages that can't be met or exceeded with 45 Colt. 45 ACP may have been made to mimic 45 Colt but with modern powders 45 Colt can be significantly more cartridge than 45 ACP.

 

[StrawHat]

... 45 ACP may have been made to mimic 45 Colt but with modern powders 45 Colt can be significantly more cartridge than 45 ACP...

Since you mention modern powders, I am guessing we are talking reloads. How does the 45 Super compare to the 45 long Colt?


Kevin

 

[drobs]

I have a BMT for my 627, spectacular tool for rimmed cartridges. There tool for rimless is great too but not quite as slick IMHO. I still use an original mooncliptool.com tool for my 610 & & 625. That said I still often use a homemade golf club handle demooner since it makes it quick and easy to sort out partially fired moonclips after a match. I can selectively remove spent and unspent rounds for sorting into reloading or remooning piles.

In the grand scheme of things you can still have 100+ moonclips and a BMT Moonclip Tool and still have less invested than 6 tuned magazines for a Limited or Open 2011.

Would you happen to know if Ruger's 45 acp Moon Clips work in your 625?
No tools needed to unload the Ruger moon clips.

 

[mcb]

Since you mention modern powders, I am guessing we are talking reloads. How does the 45 Super compare to the 45 long Colt?


Kevin

45 Super would easily exceeds traditional 45 Colt ammunition but since 45 Colt still has a greater case volume, when loaded to similar peak pressures 45 Colt could win. It is fairly common to load 45 Colt well beyond its SAAMI spec, especially in Ruger Revolvers but to a lesser degree in modern S&W.

Would you happen to know if Ruger's 45 acp Moon Clips work in your 625?
No tools needed to unload the Ruger moon clips.

The are not interchangable. The Ruger Redhawk is a bigger revolver than a S&W N-frame and thus the circle passing through the center of all the chambers is slightly larger in diameter.

You can load and unload many 25/625 moonclips by hand also but it is slightly hard on the fingers especially as the round count goes up Using tools is faster, easier on the fingers and significantly less likely to bend a Moonclip when encountering a tight combination of brass and Moonclip. Do for or five hundred rounds in a sitting getting ready for, or breaking down after, a big match and your appreciation and value for Moonclip tools goes way up.

 

[Dave T]

And since the ACP was design d to mimic the long Colt, that isn’t shabby.

Just to set the historical record straight, the 45 ACP was developed to duplicate the performance of the military's version of the 45 Schofield round, a 230g bullet at 825-850 fps. The original 45 Colt round the Ordnance Dept tested and approved in 1873 was a 255g bullet at 910 fps. That black powder loading was available on the civilian market well into the early 20th Century.

Ordnance reduced the original 45 Colt to a 250g bullet over 30g of FFg in 1874 because the army troops found the recoil of the original loading (the 255 over 40g FFg) excessive. Understand most troops got little to no practice. The original load is the Magnum of the black powder cartridge era for handguns. (smiley face goes here)

Dave

 

[DocRock]

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1015130497
45 AR speedloader

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1006220966
FM clips for 45acp

 

[Crowman]

.45 ACP does not share a rim size with .45 Colt or .44 Mag/Special/Russian.

I am not the only person, on-line, who seems to have independently coined the term “slow strips.” I have found such strips to be a very fast and handy way to load two rounds, very quickly. Load-Two-And-Look/Assess. Then, if there is no immediate need to shoot, Load-Two-More-And-Look.

Use Quicj strips for 308, 260, 6,5 Creedmoor. They have the same case head as the 45 ACP. I use them when I tote a Model 25 Smith.

Strips are, of course, a good way to keep ammo organized, in a pocket. But, if one’s revolver chambers uses auto-pistol ammo, a pistol magazine seems sensible.

I am unaware of speed/slow strips made for .45 ACP. Military stripper clips, made for .30-06, may hold .45 ACP well enough, but unyielding steel is not going to be a best way to quickly load a cylinder.

Beware of the short service life of Tuff Strips. Consider them to be disposable. Bianchi Speed Strips will deteriorate, over time, too, but at least they will last for a number of years.

 

[StrawHat]

Just to set the historical record straight, the 45 ACP was developed to duplicate the performance of the military's version of the 45 Schofield round, a 230g bullet at 825-850 fps. The original 45 Colt round the Ordnance Dept tested and approved in 1873 was a 255g bullet at 910 fps. That black powder loading was available on the civilian market well into the early 20th Century.

Ordnance reduced the original 45 Colt to a 250g bullet over 30g of FFg in 1874 because the army troops found the recoil of the original loading (the 255 over 40g FFg) excessive. Understand most troops got little to no practice. The original load is the Magnum of the black powder cartridge era for handguns. (smiley face goes here)

Dave

Dave,

Correct, the original load was a 255 grain bullet at 900 +/- fps. That load was hard on the Troopers but harder on the revolvers. The early 1873 Colts were built with iron frames and that load blew many cylinders apart.


Kevin

 

[v8stang289]

In my opinion, moon clips rock, but they require a good set of tools for loading and unloading. The best that I have found are from BMT Equipped. A bit pricey for many, but it takes the tedium out of loading and unloading moon clips.

http://www.bmtequipped.com/purchase.php

That is what I use also....just loaded up 270 rounds this afternoon for a match tomorrow

When I started with moon clips, I was taught to load them with vice grips and unload them with a cut-down golf club shaft

I built a tool to load them. Also use water pump pliers. Unloading still with the tubing. Not as fast as the fancy tool but no longer in competition so no need for the volume I used to shoot.


Kevin

I see comments like this a lot, but the moon clips I use are very easy to load by hand. I do use a ground down pipe with a tab on the end to de-moon. But the rounds easily snap in when loading moon clips.
My clips are almost all Wilson Combat save a few factory S&W, so I don't know if it's brand dependent or not.
Are certain brands/types of Moon Clips harder to load?
ETA: I do have some of the Ranch 2-round clips as well, and rounds snap into those too.

 

[9mmepiphany]

I see comments like this a lot, but the moon clips I use are very easy to load by hand. I do use a ground down pipe with a tab on the end to de-moon. But the rounds easily snap in when loading moon clips.
My clips are almost all Wilson Combat save a few factory S&W, so I don't know if it's brand dependent or not.
Are certain brands/types of Moon Clips harder to load?
ETA: I do have some of the Ranch 2-round clips as well, and rounds snap into those too.

The easier that are to load, the looser they are around the case. That looseness means more play between the cartridges being held in the moonclips. That play make them slower to reload with due to alignment with the chambers...it is more of an issue with rimmed cartridges than rimless

 

[v8stang289]

The easier that are to load, the looser they are around the case. That looseness means more play between the cartridges being held in the moonclips. That play make them slower to reload with due to alignment with the chambers

Gotcha. Given that mine are just for fun at the range and occasional woods carry, so they're plenty fast for me.
I definitely need a tool to de-moon mine. But not to load.
What brands are you using?

 

[mcb]

I see comments like this a lot, but the moon clips I use are very easy to load by hand. I do use a ground down pipe with a tab on the end to de-moon. But the rounds easily snap in when loading moon clips.
My clips are almost all Wilson Combat save a few factory S&W, so I don't know if it's brand dependent or not.
Are certain brands/types of Moon Clips harder to load?
ETA: I do have some of the Ranch 2-round clips as well, and rounds snap into those too.

Yes some moonclip are harder to load. 45 ACP moonclips are in fact typically some of the easier clips to load due to the large diameter of the cartridge. Moonclips for smaller diameter cartridges tend to be harder to get in and out. The 8-shot moonclips for a S&W 627 are notorious difficult to load and unload. And as @9mmepiphany states some moonclip/brass combination can be tighter or looser and tighter moonclip are often valued more for their ease of reloading.

Also many of the moonclip tools simply speed the process up. You might be able to load you moonclips with just your fingers but with a tool you can do it faster. If you use enough ammunition this time saving might be worth the price of the tool alone. Combine that with a tight combination of moonclip and brass and the tool becomes that much more valuable.

 

[9mmepiphany]

What brands are you using?

For .45ACP, I'm currently using TK Custom and Revolver Supply

 

[cfullgraf]

What brands are you using?

I use primarily TK Custom plus a few factory clips that came with the guns. I’ve had the most success with them.

At least with 38 Special, TK Custom has two different thickness of moon clips for different brands of cases. If you use the thick moon clip with the case that needs a thin moon clip, fit is difficult.

Also, I ended up with a batch of moon clips that my 10 mm ammunition cases won’t fit but 40 S&W cases do. I don’t remember the brand but the moon clips that work with my 10 mm cases are slightly different design from the former.

Point is, not all moon clips are created equal from my experience. But my experience is limited.

 

[v8stang289]

Makes sense. My only experience is with 6 round 45acp moon clips, so I'm sure other cartridges provide different challenges.
I was just curious since a loading tool didn't seem necessary in my limited experience.
Thanks for answering the question and for the information!

 

[9mmepiphany]

I was just curious since a loading tool didn't seem necessary in my limited experience.
Thanks for answering the question and for the information!

many folks start out with something like this


Even fancier would be this:


But most serious competitors end up with one of these: