.38 Special Moonclips... What am I doing wrong?

I have a S&W 642-Pro with a cylinder that accepts Moon clips. Since S&W sent me three clips with the gun I started loading some up by hand. One horribly bent clip later I was writing out a check for the Moon clip tool. It arrived today. (Now having easily bent a clip I knew to bookmark some sites I could buy replacements from!) I noticed that Midway USA had some .025 thick for some brass and some .020 for others. That's odd.... the ones S&W sent me are around .035". Well I tried one clip using different brass types. (Wow... that tool is wonderful.) But... the clip would not allow the rounds to enter the cylinder completely. Honestly, with Federal brass I could only get them half way in. Swapping out Federal for Remington, they went in further but the closest I got them to load was still 3/8" from being in the proper place to close the cylinder. I can't imagine shooters would go through this much crap to have moon clips. There's got to be something that's not quite right and my first suspicion is the clips S&W sent me. I don't know. I'm open to nearly all suggestions. If I hadn't spent the money on the tool, I'd just say screw the clips, I'll continue to use speed loaders as I have in the past. Since I'm getting ready to send off a .45 Colt cylinder to be machined for .45 ACP clips, I was really hoping the .38 clips would have worked smoothly. Is this even worth the effort? Can I expect this crap trying to load ACP in moon clips too?

How odd S&W would send clips that you cannot load the majority of brass into, (and sent them in the same package with the new gun!). I'm just a typical guy... try it and THEN read the instructions, but there's very little info on them aside from pages 29-30 in the manual and there's no mention of various brass types that are acceptable or not. I thought maybe I'd order the .020 clips since they are clearly less rigid allowing me 'some' flexibility. To complicate matters, I reload and have a little of all kinds of brass. Guess when I find something that works I'm going to have to be brand loyal from then on, huh?

Q&A:

(I appreciate all the help with this problem! I'm pretty comfortable doing my own gun smithing, grip making, trigger jobs, etc., so I'm not a 'new' gun owner. I'm also smart enough to know if I need help when venturing down a new avenue. Thanks guys and thank you THR.)

Q. I'd start with dropping the clips in without ammo and closing the cylinder. Does that work perfectly or not?

A. Yes the clip drops in and closes. It's not a flush fit, (meaning the edge of the clip rises just a tad above the area reamed out for it on the cylinder) but it feels secure.

Q. Then does your ammo fit, without the clip?

A. Yes.

"The problem should become pretty obvious one way or the other.
My money is on wrong (or bad) clips."

Okay... my opinion: The S&W clip is so thick that even trying Federal, Remington, Winchester & Star brass, all are VERY tight. Having read some more blogs.... it sounds as though the clip should hold the rounds securely but still have some 'wiggle' room... not quite as much as my speed loaders but not tight either. The supplied clip is very tight no matter what brass used. I'm probably going to go the opposite route and get the minimal .020" thick clips. Or am I on the wrong track again? (I WILL figure this out!). There must be another 642 owner in THR that uses moon clips!?

I did try 2-3 rounds.... which did load, (placed on same side of the clip ONLY. Not staggered around the clip as they wouldn't load then!)

Okay... going to order some .025" clips from Midway. We'll see how those work.... or don't. I have a LCR but bought the 642 knowing it's reloading was faster, (Pro series model using Moonclips). When I have to qualify I think the Moonclips would speed up my reloading or I wouldn't even mess with these. I'm doing fine with speed loaders.... it's just in my nature to improve what I can, that's all.

The moon clips would be carried in a protected speed loader case, shortened so I can get to them easily. On the street, I use HKS speed loaders and have for 38 years. I'd divert my HKS to my wife for her gun and use the moon clips for mine while we travel together. If something goes wrong she can toss me a HKS. Yes, I've tried factory rounds as well. I can't begin to explain how many different style and combinations of ammo. Nothing works. I didn't get around to ordering from Midway yet, but I will tomorrow after calling S&W. I'll explain I brought this up on a gun forum, (that seems to put them in a more willing position so as to avoid bad publicity! We have the power!)

I did go/have been to the TK Custom site. I did miss reading a few things there that I've now made amends for. They are the folks I had planned on using to convert my .45 Colt cylinder from my M625 so I can use .45 ACP as well.

I've been carrying a long, long time and always 'baby' my reloads/mags while doing so, (if I don't, it could hurt me as well as them, right?!), but, should I get this problem solved, I'll consider buying a dedicated holder for them.

A call to S&W definitely seems to be in order on my things to do list for today. (I'll be so happy when I can sit at my gun bench all day long and not have to trim back the greenery! Can't wait for Fall)

Update... FINALLY called S&W and told them the problem. He said they haven't received any other complaints on this matter, (that's what I would have told a customer too! LOL!) A couple new clips are in the mail, so, I'll give you an update then. He wasn't aware of what thickness theirs are, (Mine vary between .031-.034"). Time will tell.

I apologize for the delay but I was out of town dealing with a family illness. S&W sent me two replacement moon clips, (they finally arrived on 10-11). Both are consistent in their measurement of .025". Unlike the three they sent me, I perceive no variances in the measurement of these. The new ones appear stainless steel where the three sent with the revolver are black. Using the Mooncliptool.com tool, the moon clips were very easy to load using Remington brass and most importantly... the moon clip loads into the 642 just fine. I suspect the problem was the original moon clips sent with the new revolver. This was a frustrating series of events and almost turned me off to moon clips, but, in the long haul I think S&W made it okay in the end. I just hope this may save other S&W 642 owners some headaches. Thanks for all the advice here!