MCB, egads what have I done!!!!!

UncleEd said:
Somehow or other I was bamboozled into buying an
8-shot S&W 627 with 4-inch barrel. And with it,
I now own moonclips.

MOONCLIPS!

If I use them it will be in darkened indoor ranges
when few if anyone is around.

And if I like them, I won't tell anyone. No way.

HKS all the way!
Click to expand...
Welcome to the dark side of the revolver world. Those that have not used moonclips cannot know the power of the dark side! Moonclips rule!
 
IMG_20200720_190709 (1).jpg
Top Left: 625 5-inch , Top Right: 627 5-inch
Bottom Left: 442 1-7/8-inch, Bottom Right: 610 6.5-inch
Moonclips, the proper way to feed the hungry revolver.


20161230_144218 (2).jpg
My S&W 627 PC 5-inch and my USPSA rig. Old Blade-Tech holster and North Mountain moonclip server, 64 rds at the ready.

The biggest draw that brought me to USPSA and IDPA competition was that all aspect of the gun handling effected your score, draw, accuracy, speed, movement, reloading and malfunction clearing all had a direct effect on your score. Reloading fast was an especially big draw for me.

The division with the most reloading, revolver.
 
Actually, meaning seriously folks, is that rightly or wrongly
I have always had a suspicion that full moon clips in daily
carry are subject to warping or slight bending. This would
make them useless.

For some S&Ws, I tried moon clips but decided that
I preferred the HKS speed loaders. And I disliked the
hassle of demooning the empties with a tool or not.

With my new 627 I'lll probably keep a few moons fully
loaded in a drawer for home defense but otherwise just
load singly and usie it as a "range toy."

For competitions as MCB stresses, fine. But I wonder how
many clips are lost by guys stepping on the ejects. Or is that
against the rules. :p
 
I like moon clips. I have 4 S&W j-frames machined to accept moon clips (M442, M642, M437, and M638). Also a few S&W 45 ACP revolvers of different flavors, a S&W M610, and a Ruger 9mm SP101.

I’m not particularly enamored with the M627, nothing wrong with the revolver just a personnel preference, but I’d appreciate it being machined for moon clips.

A bit pricey, but I like BMT Equipped moon clip tools.
 
UncleEd said:
Actually, meaning seriously folks, is that rightly or wrongly
I have always had a suspicion that full moon clips in daily
carry are subject to warping or slight bending. This would
make them useless.

For some S&Ws, I tried moon clips but decided that
I preferred the HKS speed loaders. And I disliked the
hassle of demooning the empties with a tool or not.

With my new 627 I'lll probably keep a few moons fully
loaded in a drawer for home defense but otherwise just
load singly and usie it as a "range toy."

For competitions as MCB stresses, fine. But I wonder how
many clips are lost by guys stepping on the ejects. Or is that
against the rules. :p
Click to expand...
Bent moonclips are a valid concern and those trays of loaded moonclips have all be tested in a gun before they go into the tray to protect them. That said I have found moonclips once loaded are pretty robust and I have never had a moonclip related failure to fire. I have certainly killed a few moonclips but never had a bad moonclip get into a gun and cause a failure. I am pretty religious about checking and protecting my loaded moonclips but at the same time in the many years I have used them they have proven to be fairly robust to harsh use. Moonclips for rimless revolvers are more robust than moonclips for rimmed cartridges in my experience. In my own experience I have had far more fumbled reloads and related issue using speedloaders compared to moonclips.

The loaded moonclip check: This testing method comes with some risk but only minor if you're deliberate about it. After loading a bunch of moonclips. I stand facing the poured concrete corner of my basement. Each freshly loaded moonclip goes into the revolver. It should drop completely in without any assistance. If it drops in cleanly, then WITHOUT MY FINGER NEAR THE TRIGGER, I pull the hammer back just far enough to unlock the cylinder. I then spin the cylinder and make sure it spins freely. I then ease the hammer back down without touching the trigger. You only have to put pull the trigger back a very short distance to disengage the cylinder stop and if you never touch the trigger the hammer block and minimal energy in the hammer will prevent a discharge if your thumb should slip off. Then open the revolver and dump out the loaded moonclip. It should fall out without use of the extractor. This check ensures that the moonclip is flat, and that none of the cartridges loaded in it have a high primer, burr, or other flaw that might cause excess friction with the recoil shield or insertion/extraction problems.

For competition I have never bent a moonclip before use, even on stages that had me laying on my belly on the moonclip server (not very comfy though). Nearly all damaged moonclips have been the result of me kicking them on a running reload or them getting step on by the RO or scorer coming behind me. I have a moonclip reconditioning tool I made that has straightened most of those back to usable condition. Of the over 400 moonclips I have for the four guns pictured above your looking at all the damage moonclips I have damaged in use in the picture below with the reconditioning tool. This spans use back to 2007.

PXL_20230113_232856454.jpg
Getting reading to use my freshly machined moonclip tool late last year.

For my 442 moonclips when CCW I have a pocket protector that I use, This ensure that an individual rounds can't get caught and bent away from the rest and with all the rounds constrained together the moonclips is very robust to abuse.
IMG_20200606_100818.jpg IMG_20200606_100824.jpg
-rambling.
 
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