yhtomit
Member
This is mostly meant as an encouraging word for anyone considering a revolver chambered for an "autopistol" round, just something I noticed a few weeks ago when last I shot my S&W 625: moonclips get easier to work with in time.
My story (short one, this time) is that when I first bought my 625 a few years ago, I had only two moonclips (they came with the gun) -- since they cost so little, I'm surprised more didn't come with it, but that's how it went. Before I had a chance to fire the gun, I moved back east for school; along the way, I bought 10 more moonclips at Guns & Ammo in Memphis, TN. (Fun, big shop, and the two occasions I was in there I found a low gun-shop-smuggery quotient. At the price --either 25 or 50 cents apiece -- I should have bought a bunch more. I might have bought all they had on hand, though.)
And then I tried to use 'em. No fun: I think the callous I still have on the thumb side of my right index finger is from inexpert attempts to force rounds into the moonclips. I did some colorful gesticulatin' and used vulgar language, but eventually managed to get them all loaded, though some I could only get 5 rounds in, and the 6th I just gave up on. Taking out the fired cases, even worse. I bent two of the moonclips, one fatally (to it, not me), the other not quite so badly. My then-girlfriend's father was scornful, pointing out how easy it is to load his (quite nice, little used
) Colt Python. And I could see what he meant, as I struggled to click each one home, but the *idea* of moonclips, and of shooting .45ACP from a revolver, drove me forward.
Fast forward to a few weeks back: Loading and unloading the same clips for the same gun is no longer difficult, even after too few actual times at the range. (I doubt any of my 10 moonclips has been loaded more than 10 times, but let's say 15 as an upper limit.) I don't know what percentage of the change is in my improved "feel" for the exact angle and pressure to use, and what is in some slight wearing-in process; I think wearing in is the real answer, even though they're made of rather tough steel -- I don't think my angle or pressure has changed all that much. Another factor: there was a 5 or 6 month period where I never shot the revolver at all, and the clips all sat full of fired brass in that time. (I didn't have a tumbler then, but I figured I would later, and so I was going to keep the brass regardless; I just got lazy and never removed it from the clips.)
And though I would ideally like to get one of the cool demooning tools I saw mentioned on this board some months back, for my own purposes, I've discovered that a sharpie market makes a great tool for popping off the cases. I just push in the sharpie, press it up into the shell just hard enough to get it to the narrowest part of the (well, what the heck *do* you call that depression between the main body of the bullet and the non-rim rim of the .45 case?), and then push straight OUT laterally, parallel to the plane of the moonclip. When I first got the clips, taking them out was an exercise for the soundproof, padded room; now it's easy(ish) -- certainly easier than loading the last few rounds in a typical autoloader magazine.
So: I dunno if "keep full of brass for a few months" is the secret, or just repeated loading / unloading, or even practice is the reason, but if you'd like to buy a moonclipped revolver, don't forgo it simply because moonclips seem awkward to use -- they really do get better.
timothy
My story (short one, this time) is that when I first bought my 625 a few years ago, I had only two moonclips (they came with the gun) -- since they cost so little, I'm surprised more didn't come with it, but that's how it went. Before I had a chance to fire the gun, I moved back east for school; along the way, I bought 10 more moonclips at Guns & Ammo in Memphis, TN. (Fun, big shop, and the two occasions I was in there I found a low gun-shop-smuggery quotient. At the price --either 25 or 50 cents apiece -- I should have bought a bunch more. I might have bought all they had on hand, though.)
And then I tried to use 'em. No fun: I think the callous I still have on the thumb side of my right index finger is from inexpert attempts to force rounds into the moonclips. I did some colorful gesticulatin' and used vulgar language, but eventually managed to get them all loaded, though some I could only get 5 rounds in, and the 6th I just gave up on. Taking out the fired cases, even worse. I bent two of the moonclips, one fatally (to it, not me), the other not quite so badly. My then-girlfriend's father was scornful, pointing out how easy it is to load his (quite nice, little used
) Colt Python. And I could see what he meant, as I struggled to click each one home, but the *idea* of moonclips, and of shooting .45ACP from a revolver, drove me forward. Fast forward to a few weeks back: Loading and unloading the same clips for the same gun is no longer difficult, even after too few actual times at the range. (I doubt any of my 10 moonclips has been loaded more than 10 times, but let's say 15 as an upper limit.) I don't know what percentage of the change is in my improved "feel" for the exact angle and pressure to use, and what is in some slight wearing-in process; I think wearing in is the real answer, even though they're made of rather tough steel -- I don't think my angle or pressure has changed all that much. Another factor: there was a 5 or 6 month period where I never shot the revolver at all, and the clips all sat full of fired brass in that time. (I didn't have a tumbler then, but I figured I would later, and so I was going to keep the brass regardless; I just got lazy and never removed it from the clips.)
And though I would ideally like to get one of the cool demooning tools I saw mentioned on this board some months back, for my own purposes, I've discovered that a sharpie market makes a great tool for popping off the cases. I just push in the sharpie, press it up into the shell just hard enough to get it to the narrowest part of the (well, what the heck *do* you call that depression between the main body of the bullet and the non-rim rim of the .45 case?), and then push straight OUT laterally, parallel to the plane of the moonclip. When I first got the clips, taking them out was an exercise for the soundproof, padded room; now it's easy(ish) -- certainly easier than loading the last few rounds in a typical autoloader magazine.
So: I dunno if "keep full of brass for a few months" is the secret, or just repeated loading / unloading, or even practice is the reason, but if you'd like to buy a moonclipped revolver, don't forgo it simply because moonclips seem awkward to use -- they really do get better.
timothy
