mystified by Moonclips for .357 Revolver....

[krs]

I just received the 3" Lew Horton 8 round N frame revolver like so:




I was surprised to find it came in a performance center aluminum case, but that's OK.

What gets me is that there are three 8 round moonclips included in the packaging, and no instruction as to why they're included.. Now, we all know that .38 Spec./.357 mag is a rimmed cartridge that will chamber with no further assistance so can anyone help me understand what the clips are supposed to be for? Just a form of cheap speedloader?

Is there some other, unrimmed cartridge that can be fired by a .38 if it only had moonclip assistance? News to me if there is one like that.


Neat pistol, isn't it?

 

[earplug]

Consider the loaded moonclip as a eight round magazine that costs much less to buy, keeps all your brass in a neat pile if you reload.
And it carries easier then a speedloader.

 

[Hawk]

I got one similar - the moon clips are something of a mystery.

You can load the 357 clips by hand without bleeding unlike the .45 version.

.357 rounds tend to flop about and getting the 8 round mess into the cylinder is a somewhat "fiddly" operation. It's reminiscent of old locker room jokes about "pushing a rope".

It seems to take about the same amount of time as loading two rounds by hand 4 times. Add in the time it took to fiddle with the clips and loose rounds probably have a minor overall advantage in total time expended futzing about with one's ammo.

They seem to have little in common with 6 round .45ACP moon clips which actually work.

 

[earplug]

I don't have a eight shot moon clipped revolver, but I shoot with several peope that use them in our local steel target matches.
They work very well, very fast. some brands of moonclips hold various brands of brass better/tighter then others. Some shooters radious the charge holes for faster reloads.
Do some research for the better brands of clips, what brand of brass are thick or thin where the clips attach. Several tools are on the market to make the whole package work better.

 

[Hawk]

It may well be equipment related but that spiffy gizmo that loads any kind of clip by changing the arbor has been backordered forever - the one I got only does the .45 stuff (which desperately needs a tool).

The clips for the .357 consist of the three that S&W threw in the box and a bunch that Dillon included with my annual calendar order.

I suppose putting some effort towards tuning the bullet profile, finding the right clip and hoping the 1K Starline I already own works with the clip might improve the situation but it's unclear if the results would justify the effort - simply because it works so nicely without using the clips at all. S&W already chamfered the charge holes, or so it says in the literature.

Perhaps there would be noticable improvement with .38 special as shorter stuff seems to work much better based on results with the stumpy .45.

There's not much choice with the .45ACP. Clipless has its issues and I've no interest in "auto rim". But the .45 works way better than the 8 shot .357 - the .45 is actually fun. The .357 reminds me of trying to herd cats.

 

[6_gunner]

Is that thing blued carbon steel? If so, I want one! What model is it?

I thought all of Smith's 8-shooters were either stainless or some kind of fancy wonder alloy.

I like the idea of an 8-shooter with a classic look. If they ditched the lock, it'd be perfect.

Don't know what to tell you about the moon clips. I love 'em in a .45, but I don't have any experience using them in an 8-shot .357.

 

[Hawk]

Is that thing blued carbon steel? If so, I want one! What model is it?

There may be other examples of the 8 shot in blued steel, but this seems to be the most obvious one:
http://www.lewhorton.com/regmag.html

Target stocks on the larger model - same price for either.

Mine is stainless with some kind of black semi-matt paint. Weird stuff but works well - no chance of ever confusing it with bluing though.

 

[20nickels]

The advantages of moonclips are only truly recognized if you have Many of them that you can pre-load in front of yer TV with the proper tools instead of loading the same five that came with yer gun at the range. Buy good ones !, like Hearthco, you will regret it otherwise. Also as Earplug mentioned only certain brass work with these, I believe starline is one of them. Another big overlooked plus on the clips is positive ejection of all cartridges. Yes it sounds like a hassle, but it's worth it. Or just shoot it with speedloaders like everyone else and be happy. It's your choice. It's nice to have options.

 

[krs]

Dillon has a calendar? I NEED one!

Yep, the Lew Horton Hawk has posted is the one, and believe me I was tempted to buy the other one or both. I had been looking at 8 round revolvers for a little while - even started a thread here about it recently.

This one is SO nice! I'll be going inside of it later today probably because I've gotten pretty good at making everything in Smith revolvers nice and slick and I'll likely deactivate the lock too. There's a hint of a creep to the trigger and it's heavier than most S&W except for my old model of 1917. Needs a little tuning to be as good as it looks.

But it weighs a lot while it balances perfectly! Even my wife likes it. She picked it up and complained about the weight, but as soon as she had it at arms length she said "Wait a minute....this is as steady as I've ever been able to hold a pistol." The relatively short sight radius along with the heft make for a pistol that's a shooting ideal, IMO and now hers too (not that I'll let her get too used to it).

The grip is a little bit small for me but I want to fire it before deciding on something else because I like the way it's proportions are the way it is.

All in all, this is the happiest gun purchase I've made in a long time, and I've made a lot of gun purchases.

BTW...The price was lower than the 1600. -something that LH's site shows so if anyone is really wanting to see if any of them are left available PM me for details. It might not be a good thing to post the selling practices of my source and I don't want to cause him any harm by doing so.

 

[krs]

I use moonclips all the time for my Model 52-2 .45 acp, my converted Webley MK VI, and my S&W 1917 but I'd never even heard of them for a .38/.357.

I went and tried 9mm and .380 in one of the clips trying to figure out the intent of these things.

Obviously, I'm appreciative of all responses to my query about them!

 

[Hawk]

The clips are definitely for the rimmed .357 / .38. If they work with anything else I'm not aware of it (but there's much I'm unaware of).

They are worlds apart in usability from the .45ACP. I'll concede they can be made to work well but I'm taking it as an article of faith. I do load them in front of where a TV would be in most normal homes. I'd rather eat lint than consider loading them at the range.

Dillon makes stuff other than calendars?