Moon Clips

[Ghostrider_23]

I have been thinking of getting a 45 ACP. revolver, but everyone I run into tells me what a pain in the a** moon clips are.

Are moon clips that difficult and what is the way to unload and load up these moon clips??????

Are there any tools that make life easier dealing with moon clips?????

 

[hanno]

No big deal to load moonclips, I just push the rounds in by hand. To unload, I use a demooner tool I bought at a gun show for a couple bucks. You can get the same type from MidwayUSA. There are several other types and some might even be better but this one is the one I have experience with.

Mine looks like this:
http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=395607&t=11082005

The MidwayUSA description is deceptive.
The tool is used to remove the empty cases (or full rounds) from the moonclip. It is not used for "extracting Ranch Moon Clips from a revolver."

 

[JBP]

You do not need a demooner tool with the (RIMZ) moon clips since they are soft polymer. However, they do not hold up as welll as the metal ones and there are different ones for different models.

I've never tried this one (http://mooncliptool.com/), maybe someone can chime in.

I normally use the clips and demooning tool from TK Custom in both my 45 ACP's (they work on all my S&W models) and 10mm's.

 

[HighVelocity]

I've never tried this one (http://mooncliptool.com/), maybe someone can chime in.

Got it, use it, love it.

 

[461]

I've got a 9mm moon clip gun (SP-101) and I think it's no problem at all. No tool required for demooning and reloads are as quick as a revolver can be. Load a bunch of clips before the range session just like you do with mags for a semi-auto. Moonclips offer a lot of benefits that far outweigh any perception of inconvenience.

A lot of people who complain will also complain about anything that strikes them as different. Try it for yourself.

 

[Gator]

Don't listen to the detractors. Moon clips are great! I use RIMZ clips for range use and they require no tools.

 

[moewadle]

Why not just shoot 45 Colt

or 44 Special? Just for the sake of my edification...why bother at all with moonclips and such for the sake of that caliber in a wheelgun?

 

[9mmepiphany]

moonclips allow the fastest reload possible of a wheelgun...its even faster than speedloaders, because you just throw them in.

not a big thing if you just plink, but a major advantage for any kind of competition...its as fast as a mag change

 

[Murdock]

Not a PIA

Moon clips are much more convenient than single loading. Anybody who reports that they are a pain doesn't understand how they work.

A loading tool is not needed, but an unloading tool is (a "de-mooner"). The easiest and cheapest are just a tube/pipe with an inside diameter just a smidgen larger than the diameter of the cartridge case you will use, and 5-6 times that in length. There's a lip on the opening that is used to easily pry the case out of the clip with a gentle rwist of the wrist. The cases fall down the tube into your palm. Quick, simple, painless, easy.

 

[10X]

I have to agree with those that said the half moon clips are hard to work with.
The full moon clips are much easier.

Just plinking with a S&W 25 I just didn't use the clips and shot. If I was doing anything else, I used the full moon clips. I just didn't like loading and unloading the half moon clip.

I eventually sold my 25.

I think I still have some clips sitting around.

 

[bluetopper]

I don't even use the moon clips in my Taurus 455. The empties pull out one at a time with a flick of my fingernail.

 

[rcmodel]

Brand new S&W or Ranch Products .45 ACP moon clips are tougher then Chinese Algebra to load & unload. They do get somewhat easier after some use.

It is possible to take a small file and loosen them up slightly for range use. Don't trust them to retain ammo for SD use however.

But a mooner & de-mooner with un-modified clips are really a good investment if you plan to shoot them a lot.

rcmodel

 

[9mmepiphany]

the easiest "mooner" is a pair of vise grips

 

[rcmodel]

That gets them in, but what gets them out?

Getting them out is the hardest part.

I use a little pair of folding pocket pliers to "moon" them.

Got one of these to "de-moon" them.
http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=6727&title=MOON CLIP STRIPPER

You could very easily make one with a piece of steel tubing & a hacksaw.

rcmodel

 

[Drail]

I just line up six rounds on the bench and press the clip (steel ones) down on them. If you have to use a tool to seat them something's not right. You can make or buy a tool to pop them out.

 

[DawgFvr]

Personally, I like using the right tool for the job. Gemini Customs provide the moon setter and de-mooner with all their custom moon jobs.

 

[aryfrosty]

I have a 625-10 and when I brought it home I went right to Dillon's,
( Bluepress.com ) and bought 50 full moon clips at a decent price. The only true problem i have ever had in any of my .45ACP revolvers is that the clips, both half and full moon, can get warped and interfere with function. Also, while online with Dillon's I bought a de-mooner and re-mooner. All was at a good price. The S&W revolvers come with a little de-mooner tool...and you won't need a re-mooner, even though they are good to have.

 

[rcmodel]

and you won't need a re-mooner,

That depends on how much arthritis you have in your hands.

rcmodel

 

[Drail]

Very good point.

 

[aryfrosty]

RCModel I will agree with you on the arthritis issue. The full moon clips are much easier than half-moons to recharge, but if you want to buy a re-mooner, (and I did), you can get it at most of the same places you can buy clips.

 

[Mike 56]

I have original WW1 1/2 Moon clips for my 1917 they are easy to load and unload.

Mike

 

[rcmodel]

+1
That has always been my experiance too.

1/2 moon's can spring open a little when you load them.

Full moon's can't.

rcmodel

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

That's weird. I had a Taurus tracker in .45 acp for awhile, and I needed neither a mooner nor a de-mooner. The rounds just easily popped in and out of the clips like snapping a snap on your jacket. Couldn't have been any simpler or more convenient. Never heard of a de-mooner tool until today. Live and learn.

Truth is though, that I believe .44 special is superior to .45 acp because you have semi-jacketed bullets with a lot of exposed lead and a wide meplat. Makes for a good hard hit and more quick expansion. You don't get to utilize this advantage of revolvers (the ability to shoot exposed lead, wide meplat bullets) when shooting roundish, full jacketed .45 acp bullets. That's why I'm now no longer enamoured with .45 acp revolvers. When I say full jacketed, I mean that even on HPs, the jacket goes all the way up to the "corner" of the nose, rather than only halfway up like on a revolver semi-jacketed HP, or no jacket in the case of complete lead bullets.

moonclips allow the fastest reload possible of a wheelgun...its even faster than speedloaders, because you just throw them in.

yes, and lest there be any doubt as to the speed of moonclip reloading with practice:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uisHfKj2JiI (observe the last feat in that string of 3 feats by Mr. Miculek).

 

[rcmodel]

Taurus moon clips are made differently then those for S&W .45 ACP.

I believe they left little fingers between each space in the clip that could spring more and make mooning & de-mooning easier.

S&W .40 & 10MM clips are made that way, but not the .45 ACP for some reason.

Taurus clips:
http://www.ableammo.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=56837

S&W Clips:
http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/...1&parent_category_rn=16259&top_category=16259

As for .44 Spl. handling a wider variety of bullet shapes? Not if you reload!
The .45 AR loads in the lower right corner are loaded with half-jacket flat point. The same bullets can be loaded in .45 ACP cases just as easily.


rcmodel

 

[aryfrosty]

RCModel; I couldn't tell from the picture on the link you posted, but are the Taurus clips and the S&W 10mm clips plastic or are they metal. I recall seeing some of the plastic ones at a gun show last year and they had the extra cut-outs on them. They are easier to use than the fully formed metal ones. Howsoever, the Taurus clips were $8.20 for 5, while the metal full moons I got at Dillon's were $9.95 for 10 clips. I like the .44Spl also. I have several and they are nice...all Smiths...but I have a soft spot in my heart for .45acp, (wife says it's in my brain), and have always seen the .45acp or .45ar as comfort rounds. I got my first 1911 when I was 12 and carried one during the recreational travels I made from 1966 to 1971. Also carried one for the majority of my 25 years on the job and have a 625-10 I carry now.