S&W 640 Pro Series .357 cut for full moon clips?

[MikeKeyW]

http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=11101&storeId=10001&productId=760583&langId=-1&parent_category_rn=15704&isFirearm=Y
A 357 J frame using full moon clips? I can see 9mm or 45 ACP rimless but had not been aware of full moons for rimmed cartridges... Is this something new?

 

[rcmodel]

No. Moon clips for rimmed revolver calibers have been around for years as used by the competition game shooters.

My personal experience is, they are not all they are cracked up to be for a SD gun.

By necessity, the clips must be made much thinner then those for the auto-pistol calibers due to the very small groove under the rim on certain brands of .38/.357 ammo. Other brands of ammo without the grooves can't be used at all.

As such, the longer revolver cartridges flop around more in the flimsy clips, and that makes fast reloads harder then with a .45 ACP revolver for instance.
They also get bent more easily if you carry reloads in your pocket.

rc

 

[jfh]

rc nailed it. The problem is the rimmed cartridge.

Jim H.

 

[MikeKeyW]

I just found it a strange choice of arm, a small J frame, for a competition feature. HKS always worked for me.

 

[WC145]

Not just a "competition" feature, fast reloads are a plus in any self defense piece and moonclips are the fastest way to reload a revolver.

 

[harqueb.us]

"Fastest" depends on which caliber and what type of ammo.

I once moonclipped wadcutters for shooting in my 627, and it wound up being faster to unclip them and load manually than to line up 8 wadcutters with the cylinder to get them to drop in.

It's a bit faster with roundnose ammo, but still not as fast as loading my GP100 with Safariland speedloaders.

But I bet it'd be really fast to load one of the .45 revolvers with moonclips - nice big holes in the cylinder, and ball ammo would drop right in.

 

[hoptob]

Also depends on the shooter. A few weeks ago I had a pleasure of shooting local USPSA match with a member of S&W team; he is a grand master. He shoots 627 revolver with 8-round moonclips in Limited-10 where everyone else shoots semi's and regularly wins matches. The loads were RN bullets in 38 Long Colt brass (same as 38 S&W not special). Let me tell you, that he reloads his revolver MUCH faster than I can reload my Glock. Kind of embarrassing, isn't it? Just like in those Jerry Miculek video's, maybe just a bit slower.

I like moonclips for competition but won't be using them for carry. RC nailed it -- if moonclip bends in your pocket it will lock your cylinder. Not a good thing for SD.

Mike