S&W 629 - 44. Mag -Moon Clips - School me on them!

[speeddreamz]

I've got a Smith and Wesson 629-6 Carry Comp - Performance Center with ported 3'' barrel.

So chime in on:

Do I need the revolver machined first? If I machine it, will it not accept manually loaded cartridges after (no moon clip attached?)

What brand?

Metal Or plastic?

Moon Clip Belt holders? (I've seen blade tech, tech lock ones)

[S dot]

Im certainly no expert but Ive really been getting into wheel guns lately, so I'll try to chime in with what I've picked up on and see if I'm learning.

If its already chamfered for it you're GTG. If not, then you would need to get the cylinder recessed. I have no outlets for you on this.

On the moon clips, buy a lot more than what you will plan on using. They need to be perfectly flat to fit properly, if it's bent toss it. Can't speak from experience, but I would rather have steel ones.

There's also a pretty cool tool I've seen looks like a nut driver thats helps in removing spent casing.

[speeddreamz]

Im certainly no expert but Ive really been getting into wheel guns lately, so I'll try to chime in with what I've picked up on and see if I'm learning.

If its already chamfered for it you're GTG. If not, then you would need to get the cylinder recessed. I have no outlets for you on this.

On the moon clips, buy a lot more than what you will plan on using. They need to be perfectly flat to fit properly, if it's bent toss it. Can't speak from experience, but I would rather have steel ones.

There's also a pretty cool tool I've seen looks like a nut driver thats helps in removing spent casing.

Them vs speed loaders? It seems like they would be faster than using speed loaders or jet loaders.

[bjl333]

Why do you want to use the halfmoon clips for a rimed cartridge? You don't like the speedloaders that are out on the market? To convert the cylinder to halfmoon clips would mean machining the cylinders down, at which point there will be no turning back!! Because the thickness of the cartridge rim plus the thinkness of the clips would mean the cylinder would have to be taken down quite a bit!!

The halfmoon clips were developed for the 45 ACP auto cartridge to shoot in a revolver. The reason the clips are needed is there are no rims on the 45ACP. They even developed a 45 AutoRim cartridge to shoot out of a 45ACP revolver, because the clips are not everyone's cup of tea!

My suggestions would be practicing with a speedloader first and if you still want to convert it to clips then go for it!!

[speeddreamz]

Well this sheds some light on the subject...This is what I'm hoping to find out about.

Why do you want to use the halfmoon clips for a rimed cartridge? You don't like the speedloaders that are out on the market? To convert the cylinder to halfmoon clips would mean machining the cylinders down, at which point there will be no turning back!! Because the thickness of the cartridge rim plus the thinkness of the clips would mean the cylinder would have to be taken down quite a bit!!

The halfmoon clips were developed for the 45 ACP auto cartridge to shoot in a revolver. The reason the clips are needed is there are no rims on the 45ACP. They even developed a 45 AutoRim cartridge to shoot out of a 45ACP revolver, because the clips are not everyone's cup of tea!

My suggestions would be practicing with a speedloader first and if you still want to convert it to clips then go for it!!

[Rumline]

Call me ignorant, but I love moon clips. My first revolver, a S&W 686 Plus, came with the cylinder ready to accept moon clips from the factory. Loading rounds into the moon clips was a bigtime pain in the @ss at first, but then I got a tool to help loading and unloading the moon clips from http://mooncliptool.com. Problem solved. I can see how with training a speedloader would be faster than a moonclip, but moonclips have several advantages.

• loaded moon clips pack smaller and travel easier than speedloaders...no "premature releases" as you can get with speedloaders.
• ejecting the casings from the cylinder is amazing...all the rounds remain attached to the moon clip, so picking up after yourself cannot be easier.
• moon clips are way cheaper than speedloaders, making it a lot easier to have 200+ rounds pre-loaded and ready to go for each trip to the range.

So to me, it's a great convenience feature. I hated loading rounds one at a time, having one or two cases get stuck in the cylinder during an eject, and having to hunt around for my brass afterwards. Moon clips solve all those issues. Is it a perfect solution? No. Is it necessarily the fastest / best for competition? No. But I would see if you can try before you buy and make the decision for yourself.

[redcliff]

Contact http://www.tenring.com/contact2.html if you want your revolver converted to moonclip use. $100 plus $16 shipping and includes 3 moonclips. And yes they do N frame 629's.

[kmca]

I had my 29 cut for moonclips. It will shoot without them. This is who I had do mine:

http://www.moonclips.com/default.asp

Be warned though, the metal moonclips are expensive. I think I paid about $7 each. The moonclip tool mentioned earlier is almost a necessity.

With moonclips, you can load, unload, and brass faster and can carry more on your belt.

I use mine for competition so YMMV. The only problem I've been having, is finding round nose bullets. There are only 2 that sell those bullets. BTW, if you want to load faster/easier and don't need the magnum power, you can use 44 special or for really fast reloads, 44 Russian.

[speeddreamz]

what the hell is .44 russian?

Nevermind, checked it out, doesn't appear to be much cheaper than .44 spl

[kmca]

Look it up in a loading book It's basically a shortened 44 special, about the same length as a 45 acp case.

ETA: sorry, if this came across as a smart***

[dfletcher]

I've got a Smith and Wesson 629-6 Carry Comp - Performance Center with ported 3'' barrel.

So chime in on:

Do I need the revolver machined first? If I machine it, will it not accept manually loaded cartridges after (no moon clip attached?)

What brand?

Metal Or plastic?

Moon Clip Belt holders? (I've seen blade tech, tech lock ones)

You're looking at having this done:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp2eIuLg40M

After the cylinder is machined you can still use the gun without the moon clips. In this instance, unlike the typical rimless 45 ACP or 10mm moon clips, the rimmed cartridge still uses the rim to headspace, you can use 44 Special cases without the clip in place should you prefer.

My habit is to not use the moon clips, if the gun is being used as a defensive gun, for the first 6 rounds. Ejecting a full moon clip is a bit less certain than popping out 6 rounds ot joined together - by virtue of 1 case not clearing the cylinder or bumping the grip or cylinder release the whole darn thing gets caught up. May be my bad habit or being gentle with the gun, but I've seen others swat the ejection rod then have to reach down and pluck the hung up clip from the side of the gun.

[speeddreamz]

This .44 mag is primarily for hunting. Its big enough to take down large game should an animal be interested in me or my kill.

What are your suggestions now?

Im trying to understand how its a lot harder to eject the moon clip? I find that one or two shells don't ejects when i use the rod-ejector sometimes.

You're looking at having this done:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp2eIuLg40M

After the cylinder is machined you can still use the gun without the moon clips. In this instance, unlike the typical rimless 45 ACP or 10mm moon clips, the rimmed cartridge still uses the rim to headspace, you can use 44 Special cases without the clip in place should you prefer.

My habit is to not use the moon clips, if the gun is being used as a defensive gun, for the first 6 rounds. Ejecting a full moon clip is a bit less certain than popping out 6 rounds ot joined together - by virtue of 1 case not clearing the cylinder or bumping the grip or cylinder release the whole darn thing gets caught up. May be my bad habit or being gentle with the gun, but I've seen others swat the ejection rod then have to reach down and pluck the hung up clip from the side of the gun.

[redcliff]

The primary benefit of moon-clip conversions is faster reloading. Although I would question the benefit in a hunting appication (and wouldn't personally modify my revolver) the choice is yours. I have both model 25-2's and 625's that utilize moon clips, as well as model 29's/629's that don't, but I do not have an urge to modfiy my 29's.

If you're having problems with extraction of shells with the muzzle pointed properly upwards, it may be your grips interfering. If so, you'll have the same problems extracting moon clips. The long cases of the 44 magnum don't clear the cylinder as easily as the shorter .45acp cases.

[Whiterabbit]

This .44 mag is primarily for hunting. Its big enough to take down large game should an animal be interested in me or my kill.

What are your suggestions now?

To give up and enjoy what you have. If you need more than 6 for big game....

Though I do have a great mental picture of a person trying to shoot a jackrabbit (that looks like Roger Rabbit) bouncing around using a revolver, missing repeatedly, and taking advantage of these moon clips to reload again and again, missing over and over again. That's kind of a funny image.

-----

IMO if you spend any resources on this modification, well, you were going to do it anyways and aren't doing it for any practical purpose other than "for fun" or "cause I wanted to" in which case, more power to you.

[dfletcher]

This .44 mag is primarily for hunting. Its big enough to take down large game should an animal be interested in me or my kill.

What are your suggestions now?

Im trying to understand how its a lot harder to eject the moon clip? I find that one or two shells don't ejects when i use the rod-ejector sometimes.

Not alot harder, it's just that popping it out as one unit if one shell get's stuck the whole thing hangs up. If a corner of a case hits the grip panel or thumb latch during extraction the whole thing stays stuck to the back of the cylinder. If the cases don't clear the cylinder on ejection the extractor resetting can drag on the cases, bring them back into the cylinder. Again, not always just once in a while.

I would leave the gun as is, use speedloaders. Unless I just wanted something neat and that's of course a good enough reason anyway.