I put about 165 rounds through my new to me 940-1 today. I shot 115 FMJ factory practice ammo, some om my reloads, some Gold Dot 124 +p and Corbon DPX 115 +P.

I did not shoot off a rest, but could consistently put rounds into the "head" portion of an IPSC target at 15 yards off hand. The sights were well regulated and shot to poa.

I fired most of the rounds at speed from the draw on three steel targets (mini-ipsc targets). These are awesome targets BTW and I always have people coming over from other pits asking about them and where to buy them. No association with these guys but here they are: Products



The 9mm has more pressure than the 38 spl, but the weight of the 940 soaked up the recoil and it was very pleasant to shoot, even with the +p ammo. It felt similar to shooting an Airweight with std pressure ammo to me.

The 940's are a bit infamous for extraction issues. When I first started shooting - and the gun was clean and not too hot - I had no troubles extracting the moon clips by hand with the extractor rod.

After about 50 rounds or so, I could not eject the moonclips by hand. Having read of the 940 extraction issues, I brought a small plastic mallet. With a rap from the mallet on the extractor rod, the moonclips came out easily.

I think the extraction is a non-issue for carry with a clean gun that has only fired 5 rounds.

After reading some of the threads on this board, I also shot many cylinders full without moonclips. This worked very well. Interestingly, even after the gun was dirty and hot, I had no problem getting the brass out without moonclips. In fact, most of them would would fall out if I just hit the side of the cylinder. The ones that did not fall out would come out easily with my fingernail - which seems strange since it then required the mallet to get the moonclips out. I was using the 4 moonclips that came with the 940 and some Ranch clips - they all looked the same and were the same thickness.

I really like the 940, despite the extraction issue with moon clips when dirty. An accurate, fun to shoot J Frame in a caliber that I reload for and for which factory ammo is significantly cheaper that 38 spl. It also has superior ballistics to the 38 spl +p out of the snubby platform. It's a fun J Frame range gun that shares a caliber with many of my semi-autos.

The J Frame is, at its core, a carry gun. My question with the 940 is where does it fit for me as a carry gun? It's too heavy for pocket carry - so that leaves belt carry.

On the belt, my Glock 26 is just as easy to conceal, weighs approximately the same as the 940 - and holds 2x the rounds. So where does the 940 fit in my carry rotation - to be determined. I may put the universal clipdraw on it for minimalist belt carry. We'll see . . .

Questions for 940 veterans:

1. Any problems with shooting a lot of rounds without moonclips?

2. I read somewhere that a forum member lends out a Brownells tool to smooth the cylinder walls and help with extraction. I can find that thread. Does anyone know who that is and what the tool is?

Thanks.

If you get the cylinder walls too smooth, the problem becomes worse, don't ask why, but it does. Love that gun, very nice.

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Still got the shovel

Really? That does not match my (admittedly old) recollection of the discussions I have seen of the topic.

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NHI, 10-8.

Don't tell me..... Someone photoshopped your picture and put a..... Taurus emblem on the grips???????? Really? Couldn't find a pair of pachmayers or unkle mikes? Get a Sharpie and mark over the emblem.

Bad chp, bad........

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Les Ramsey

I put the Taurus grips on all my J Frames because I have long fingers and I want a covered backstrap with a short, two fingered grip.

Eeeewwww!

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Don't kiss smiling dogs!

I know . . .

I used to use a Sharpie on the logos, but it rubs off

They're actually excellent grips - excluding the logo.

Any problem with shooting a lot of rounds without moonclips?

Any thoughts on the extraction issues?

I know you're a 940 veteran

Gary/Headknocker is the forum member you are speaking of. He is the master of all things 940.

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I'm with the banned ...

Thanks mc5aw.

I don't recall shooting my 940 without moon clips, though I do it all the time with my .45s. Sorry, can't give you any intelligence on that. In my case, it probably wouldn't tell you anything because my gun has never had any problems extracting.

As to the loan of the flex hone, I am not sure who is doing that, but you can buy one from Brownell's if you want one of your own. I am not sure it is such a good idea. I suppose if you use it very carefully you will not do too much harm. It is not one of those things that I would want done to my gun, but I have read a few people commenting favorably about doing it. There are better ways to do that job, but they are somewhat more complicated.

Thanks for the response. I can't find a flex hone for a 9mm at Brownells - just 38/.357.

What are the better ways to do the job?

Thanks.

The flex hone is going to round whatever corners it finds, wherever it finds them. And the hones themselves are basically round (cylindrical), so they apply uneven pressure in a tapered hole. If you want to do a nice job of it, you need to make a mandrel of some sort (brass, for example, or even lead) and lap the chambers. It is a slow process but it probably won't take much lapping to get the job done - and your chances for disaster should be considerably less.

The 38/.357 flex hone will probably be the same size as one for 9mm, but you might ask one of their tech representatives to be sure. Their help/advice is free.

As far as the carry rotation, my 940PC is my summer carry gun. It rides in my DeSantis pocket holster in my front pocket when I wear cargo shorts. I too, have a Glock (G33) and carry it as a backup or when I can wear something I can put a hip holster under. But I must say that I have become very used to the pocket and appendix carry, and don't find it too heavy at all. I put two moon clips of 124gr GDHPs in an old prescription bottle, and I'm good to go.

koz - I've heard a lot of people carrying steel J's in the pocket. It's just not for me. I carry the lightest J ever made in my pocket everyday - a bobbed 337PD. I also carry AIWB and might carry the 940 that way.

M29 - I might just take some Flitz with a conical felt bullet on my wonderful and dangerous Dremel and polish them. Any danger you see there barring just going crazy with it?

Thx.

A proper lapping job may actually help true up your chambers and make them more round. Polishing like you describe may get rid of some of the roughness but it has the potential to degrade the geometry of your chambers.

Your -1 was supposed to fix the problems that owners of the "no dash" were experiencing. However, I do not experience any of these problems with my no dash and you are having problems with your -1. It just goes to show that making a good 940 is really hit or miss in the grand scheme of all things S&W.

The only way to get to the bottom of it is to have a good gunsmith examine the dimensions of all chambers. Maybe one was bored slightly off center, which could explain why they freely extract without moonclips but become problematic when the moonclip joins them all together?

How many "cylinder dumps" are you doing to get the gun to misbehave? I can't say that I have torture tested mine, but over the course of normal range use and one or two quick speedloads on the clock under match conditions I never have any problems.

One load of Cor-Bon +P+ is the only round I could ever find that would not extract freely from the cylinder. Inferior brass or too fast a powder in handloads will also cause problems but as far as factory ammo goes I am very happy with my 940.

Dave Sinko

Hi Dave - responses below:

1. "How many "cylinder dumps" are you doing to get the gun to misbehave?"

Somewhere around the 5th one. I need to test this with a clean, cold gun with carry ammo the next time I shoot the 940. But if the 940 does not present extraction issues until 50 rounds or so, the extraction issues don't really bother me because (1) in a defensive situation, the gun is clean and cold - and I will never carry 4 moonclip reloads (probably only one, truth be told), and (2) at the range, I'd rather shoot without moonclips anyway.

Question - any problem shooting a lot of rounds without moonclips?

2. "The only way to get to the bottom of it is to have a good gunsmith examine the dimensions of all chambers. Maybe one was bored slightly off center, which could explain why they freely extract without moonclips but become problematic when the moonclip joins them all together?"

That is a plausible explanation. Even when hot and dirty, the brass comes out easily without moonclips. Add a moonclip and I need a mallet. So it doesn't seem like the chambers are too tight or squeezing the brass. The tying together of all the brass with the moonclip is changing the angle enough to cause issues.

Maybe I'll try different clips. I have Ranch clips - which seem to be well thought of. The TK Custom clips are ultra expensive at $69 for 10

Anyone want to sell one TK Custom moonclip

As long as the gun behaves when clean for the first couple of speedloads, I wouldn't worry about it. My 940 is the only gun I own that I clean every time I use it. I clean it constantly because I don't want to have chambering problems; there's not a lot of room in a 9mm chamber and the fouling can build up quickly. But I never have problems extracting moonclipped cartridges from dirty chambers.

Shoot as many rounds as you want without moonclips. I doubt you'll ever have any problems. You'll notice that the firing pin hits on the primers are deeper when you don't use moonclips but this is normal. I have never pierced a primer in my 940. I also shoot .380 ACP in mine, again with or without moonclips. The .380 is a very loose fit in the moonclips but if you can get them all in and into the cylinder at the same time, .380 will shoot with complete reliability. Loose cartridges will fire if the cartridge is within reach of the firing pin when hit. The brass will bulge slightly on firing, but again it's nothing to worry about and they all come out easily.

I once had a 627-4 8x.38 Super that was an absolute nightmare. The wrong powder or wrong brand of brass (too tight in the moonclip) would cause terrible extraction difficulties, even when the gun was cold and clean. Different brass, a cleaner powder and a jacketed bullet would make the problem disappear instantly. The gun functioned flawlessly but only within a very narrow range of loads, and that wasn't good enough for me. I never understood why it was so fickle so I got rid of it. On the other hand, my 627-5 8x.357 Magnum is an absolute joy to shoot and I never have any trouble with it, and the .357 Magnum was never intended to be used with moonclips!

It sounds like your 940-1 is a keeper. I would NOT send it back to S&W. I don't think I'd even bother doing anything to the chambers. As long as it functions fine for street use, you're good to go.

Dave Sinko

Thanks for the info Dave.

I think I'll do some very judicious polishing. I'll post a follow up report after I polish and shoot again.

I polish my reloading dies with 1500 or 2000 grit sand paper wrapped around whatever size brush I need, may want to try that, Idk.....
I did read a thead that if the cylinder walls are too smooth, the case will not grab at all and blow back against the frame and lock the gun up. My 940-1 does but have this problem luckily.

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Still got the shovel

Other than testing, I would not expect to shoot such a revolver very much at a time, and one can do most of the needed training with a different revolver, I think. I agree, then, that under most conditions I would not worry about extraction problems such as yours. I had a 649 that was a real pig, and after about 3 cylinders in close succession, it would get too hot, expand, and more or less lock up, so I sorta know of what you speak.

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NHI, 10-8.

I recently polished the chambers with a dremel and shot the 940 today.

Gold Dot 124+p was the first moonclip and required a mallet to dislodge. The second moonclip was Corbon DPX +P and ejected freely. The next two moonclips were practice ammo and ejected by hand. The following moonclips required a mallet to eject.


So . . . I guess it's DPX with one reload for carry.

I can also shoot without moonclips and no issues with ejection - which will be my future practice mode.

Sorry to hear you are still having trouble but having never had the problems with moonclips and extraction like David Sinko describes, I am at a loss.

Just as a matter of curiosity, have you checked the size of the exit bores? Likely would have nothing to do with the extraction problem. I was just surprised that my gun had such small exit bores (but probably within the allowed tolerance). I think it ran around 0.3530-0.3535".

Thanks for all the information in this thread. I have a 940-1 and have similar extraction problems. I don't have the tools, knowledge or skill to do anything more than a very good cleaning and that did not work. My extraction problems start with the first moon clip full. Similar to described here, without a moon clip I had less of a problem. With a moon clip, I need to hit the extractor rod to eject the cases.

I've searched for and think I've found a good gunsmith - at least he's been around for a very long time according to the gun shop owner that recommended him. I will talk to him before I trust him with my gun but in the end, there is a leap of faith the first time you use the services of a professional.

My question is - what questions should I ask the gunsmith or what should he tell me he's going to do that will put me at ease? For example, if he pulls out a dremmel without measuring all the cylinders first, I'm outta there. I have known a few machinist and I would expect some level of measurement and investigation before doing anything to the gun. Any other thing to ask or look for would be appreciated.

Thanks.

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18-4, 15-4

Jerry - I don't have experience with TK Custom, but a forum member used them to convert his 642 to 9mm using moonclips. It seems like they do a lot of moonclip conversions. Welcome to TK Custom.com & Moonclips.com

If you do use them, please let us know how it turns out.

Consider contacting Ned Christiansen at Michiguns. He's an engineer/machinist type.

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NHI, 10-8.

Checked him out. His site states:

Last updated: 06/21/2012
Regretfully, due to workload/backlog, I am unable to take new orders for custom work at this time.

Update - I bought some of the TK Custom moonclips and haven't had any extraction issues with Corbon 115 grn DPX or Aquila 124 grn FMJ. Welcome to TK Custom.com & Moonclips.com

The TK Custom moonclips are expensive, but worth it for me and my 940-1.

Tks...I think I'm going to try some.

For those who polish the chamber walls with 1000 or 2000 grit paper, keep in mind the 9mm case is "tapered" not parallel case dimensions. If you put your sandpaper on a mandrel and with the dremmel polish it, you may be altering the interior case wall dimensions, and causing worse problems. The correct chamber polisher is a whole set of ceramic balls on flexible wires that form to the contour of the chamber.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244