So after the price check yesturday and all the advice to "go for it" I am back at the pawn shop on lunch. The gun comes with no box or paper work and the blade in rear sight is a little loose. So i used all that to bargain. Offered him $450 plus tax. He said it comes out to $486.00 out the door and Ill do it. So ill get some pictures cause i got to get more cash and come back after work today. He didnt even want a deposit he said ill hold till you come back. I think I got a great deal for a 325 pd and it doesnt need moon clips neither for under $500 otd. The gun is tight and looks perfect other than loose sight blade.

Sorry about mispelling in title. Too excited

Congratulations! Did the have two?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Yesterday you were asking about a 325 PC and today it's a 325 PD - which is it? Either way it still needs moon clips. Will it work without them? Sometimes, in some chambers, with some ammo - but it was designed to work 100% only with moon clips, anything else is fortuitous happenstance.

PC or PD, you still got a heck of a deal. You'll grow to love moon clips - for the .45 ACP guns they are a piece of cake.

Adios,

Pizza Bob

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NRA Benefactor Member

Congrats dude.

Under $500? You stole it. You can sell it for $1K+ on Gunbroker today. Let's see some pics the minute you pick it up.

You will need moon clips regardless. Will it work without them? Sometimes. You definitely need them. Which is a good thing. Moon clips are awesome. I have had almost every revolver I own cut for moon clips. Moon clips are the fastest way to load and unload a revolver, Period!

Plus you get to recover your spent brass with ease.

Sorry for all the confusion yesterday I thought it was a 325 pc because it had the gold bead front sight and only looked through glass at it. Definitely is a 325 pd with grey cylinder. The guy told me it works with out moon clips. He proceeded to pull out his 45 and take a bullet out of the clip. He inserted the bullet in a chamber gun facing down and it stood well up out of the chamber. Probably an 1/8 of an inch. He was the one telling me that it did not require the use of moon clips. He may be wrong as I know nothing of 45 revolvers but it sure looked like it didn't need anything to keep it from slipping down into chamber?

I did note the chamber had no recession what so ever. I do not know if cylinder faces are recessed for use with moon clips but this cylinder face looks just like in a 38 special like a model 64 or model 14 just bigger holes. No big deal either way I will just have to buy some clips if it is needed. Also need some nice wood grips I don't care for the rubber jobs even in 44 mag I have targets on.

Good deal for you daddio! What is the difference between the PC and PD? Both Scandium but PD has Titanium cylinder and PC is Steel?

Smith and Wesson revolvers chambered for rimless auto loading cartridges are designed to headspace on the moon clip.

9 times out of 10, a S&W revolver chambered in a rimless cartridge will sufficiently headspace against the cylinder throat and fire.

This is not a design feature of the revolver, it is luck of the draw.

BTW, Congratulations on a smoking deal.

I definitely want to see the pics.

Might there not also be an issue with ejecting the empties?

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NRA Pistol & Reloading Instr.

Here is some pics.

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Congrats! That's a beauty. Would be proud and happy to own that one........

I ordered some clips from T K customs and a very gracious member is going to send me a couple. Be easier to load and especially unload that way. Thanks to everybody for having me go for it. I got a great deal!!

Yep that is main difference, usually pd has fiber optic front sight and pc has gold bead not mine hence all the confusion

I'd make sure to keep the rubber grips handy. Shooting 45 ACP in a gun that light produces some serious recoil. I bought the 2.75" barrel version earlier this year and bought a new set of grips after the first trip to the range. I prefer the looks of the wood, but they have been tucked away in the box since then. I also replaced the rear V notch sight with a regular square notch sight from MidwayUSA and have also bought a new front sight to be installed at some time in the near future(I dislike the fiber optic front sight).

He is wrong.

No no, that's the one that is only worth $300!

LOL. Just kidding. You did well. I just hope you like shooting it. That is like a 20oz gun! Recoil will be pretty stout! I have a couple of 4" all steel 45ACP S&W revolvers. The weigh more than twice what the 325PD does. They still have a nice bit of kick. Let us know what you think.

The 325 PD has a titanium cylinder (grey), which brings the weight down to about 25 oz. Hence the recoil will be stiff, but probably manageable. Not quite as much fun to shoot as the 325 TR.

I may have a square notch rear blade in my future also. I'm gonna shoot it a little before I make any changes. I definately like the gold bead front sight that will be staying. Maybe a lock delete? Maybe some wood grips? I now do realize I need moon clips for sure so some are on the way. Once again I just have to thank you all for your support, information, tips, help and even the jokes are great! I am not somebody that spends any time on computers with any social media or anything. But this is the greatest site ever!!

Congratulations!

I had one just like that and liked it a lot. Recoil was stiff, a good whack in the hand when it sends that 230gr down range

Yup, great deal- congrats. I love my 625 and would have jumped at that deal and asked forgiveness later from "she who must be obeyed"

Seriously my wife would frown, but wouldn't complain. I am a blessed man for 34+ years

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Guns + Dogs= Bliss

My wife does not condone the buying of many guns. She is wonderful and I have received forgiveness when I have been caught. I try not to buy but the great deals I find cannot be passed up. I must refrain from even going into a gun sales building for at least a month or 2 after this past 5 weeks and 3 guns.

It has been a while since I got a good one that cheap. Good job!

Your 325PD will shoot just fine without moon clips. You'll just need to punch the empties out with a dowel or wooden pencil.

Sent from my QTAQZ3 using Tapatalk

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CPT, Armor (Ret)
Luke 22:36

I don't know about the new stuff, but all of the old 45acp revolvers I own will work without moon clips.These include model 1917's from Colt and S&W, a model 1950 (pre-26), model 1955 (pre-25) and a 625-2. They are all head spaced to work to work that way. Because the cartridge is rimless, the extractor won't work, and the empties have to poked out with pencil or the like. Some the earliest production Colt models we're not head spaced and had to use clips, or the cartridges would slide straight through. These were returned to be altered and reissued. I believe that the head spacing was a S&W innovation, and the government mandated that Colt copy the design feature for their guns. BTW, consider a BMT moon clip tool for loading and unloading the clips. They are the best of the breed and also the most expensive, but you'll forget the cost after you use it.

I'm not sure whether the new .45ACP revolvers are intended to fire without moon clips, but I own two and they do. Even loading them, they feel much different from my 25-2, but they do work. NEVER had one fail to fire.

I agree with sodacan on the BMT moon clip tool. Expensive true but worth it. The TK moon clips might be picky with respect to the brass you use, I know mine (38 special) are.

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NRA Pistol & Reloading Instr.

All of my S&W .45 ACP revolvers have not only worked fine without clips but I have never been able to detect a difference in accuracy when the guns were fired with or without them. Being no great fan of loading and unloading the clips, I usually don't use them when shooting on the indoor range.

Yes the moon clip tool is an absolute must. It makes the job so much easier. Go to revolversupply.com and pick one up.

There may be people that tell you that you can use your rimless cartridge moon clip gun without moon clips. They will claim that the round will headspace on the shoulder in the chamber, theoretically, they are correct. However, since SAAMI sets the specs for cartridge dimensions, the shoulder is placed at maximum case length depth for a given caliber. My experience has been that most factory ammo or brass, when new, is always considerably less than this dimension - meaning that, in reality, headspacing on that shoulder, by the case mouth, seldom actually occurs.

This is more common with newer .45 ACP guns with SAAMI-spec chambers. While SAAMI has been around since 1926 and the .45 ACP was adopted in its current form in 1911, the SAAMI cartridge dimension drawings weren’t done until 1979. So it is quite possible that early .45 ACP revolvers may be more likely to function without clips, with a
higher rate of reliability, than guns made post-1979, as chamber dimensions were at the discretion of the manufacturer.

What does happen is that variances in chamber roundness, smoothness, cleanliness and other variables, will hold some cartridges firmly enough that a firing pin strike will ignite the primers. Others are driven forward in the chamber, which results in a light primer strike and a failure to ignite.

Just as some rounds are held tightly enough for ignition and others are driven forward, some cases may drop out of the cylinder from gravity, while others may be "pluckable" and yet others will have to be poked out using a rod.

You should consider moon clips essential for any revolver that is chambered for a rimless or semi-rimmed round. The other alternative is using the rimmed version of that round, if one exists.

Moon clips are the greatest thing since sliced bread and people’s aversion to them is, most likely, founded in falsehoods found on the Internet or from people who either have no personal experience, or just a passing experience with them. In order to fully utilize, and fully enjoy, them requires the right tool(s) to load and unload the clips. The best tool that I’ve found is the BMT. It both loads and unloads the clips. An alternative
to metal clips and specific load/unload tools are the Rimz polymer moon clips. These are easily loaded and unloaded by hand.

You may balk at the cost of these ancillary devices - but consider what you just spent for the gun - isn't spending that extra little bit to insure full enjoyment from your investment worth it?

Adios,

Pizza Bob

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NRA Benefactor Member

There are some revolvers in semi-rimmed chamberings (current Ruger 9 mms) that will not fire without clips, but as far as I have seen S & W .45 ACPs are always able to do so. Extraction without clips is more difficult .

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Seems to me there is a fair amount of confusion out there with this concern of use of moon clips. This gun is my first experience into the world of rimless cartridges. At first just to be safe I am going to use the clips. Being I reload the next logical step will be to purchase 45 acp rimmed brass and just reload cartridges for use with only this gun only. Just because it is possible to do something doesn't necessarily mean it is correct.

Yes, it is best to use the clips. For range use I like the Rimz plastic ones, easy to load and unload, but wouldn't use them for serious social purposes.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

I, too, believe that moon clips are the greatest thing since sliced bread. And I already spent a few bucks for a lifetime supply of moon clips and a first-rate loader. However, I don't always use moon clips at the range because it is usually unnecessary and is always extra work. I have never had a misfire. Note use of the word "never." I think that you know what that means.

I use moon clips when I want speed of loading. With newer revolvers I might consider moon clips a a slight reliability improvement for defensive carry, but I do spin-check them in the revolver for straightness, and I would go for moon clips anyway for reloading advantage.

Your pretending that choosing not to use moon clips is based not wanting to spend money is false. When I don't use them, it's so that I can get MORE enjoyment from my "investment."

I'm sorry if your revolver doesn't work all the time. My revolvers, both classic and modern, work without moon clips. Every time.

The older guns were designed to be used with or without moonclips, period. None of mine have ever failed to fire, not even once, either way. I use the clips from Revolver Supply and they have worked with every gun and many makes of ammunition.

I have no desire to use my moon clip guns without the clips, since that is not what S&W intended. I also find that I have more time to enjoy my guns at the range when I pre-load the moon clips at home, rather than wasting time picking or poking the empties out of the cylinder.



I'm not saying that you have to use clips - it's your gun, do with it what you will - but for 100% reliability and maximum enjoyment, I prefer to use them as they were designed to be used.

Adios,

Pizza Bob

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NRA Benefactor Member

I first tried the moonclips by hand no go for me. I got the moonclip tool & a demonetized like the one above makes it all easy & fairly quick. You can use the end of the moonclip tool as a demooner but the aluminum will wear away so it's best to have the screwdriver like one. I put the loaded clips in a Tupperware container to go to the range.

Groo here
Find Ranch Products and order by the 100.

Wondering about a ship date? #daw1329 anybody know?

Keep the rubbers for range time and find a nice set of wood stocks for in between and going to barbecues.

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Fred
S&WCA 3238

Mine is DAW51XX I think it's an 07 date.

Of course there is always the 45 Auto Rim cartridge. It will chamber, eject and, as an added benefit for those who reload, you can use a heavy roll crimp without worrying about head space.

Well, I'll throw a little more gas on this already silly fire.

IIRC, my early S&W .45 revolvers (both 1955s and 25-2s) came with HALF-moon clips, which I do consider an aid to reliability versus moonclips and no clips. Alas, you hardly ever hear anyone even mention them any more, though they are still just as good as they have ever been, viz. a viz. "the way S&W designed the gun to work."

Really, this is a no argument at all. The guns work fine with or without clips so have fun shooting your new 325 any way or ways you please.

I tried half moon clips once. I found that they bend easily and I don't really see any benefits to using them.

I agree.

I have a 325NG (mfd. 2008), a 325TR (mfd. 2015), & a PC 625-8 (mfd. 2016). Whenever I've "tested" their consistency to fire 45ACP rounds, without moon clips, at the range, I've never had a FTF shooting 50-100 rounds at an outing.

The 325NG has the factory original firing pin but the 325TR & PC625 have extended firing pins because they had light strikes/FTF right out of the box.

That said, I would never shoot them w/o moon clips in anything other than a casual setting. Definitely not in a SD situation.

I do like to use the Rimz moon clips though, at the range, with 45ACP, if the situation warrants.

Personally I prefer Starline 45 Auto Rims, for my range time, & I have (600) loaded at any given time. This brass can also be loaded to 45 Super power without issue & I can save my S-L 45 Super brass for my 4586.

However, my bed stand 325NG has (2) loaded moon clips sitting with it. That I like.

A little bit of everything for me, I guess.

.

daddio202, Let use know how that "good deal gun" shoots for you. Congrats!

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Night Guard, M325

(-01a)

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Waiting for the break of day

I am a big fan of the S&W 45s and agree that full moons are like sliced bread. Just like brass, get a lot and enjoy. I look at the clips as part of the reloading process. Unclip, reload, fill clips.

I am currently caring a 2 3/4" PD. I don't carry spare rounds in full moons though. I have a few of the clips that hold 2 rounds. A few of those don't bulk up my pocket and heaven forbid, if I ever need more than 6 rounds I can reload with them pretty fast.

Your getting a great gun at a bargain basement price.