Looking at a S&W 986 to buy. Do you have to load using moon clips or not?

The preferred method is to use moon clips!
You could try without and see if the stack up in the chambers leaves the primer close enough to be struck by the firing pin.
If it does, fine, but you may not be able to extract the cases without the use of a small dowel.
I use the clips with mine.

Yes, you need to use the moon clips.

You don't have to (for casual shooting), with caveats.

Moonclips generally headspace the case head & primer a tad closer to the frame & firing pin than without.

Many factors come into play when firing without moonclips though.

The common one is the firing pin's length.

Often they are of marginal length & when compounded with: firing without moonclips, or the revolver gets too much play (endshake), or the handloads have too much taper crimp, or the chamber shoulders are cut too deep or are excessively dirty, you'll get failures to fire (FTF).

If you do get FTFs w/o moonclips trying installing a longer firing pin first. It often fixes the problem.

When casual shooting w/o moonclips, spent cases can usually be flicked out of their chamber with your fingernail.

Definitely load with moonclips when the revolver is used for self defense purposes.

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Waiting for the break of day

My 986 (and 929) have a taper at the end of each chamber leading into the cylinder throats. There is no way it's designed to headspace on that. The firing pin won't even reach the primer without a moon clip on my 986 and will only just touch it on the 929. Even if it would shoot without moon clips, having to remove a range session worth of empties one at a time would have you buying some moons pronto.

Another consideration... the 986 comes with a Performance Center main spring that is a reduced power spring.

By not using a moon clip and moving the primer farther away from the firing pin, that also would not make for solid hits with that lighter spring.

I personally don't see a down side to using moon clips (quick reload, easy case extraction), other than the expense of extra clips and/or mooning/de-mooning tools, which can be home made.

I use Speed Beez moon clips, purchased at Amazon, 10 clips and a demooning tool:

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Conrad
SWCA #1830 SWHF #222

Variations of brass can cause problems when used with moon clips. I have had binding, and sticking in chambers problems with mine. Find a brand of brass that works well with your combination of moon clip and load. They can be a ball to shoot.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

Yes, you'll need 7-round moon clips. Good quality clips can be purchased from TK Custom in either SS or BS (I believe they make them for S&W also, 2 come with the revolver).


If you do purchase, keep your eye on the front sight - I (and one other person I know) lost one during a 95F day at the range.


Good luck.
Jim

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S&W PC 629 329PD Ruger Alaskan

This is something often overlooked. It takes a while to sort things out - that is, find the best combination of brass and clip, but once that is done, the rest is easy.

OR....use the polymer moon clips from EZ Moon Clips...

Ez Moon Clips

I have found that the EZ Moon Clips are not fussy about the brand of brass and that they hold the cartridges rigidly, which makes for easy reloading.

The magic of the EZ Moon clip is the thickness - the "slots" for the cartridges are rebated (think rebated S&W cylinders), so the cartridge is not only supported by the extractor groove (which is the only interface with a metal moon clip), but the head of the cartridge is also surrounded, lending support. Here you can see the rebate...



Disclaimer: I do not have a 986, however, I shoot a 929 for both ICORE and USPSA and I use the EZ moons exclusively. The fact that they hold the cartridges rigidly and do not require any special tools to load and unload the clips makes them worth every penny. Pricewise they are usually far cheaper than the EDM wire-cut clips, but more than the die-cut clips.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Adios,

Pizza Bob

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NRA Benefactor Member

Use the mon clips. The 986 is designed around their use.

On my 986, it does not seem to care for Winchester very much. It has greatly improved since a gunsmith in Stillwater worked on it but there were still two misfires due to light primer strikes out of more than 140 rounds fired. In fairness, that was more than two years ago.

When I carry it I use Federals.

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Let's be careful out there