I’ve decided I want a Moon clip revolver. Either 38/357 or 45 acp . My intent is a range toy in a caliber I load for. Would like to hear from owners of 627 pro and pc, 327,325 and 625. S well as any others I’m unaware of .
Thanks in advance!


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I have a 625-8 that I truly enjoy... 5 inch N-frame is well balanced and extremely accurate... when you get your new revolver, acquire the accessory moon & demoon tools and LOTS of moonclips... and I also recommend some RIMZ poly moonclips for range fun... I always think of it as loading 1 and shooting 6.. so buy more ammo than you "think" you will need.. it goes quickly.

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A 625, any of the dash numbers will serve you well. Or, if you can find a 25-2 you'd probably be happy with that too.

Jeff
SWCA #1457

I have a 625 5" that may be the most accurate gun I own. It can certainly shoot better than I can hold.

While TK Custom might be able to do it - I've not seen or heard of a 38/357 moon clip revolver. Their rim eliminates the need!

The 627 pro and 627 pc are 8 shot 38/357 revolvers cut for moon clips at the factory.


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Besides my 627 Pro, I also have a 640 Pro and 586 L-Comp which also came factory-machined for moon-clips if that's of interest to Post 1's author.

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432UC/638/642/60 + more

My first foray into moon clips was via a 627-5PC, 8-times the fun.

Ammo fit fairly well -but not great- there was always some wobbling and it was a bit finicky getting the loaded clips in during reloads.

I didn’t see the appeal of moon clips as a system, to be honest.

THEN THE 625!

The short, fat, round-nosed bullets didn’t flex and sway in the clips, and they seemed to fall in the cylinder almost of their own accord. It was an order of magnitude faster than the 8-round magnum gun.

For the first time, moon clips made sense to me. If you’re dipping the toe into the world of moon clips, the 45 is a much more enjoyable platform.

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- Post No Bills -

Agreed. The long skinny .38 in a thin clip calls for more technique than the short heavy .45 the system was designed for. Note that revolver competitors will commonly shoot .38 Short Colt for easier loading and unloading.

Smith made some L frame .38 Super and .40 SW clip guns but they did not catch on.

Totally sold on moons.
Started with a 625, then along came a 986, and now had TK Custom cut my Model 64 NY-1.
Using Starline brass with TK's Starline specific moons eliminates wobble and eliminates the need for mooning and de-mooning tools.

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-jwk-
US Army '72-'95

There is also the 9mm 7 shot L frame 986 and the 8 shot N frame 929 that use moon clips.

I have the only 686 chambered in 357 Sig that I'm aware of. It uses moon clips too. This is not a factory chambering, and I only use light target reloads, as full power ammo would probably blow it up.

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protocalldesign.com

I have a bunch of guns cut for moonclips. Usually if they're not cut from the factory I send the cylinders to TK Customs and have them cut.

My experience is that if you've never had a moonclipped revolver I'd start with a .45. Reason being that the auto cartridges are much less finicky than rimmed cartridges, with .357 - .38 being the most fussy. With rimmed cartridges you have to have the proper thickness clip to fit the different brands of brass. My .44 mags that are cut are less particular then .357 but not as forgiving as auto cartridges.

The easiest and quickest for reloads is .45 ACP. The big holes in the cylinder coupled with 230 grain roundnose bullets and the rounds just about jump into the chamber! 9 & 10mm work good too but not like the .45's!

I'll echo that a .45ACP makes for a great moon clip gun. I just had my 625-4 at the range this morning. It's always fun to shoot. I'd suggest 625 in 4-5" for DA/combat style shooting and a 25-2 for SA/target shooting.

A "Mooner" tool is a must, and will be worth the expenditure the first time you use it!

Very good advice. For my 38, I use only Starline brass with TK's Starline specific moons. A match made in heaven. Fit is so perfect that no mooning/demooning tools are necessary.

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-jwk-
US Army '72-'95

I had a S&W 1917 and clips were a pain to load and then unload the empty brass. I prefer using 45 Auto Rim brass since I am a reloader.

Moon clips made sense in 1917 but not so much in 2024.

S&W M25-2, Webley Mk !V, and Webley Mk VI.
TK moon clips and GI 1/2 moon clips. Sometimes .45 Auto Rim.
Its all good.

Any of the S&W 45’s is your best choice to enjoy maximum benefit.
The longer and narrower proportions of the .38/.357 cartridges simply are not as compatible with moonclips as the shorter and fatter 45acp.
As a bonus, you should probably pick up a supply of 45 Autorim brass and try out that wonderful version of the 45.

45acp revolvers are a lot of fun. I’ve got a 625-8 JM, a 325NG, and a 1917. My 625 is frighteningly accurate with 255gr SWC loads. Just a ton of fun to shoot. As stated, the stubby, fat rounds just work well with clips. Plus, big bullets!

My 625 JM is a hoot ! Used to shoot it in USPSA until they changed the rules. Big holes made scoring really easy and I got to keep all of my brass.

Nothing faster than a moon clip going into the gun or coming out....

Randy

I have five revolvers chambered in 45acp. I use them with moonclips almost exclusively. The clips work especially well with shorter cartridges like 45acp. I highly recommend the BMT tool for loading and unloading the moonclips. You'll forget the cost after you use it, and the clips will stay usable for years. I buy the moonclips from Revolver Supply. They have worked in each of my guns with every brand of ammo I've used, and that has to number at least a dozen different ones over the years.

I have a 625, a 627 Pro Series, and a 929. They are all super accurate and fun to shoot. The key to using moon clips is to do your mooning and de mooning at home not at the range. Use a piece of wood to divide an ammo can with 2/3 for clipped rounds and 1/3 for spent clips. Better load a bunch because it’s easy to shoot a bunch.

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The half moon clipsand the full moon clips were not designed to improve loading the revolver. They were designed to allow the rimless ACP cartridge to be ejected from the revolver. A wartime expedient that had a real world advantage that took years to discover.

Kevin

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Unshared knowledge is wasted.

I have both a 625-8 JM and a 627 pro. My 627 also has a second cylinder reamed to shoot 9mm and a few other similar rounds.

I shoot both in ICORE and the 625 in IDPA.

Both serve me well. Think you can’t go wrong with either

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Guns + Dogs= Bliss

A friend at deer camp got an X frame 350 Legend. Those long skinny rounds were difficult to load into the cylinder and worse yet to get in and out of the moon clips.
I used to have a 625 45ACP the moons worked well there. Some rounds are just not moon material IMO

The "old school" guns like the 1917 and 22 models are also tons of fun. I like to think of this TR22-4 as my "Indiana Jones" revolver.

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Only a cold warrior

Wow , are those “Grashorn” grips? Gorgeous!


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From Bigmtnman here on the forum.

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Only a cold warrior

My 625-8 PC has been exemplary.

If you can locate one I highly recommend buying it.

I shoot my 1917 with moon clips and love it. I tried the clips that came with my 640 P but they didn't work well for me. So IMHO .45s yes, .38/.357 probably not.

I regret trading off a 3" 625 long ago.

A friend ran into trouble with that. A big 10mm fan, he bought a 610 for IDPA SSR. It had a couple of characteristics that slowed the reload.
Most 10mm ammo is loaded with flat nosed or stubby hollowpoints to fit a .45 length auto action.
The 10mm's smaller diameter chambers leave a wide space of cylinder face between the charge holes.

Flat nose lands on flat cylinder and the reload fails. He had to look where he was going not just drop a clip full in.

My second 625-2 that I bought for IPSC. What more can you say other than they’re great guns.

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I love 625s in .45 ACP! I load up 70 or 80 moon clips, throw them in an ammo can, and head to the range.

625-3 3" bbl



625-6 5" bbl.

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No good deed goes unpunished.

Everything except the nickel plated revolver is 45 ACP of one model or another.



Kevin

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Unshared knowledge is wasted.

I also have a 625-8JM that I use moonclips with. I also use 45AR in my 625-8JM of course without moonclips. The 45AR works very well. I also have a 610 which uses moonclips.

^^^^^^^^
Exactly!

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-jwk-
US Army '72-'95

I have a 986 snub which is a 7 shot 9mm. Great action, very accurate but the factory thin wood grips are very painful. I put rubbers on it and this made the gun very soft shooting, but recently I added Culina Combats which do a fair job spreading the recoil and make it tolerable.

You can add me to the list of people who love the 625 for moon clip reloads.

It's like dropping footballs into waste baskets.

I haven't bought any for a long time, but Brownell's sold full moon (metal) in bags of 100! That's why I have around 225 clips. I use my standard 45 ACP ammo with uncoated bullets and keep about 80 clips loaded for "Plinking". I won a door prize of 500 200 gr RNFP Coated bullets and found a nice load for them, I keep all of them on the clips. Easy to tell apart!

I own 3 or 4 De-Mooners and 1 Mooner (Moon Loader) I have a 50 Cal ammo can always ready to go!

Ivan

Found one and made a deal this afternoon . Will pick it up this weekend. Now I need a soft shooting load for 200 gr. Bullets! Thanks to all who responded!


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There are lots of loads that work well!

The one I use is 5.5gr of WW231, Win LPP, mixed brass. Feeds well in 1911'a Sig 220's and works great in my 625-3 and 1917 Brazilian Contract. (The COAL is a little shorter, I leave the seating plug the same as 230 RN, so powder volume is the same. There are softer loads but this very manageable in all my 45 ACP guns, including my Marlin Camp 45.

I use a cheap Uncle Mike's nylon holster when I stomp around the woods. I think of my 1917 as a long-nosed Mountain Gun!

Ivan

Congratulations and best of luck with it.

BTW: when you don't need to eject and reload quickly, you can load individual cartridges and they will headspace in the cylinder charge holes on the case mouth and the empties will fall right out when you operate the ejector, or they can be flicked right out with a fingernail.

Not all the stainless revolvers had proper chambers cut in them. After nearly one hundred years of cutting proper chambers, some genius at S&W decided since many folks use either moon clips or the 45 Auto Rim cartridge, just cut the chambers to any depth deeper than the actual case and all is good.

Enough complaints and they “remembered” how to cut a proper charge hole.

Kevin

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Unshared knowledge is wasted.

I load 200s over 4.2 grains VV N310. My 625 shoots them very well.

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-jwk-
US Army '72-'95

I'm still trying to decide if I like full moon clips. Maybe a couple hundred more clips and a couple more guns I might be able to make a decision!

It's easy to make your own demooners from almost any type of tubing but I bought a moon clip loading tool!


If you cut a board to fit inside an ammo can and then install the dowel rods you will end up with an easy method of toting ammo to the range.
jcelect

Before I box my filled moon clips I slide each one in and out of the gun's cylinder just to make sure each shell is properly seated. Sometimes one does not seat properly and you may not notice it until you try to chamber the clip.