New 625 Owner

[HokieMike]

So I got the revolver itch a while back. After doing my homework here and elsewhere, I finally made a purchase. (You folks certainly don't help a guy save money!) My new baby is a S&W 625-8 with a 4" barrel. I was hoping you all could tell me a little about my purchase.

[IMG][/IMG]
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- I have seen a number of 4" 625-8s for sale that were the Miculek versions, but this one is not. The serial number is CFY41XX, and it looks like it has hardly been fired. What year was it made?
- It has the number "174" etched into the cylinder hinge as well. What does that designate, if anything?
- I know I will need some moonclips. Recommendations? I will make a demooner out of an old golf club, as many here have suggested.

Thanks again for all of your help. The gun is my first wheelgun, and my first Smith. It is a beautiful gun, and I am sure I will want more!

Mike

[Revolver King]

May 2003 production, I'll let everyone else tell you where to get moon clips.

[scott625b]

Great gun, one of the best ever made. When you tire of the steel clips, try the RIMZ Polymer clips.

[Birddog2]

RIMZ full moon clips are great for practice as you can load/unload w/o demooner tool.
I would not use them for serious business/carry as they can unload themselves in your pocket.
If you reload, you might want to get some 45 Auto Rim brass-Midway had Star- and forego the demooning.

[mdwiese]

Looks very nice! I am eaten up with envy right now, would love to have another 625!

[Black_Sheep]

Wilson Combat makes steel moon clips, IIRC the last batch I got was from Midway. My 625 loves 200 gr LSWC handloads, I suspect yours will as well...

[Amici]

I use 200 grainers also, but RNFP's.

SWC's are fine for target and plinking, but you will find the shoulders hang up on the chamber edges if you are trying to load in a hurry; i.e., in competition.

[Vulcan Bob]

Nice sixgun! I just love to tell new 625 owner's how much they are going to like thier new smoke wagon's! Do your finger's a favor and get a demooner tool! If you reload, Birddog2 is right on about the Auto Rim. I use the AR for my 255gr load's. Enjoy!

[625smith]

Very nice. I have two of the early 5" versions that I enjoy shooting. I didn't think of the golf club trick so I bought one of these from Brownells.

[Dale53]

I don't know ANYTHING about 625's.

They are just my favorite revolver. Understand, I have several that I regard VERY highly. However, my two 625's are just the cat's meow!
Here's my 625-6 (5"):


Here is a target I shot with my 625-6, standing at 50 Feet:



HokieMike;
You have made a wonderful choice. There is no better shooting machine, ANYWHERE!

FWIW
I am now using Starline Auto Rim brass with 200 gr SWC's (either H&G #130 or Saeco #68). Mihec is building me a six cavity custom mould for the H&G #68 with a flat base (really a #69 H&G). This mould should be received in a couple of weeks and I am looking forward to putting it through it's paces. When I use .45 ACP brass, I mostly use RIMZ clips. I save the steel clips for SERIOUS use.

Dale53

[tbury]

One of my most accurate revolvers. I have the 5" version and it shoots like a dream. I use mostly AR brass but mine will fire ACP brass without moons as well as with moons. I liked it so well I bought a 4" mountain Gun in 45 colt.

[HokieMike]

Dale, that is some fine shooting! I can only hope to be close to that!

Question for the you all: I currently have a 1911 in the nightstand for an HD gun. Would the 625 make a better option? I would have to get trigger time to get as comfortable operating it as I am with my 1911, but I might try it.

Pros:
- Not having to worry about keeping magazines under tension for extended periods
- No safety of slide rack to worry about - just grab and go.
Cons:
- Fewer rounds: 6 vs. the 7 I keep loaded in my Chip McCormick 8 rounders
- More flash/blast(maybe?)than a semiauto
- Potentially more dangerous with 6 rounds in the cylider and no safety (no kids to worry about thankfully)

Thoughts?

Thanks all for the info. I can't wait to get it out to the range!

[Dale53]

HokieMike;
I spent five years as a class "A" IPSC shooter with a 1911. I have GREAT respect in the 1911 platform as a fighting handgun. None better.

However, waking up in the middle of the night, a bit groggy, is no time to have to manage an auto.

I much prefer a double action trigger under those circumstances. Right now, a 4" 686 stoked with .357 HP's are resting next to my bed. That is MY choice.

YMMV
Dale53

[Centenniel]

You have a very fine revolver. I bought my 5" 625 several years ago and It quickly became a favorite. I've used ACP and AR ammo with great results. For the ACP ammo, I bought a Demooner and Remooner from Brownell's and it was money well spent.

[maxx]

Here's a moon clip tool worth checking out:
I recently got one, works great.
Moonclip tool

[beechwood]

(You folks certainly don't help a guy save money!)

Yeah, I notice that around here.
But it is hard to find nicer folks than here.

[Dale53]

In the interest in "accuracy in reporting" I realized I made an error in my first post with the picture of my 625-6 and a target. I DID NOT shoot that target at 25 yards, I shot it at 50 feet. I have several targets on my Photobucket account and grabbed the wrong one. It has been corrected.

I apologize...

Dale53

[devildog66]

You'll really like the 625; once you go to a moon clip revolver it is hard to go back to any other way for revolver reloading. I have a 610 and the 10mm is a great cartridge but the .45 ACP is even easier to reload due to thumb like diameter.

[BUFF]

Originally posted by HokieMike:

"Question for the you all: I currently have a 1911 in the nightstand for an HD gun. Would the 625 make a better option? I would have to get trigger time to get as comfortable operating it as I am with my 1911, but I might try it."

You mention the key to answering your own question: "get trigger time". After you have accumulated some spent brass from your 625, you can make the decision based on how comfortable you are with each platform and which one you hit the best with.

"Pros:
- Not having to worry about keeping magazines under tension for extended periods"

This is not a problem. Magazine springs wear out from being cycled, being compressed and then relaxed, not from staying under tension. I shot a pair of 1911 magazines a couple of years ago that had been loaded since 1945. They worked, and still work, just fine.

"- No safety or slide rack to worry about - just grab and go."

You shouldn't rely on any firearm until it's operation becomes second nature from repetition. Practicing your presentation, unloaded of course, from a safety-on, low ready to sighted in, safety-off and finger on the trigger, for a few weeks will help ingrain this, and make it a habit without conscious thinking about safety manipulation.

"Cons:
- Fewer rounds: 6 vs. the 7 I keep loaded in my Chip McCormick 8 rounders"

In real life, we have learned that if a shooter hasn't solved his problem with six shots, seven shots wouldn't have likely solved it, either.

"- More flash/blast(maybe?)than a semiauto"

Nope, with a 4 inch barrel, pretty much the same. The .45 Auto isn't a high pressure round, even in Plus-P, and it is really pretty pleasant to shoot in a revolver.

"- Potentially more dangerous with 6 rounds in the cylider and no safety"

ALL guns are dangerous. A semiauto with an empty chamber may take a bit more strength to discharge than pulling a double action trigger, but either gun in the hands of a child, novice or criminal is a dangerous thing. The key is to keep them from such hands.

I have used an N frame (.44 Special) for my "nightstand gun" and have used a 1911. Right now, my "nightstand gun" is also my duty gun, usually a Colt lightweight Commander. I store it loaded, one in the chamber, cocked and locked unless it is going into the big safe for a while; then it's completely empty. I am probably equally comfortable with either gun, revolver or single action semiauto.

Kinda wordy, I guess. I have several S&W revolvers chambered in .45 ACP. I have enjoyed shooting them immensely and you will, too. Shoot your new sixgun a bit and then make the choice yourself. Neither will be a bad one!

At least you won't have to debate, "Which is better, .44 or .45?"!!!

[photoman]

Your 4" Model 625 was standard catalog production gun until last year. Now the JM is the only 4" offered. I seem to recall they sold for about $50 less than the JM. Both are excellent guns.

I do ~highly~ recommend the RIMZ clips for range use.

You can get the steel moon clips from Ranch Products for a very good price.

I reload so I use Auto Rim brass more often for my 5" 625-6.

[keithherrington]

Dale,
What is your powder charge for your target load using the H&G 68? Have you seen an improvement in accuracy using the H&G 69 with the flat base?

[Stainz]

Try Ranch Products for the blued steel moonclips - they make them for other folks. I just got my second box-o-hundred - they've gone up - now $35/100 delivered. Nice folks. I second the Brownell's nutdriver suggestion - only $12-$15 - a deal, as it holds the six empties you peel off until you are ready to dump them - in my case, into a ziploc bag. You can't have too many loaded moonclips...



A metal .223 ammo can, with mat board scraps as separators - will hold five layers of 21+ loaded moonclips - 105 'clips - 630 rounds - plenty for that afternoon of plinking. Great Zombie protection, too. BTW, I had a regular 4" 625-8 I bought new in 9/02 - I replaced it with the new 625JM when it came out. I spent an unbearable several months without a .45 ACP revolver - never again! The best attributes, for me, of the 625JM are the spring-loaded front sight - allowed the HiViz to be swapped with the OEM gold beaded Patridge in seconds without tools - and I love that JM grip.

If you reload, the Starline .45 ACP brass loads more easily into those 'clips. They also make the .45 Auto Rim - which I load .45 Colt lead in, like the 255gr LSWC, at a tad warmer levels than .45 Colt permits. Starline brass is more economical and more likely available directly from them. They can't count either... unlike every bullet maker I know, they give you 'extras'. Those .45 ARs fit the HKS #25 Speedloaders, also available from Brownell's.

Welcome to the madness - and the Forum - HokieMike and Maxx!

Stainz

[Dale53]

cprher;
I am currently using 4.5 grs of 5066 as my target load with both the H&G #130 and the Saeco #68. That is equivalent to 4.0 grs of Bulleseye. 5066 is an obsolete powder (a very fine target powder for pistol but, nonetheless, is obsolete). I am currently using up all of my partial cans and kegs of miscellaneous powder on a probably fruitless quest to make life a bit simpler .

The #130 has a flat base and is the "squatty SWC" and the Saeco #68 has a Bevel Base and is a longer SWC clone of the original H&G #68. I can see no difference in their practical accuracy in both my 1911's and my 625's.

These days, if I were buying a new mould (I am ) my choice would be a flat base by a slim margin.

One thing about the 625's in .45 ACP: It seems that most anything, within safety reasons, that I load in my 625's shoot extremely well. It would take a lot of time on the Ransom Rest to make a determination of which is slightly better than the other. When I replace my target powder (after I get low) my choice for the .38 Special and .45 ACP will probably be a keg of Hodgdon's Titegroup (based on a conversation I had with one of Hodgdon's Technicians at the NRA Convention in May 2008). However, there are many good choices, including Bullseye, 231, Red Dot, etc. I have not found powder to be a definitive choice on accuracy (confirming machine rest tests by the NRA in the late seventies and early eighties). Bullet quality is THE definitive choice regarding accuracy. I cast my own bullets so that I have full control on the quality.

Here is a picture of the H&G #130:



Dale53

[tbury]

My 5 inch loves titegroup. 5gr. of titegroup behind a 200 gr LSWC is my target load.

[Ops Officer]

HokieMike, I'm glad I saw Buff's post before I commented. I agree with everything he wrote. I would emphasize the importance of choosing the handgun you are most familiar with as your HD gun. Also, if there is a remote chance kids could get access to it, get a small safe and lock it up! I would reiterate Buff's warning about the safety. I was always taught the safety is located between your ears and not in your hands.

Shoot your 625. You are going to love it! I purchased a used Performance Center 624 JM with a 5" barrel a couple of years ago. I couldn't believe how smooth the double action trigger was. The single action breaks like my 1911. It is incredibly accurate. I purchased a slew of moonclips for it. Then, I couldn't resist getting another 625 in a 4" barrel. I had a Hi-Viz sight put on it and the action set up for 185 grain ammo. Last year I found a 625 in a 3" barrel. I have no idea why, because I don't plan to carry it. It shoots quite well. The damned things are addictive. Now, I lust after a 624, probably a 4". But the prices now are out of sight.

BTW, the grips you have look great.