How much trouble -- and how expensive -- would converting .357 and .44 magnum revolvers to where they'd accept full moon clips?

Next question: Who makes custom full moon clips -- beyond 10mm and .45s?

The reason?

In my view, revolvers that accept full moon clips dramatically reduce the advantages semi-autos have in speed of reloading.

Granted, I haven't had any field experience with this SWAG (Scientfic Wild***ed Guess) idea in magnum calibers -- but I am impressed with how well it works with 610s and 625s.

Conceivably, you could wind up with revolvers that could reload nearly as fast as a semi-auto -- with the crisp, single action, longer range potential accuracy that makes S&W magnum revolvers so beloved.

Any analysis would be appreciated -- including potential shortcomings of my "bright" ideas suggested here...

What potential problems would magnum full moon clips present? Could chambers be reamed and relieved ever so slightly -- to make certain spent clips pop out cleaner and faster without the difficult extraction that some magnum revolvers have?

The problem with moon clip reloads is that the moons are relatively fragile and if subtly bent, the cylinder will still close, but the case heads will drag on the recoil shield and tie up the gun. I shoot a lot of moon clipped .38 in ICORE and steel competition, but speed loaders are the way to go for carry. Nothing wrong with using a moon for the initial charge to take advantage of the positive extraction though...

Cost to convert a revolver should be about $100 to cut the cylinder. You only need to send the cylinder, not the whole revolver. I had my cylinder cut by Mark Hartshorne at Pinnacle High Performance.
Pinnacle-Guns.com: Pinnacle High Performance Custom Gunsmithing

TK Custom will have the moons.
Welcome to TK Custom.com & Moonclips.com

IMA,

Thanks much for the links and advice!

It's exactly what I needed...

I knew Jerry Miculek was doing some of this, but didn't realize it was such widespread practice in ICORE...

Guess I need to get out of my cave more often...

I agree with imashooter2. I use a 6-shot k-frame with Hearthco clips. The clips are expensive and fragile. In a 120 round match I will lose one or two clips at five bucks a pop. I check each clip before the match in the actual gun to make sure they load and spin freely. The TK clips I got that weren't made by Hearthco were flimsy and sucked worse than speedloaders. I think TK might be selling Hearthco now, but I can't be sure. The .45 ACP and and .40/10MM moon clips are much thicker and cheaper and are the way to go.

One thing nobody's mentioned is that if reload speed is the issue, short rounds are pretty much required. You need brass short enough the extrator/ejector will push them clear of the cylinder. .900" is as long as will clear. .45acp and .40 S&W are that short, 610's and 625's. They also need to be short to have a chance of "falling in" the chambers/cylinder, because for fast reloads they need to. ICORE sees alot of .38 short colt brass used, .750", same as 9mm. With longer brass, even 38 special length, there doesn't seem to be much, if any, difference speedloader vs moonclips.

I compete against .357s and a few .44s that have been modified for clips so I can offer a few observations. 686s are the most popular because they have a shorter trigger reach than N frames and are usually used with very low recoil .38 spl. reloads. Converted 66s are less common and I'm told the smiths will not convert P&R K frames but they fit short fingered shooters best. I see a couple of converted 629s used & one fellow loves his converted 624. They buy their .44 clips from Ranch Products. It appears that S&W is mostly repackaging Ranch Product clips and reselling them at a higher price. S&W of course also sells 6 and 8 shot .357 clips for their PC L and N frames respectively. I've not seen 6 shot N frame .357 clips.

I have zero reliability problems with my 610 and 625 clips but I am careful getting the cartridges in and out of them. I believe that is when other people bend theirs.

In addition to gunsmithing costs and buying clips the drawbacks are missfires or the less common stopages from bent clips, the uncommon clip sizes likely not being available in the future and some matches' rules allow 610s, 625s and 627s with clips but shove modified guns into another class. Additionally, most revolver friendly matches restrict all guns to 6 rounds which makes it slower to close 8 round .357 cylinders because they have to be aligned so you're not snapping on the 2 empty charge holes.

Best Regards;
Gil

Thanks, guys!

I'm probably going to stick with 610s and 625s for moon clips -- as I realized the length of magnum loads negates most hoped-for speed advantages -- something I suppose I already knew...

The thicker Hearthco moonclips will work only with Starline brass and nothing else. This is a considerable advantage though. The only speedloader for an 8 shooter that appears to be worth a damn is the one made by 3-D, which is the equivalent of an HKS twist loader. If you are determined to carry an 8 shooter, either the Hearthco or 3-D arrangement should serve you well. The disaster factor associated with the thin moonclips is just too high for street use.

Dave Sinko