Note for folks handloading for moonclips

S&W Rover

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I just handloaded a batch of .38 Special Starline +P brass for my growing family of moon-clipped J frame .38's. The Starline brass works great with both the .020 and .025 moonclips from TK. Not all brass works well with the clips -- in particular, Winchester and Federal brass seems to have too small a grove for the clips to be able to wiggle around enough to work right.

I also have had good luck with Speer Gold Dots in already-loaded ammo.

The trick with moon clips is seating the round properly and making sure the particular brass had enough space for the round to move; not all ammo works. But set up right, moon clips give incomparable reloading speed and positive handling of the ammo.

I am also using 1 ounce Nalgene bottles with the top cut off above the "shoulder" as my pocket carrying case for rounds in moon clips. I am experimenting with rubber bands to hold the moonclip in place in the small bottle until needed. Various small pill bottles would probably work well, too -- tailored to the size of the rounds (I am working only with .38 Special).
 

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Wow I recenty got my first 38/357 moon clip gun. I never knew any of the brass had a groove:confused:. I have been shootin 625s for a bit. Thanks for the tip. I gotta go check my once fired. What kind of tool do you use for loading the 38 brass. Cheers Theo:)
 
The 625 is reportedly the easiest revolver to moon clip, as the clips are very thick and strong and the bullets tend to be fat and stubby - ideal.

By the way, lead bullets have a greater tendency to balk going into the cylinder - in .38, the Speer Gold Dot's seem to exemplify the best design (my photo shows Golden Sabers -- also a great SD round -- but the bullet is a little longer and a tad harder to get into the cylinder quickly).

I bought TK Custom's loading and unloading tools. I've read you can make a dandy unloading tool out of an old golf club (with a hacksaw) but I went with the commercially available ones.
 
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