Please explain! 9mm revolvers!

I've had two 9mm SP101s & they are great guns to shoot..
I had a 4" 547 & three 940s, So you could say I'm addicted to the 9mm revolver..
The cheap cost & availability of ammo is one reason to look to a 9mm revolver, I currently don't have one & will be picking up another 940 soon enough as a primary carry weapon as well as a fun little range gun..
Would love to have a 3" round butt 547 for the price of a M65 but they seem to now a days be priced almost out of contention..
Now that Ruger, Charter Arms, Korth, Taurus etc. offer 9mm snubbies I would think S&W would come out with the 940-3 or 942-1..
I never had issues with the moon clips but you get what you pay for & the TK Moons are pricey..
Korth just now offered a L frame 6 shot cylinder for Smith & Wessons @ the SHOT Show that uses 547ish extractor segments & I can see these becoming popular if the price isn't too high..
The Korth Sky Marshall is interesting as it uses a short 9mm cylinder BUT this is one of the ugliest revolvers I have ever seen with it's picatinny rails & is really a K frame size & is 6 shot with a K/L Smith RB grip..

Step up to the plate S&W & offer a 9mm J Frame again!!
Gary/Hk
 
Rimless cartridges were mentioned in a few posts on this thread. I'm not intending to hijack the thread, but what is the advantage of rimless cartridges, or to say it another way, why have them?
 
vito said:
Rimless cartridges were mentioned in a few posts on this thread. I'm not intending to hijack the thread, but what is the advantage of rimless cartridges, or to say it another way, why have them?
Click to expand...
They lay flat and feed better in a semi-auto magazine.
 
Last edited:
I'd like having the 940 as a BUG for my 9mm semi auto. It would certainly simplify ammo needs, and should the primary semi auto become inoperable, I'd still have ammo to feed the revolver.
 
Wsmitty01 said:
..... What is the fascination of 9mm....
Click to expand...

I'd say, "What fascination?"

S&W has been trying to make 9mm revolvers for almost 40 years and they've never been very successful.

The M547 was too expensive and complicated to make. The M940 failed in the market place after a few short years and the entire inventory was sold off at a deep discount.

The new M929 and M986 are showing promise. Are they more than just niche guns, will they have broad appeal? Time will tell on those two. S&W has a habit of killing geese that lay golden eggs.
 
vito said:
For smoother feeding or what?
Click to expand...
Yes. Generally speaking, rimless cartridges are better suited to being stacked in a magazine because they lay parallel to each other . This allows for straight mags that run smooth. They also slide by each other better than a rimmed round. Rimmed cartridges sit in a mag at an angle to each other because of their rims and therefore drive the need for a curved/ redesigned mag (among other things.) Think of the 7.62x39 AK round and a AK magazine as compared to a 5.56 NATO round in a AR mag.
That said, there are notable exceptions to this physics if you study gun design and history.


In a revolver with moon clips, the rimless design has a grove just above the base that allows for the moonclip to get a better hold on the round than if it did not. Moonclips for rimless rounds tend to be a little less excremental than their counterpart designed for rimmed cartridges like the 38 special.

hth
 
HEADKNOCKER said:
Where was I when "the entire inventory was sold off at a deep discount"

Must have missed that?
Click to expand...

Well, that would of been something like 20 years ago. Some little trivia thing I remember reading in member post here and there. It's kinda ironic just how many revolvers that are so treasured and highly valued today were "unloaded" in this way. But, something S&W is famous for.
 
MY "fascination" is that I already have a couple autoloaders

in 9mm, and I don't feel like buying, storing, and dragging

around separate ammo for my revolver or derringer.

It's just easier when they are all the same caliber...
 
I have a 14-3 6", .38 spl. Super revolver. The 929 does look really cool. Otoh $1200 will buy a LOT .38 spl ammo!
 
I purchased a 940 from a gentleman on this forum because:

Its an uncommon gun and fits nicely into my S&W J frame collection.

I have a 625 and have no problems with moon clipped auto cartridges in a revolver.

I reload 9mm and have lots of ammo and components around.

It can fire the same round as my Beretta M9 primary carry pistol.

It can fire the .380 auto round as well.

Its just a cool gun. :D

IMG_13111.jpg
 
Pizza Bob said:
And how, pray tell, do you intend to shoot rimless ammunition in a revolver without them? Sure, it'll work sometimes, but it's no fun going bang, click, click, bang, click, click.

If you think that you don't need to use moon clips for rimless pistol calibers in a revolver – you're wrong. You are correct in assuming the shoulder in the chamber is there for headspacing purposes. However, since SAAMI sets the specs for cartridge dimensions, the shoulder is placed at maximum case length depth for a given caliber. My experience has been that any factory ammo or brass, when new, is always considerably less than this dimension - meaning that, in reality, headspacing on that shoulder, by the case mouth, seldom actually occurs.

What does happen is that variances in chamber roundness, smoothness, cleanliness and other variables, will hold some cartridges firmly enough that a firing pin strike will ignite the primers. Others are driven forward in the chamber, which results in a light primer strike and a failure to ignite.

Just as some rounds are held tightly enough for ignition and others are driven forward, some cases may drop out of the cylinder from gravity, while others may be "pluckable" and yet others will have to be poked out using a rod.

You should consider moon clips essential for any revolver that is chambered for a rimless or semi-rimmed round. The other alternative is using the rimmed version of that round, if one exists.

The above, of course, does not apply to model 547's, Korths, single action revolvers and Charter Arms Pit Bulls.

OP: The 8-shot 9 mm revolver (model 929) is great for the gun gamers (IDPA, USPSA and Steel) and they have embraced it mightily. It allows non-reloaders to be competitive with all those guys shooting 627's with handloaded .38 Short or Long Colt cartridges.

We're still trying to figure out what the 986 is for. LOL.

Adios,

Pizza Bob
Click to expand...

Not a S&W, but I have a lowly C.A. 5 shot .40. 2.3" barrel. Around 19 oz. It is a pocket carry gun, or whatever your choice is. So far so good. No moon clips! No problems! They also make it in a 9mm. Pitbull Series. Bob
 
I just bought a new 986 just for the difference and working up loads for it will be fun. You absolutely have to use moon clips with this gun for two reasons. First, the chambers are machined long as if to accommodate a 9X21 and the shoulders in the chambers are beveled. Second, the rear of the cylinder is flat, not relief cut for moon clips. The thickness of the moon clips is therefore needed for headspacing. The manual actually states that moon clips must be used in (S&W) revolvers chambered for rimless cartridges. The only way to avoid moons in my 986 would be a thick rimmed cartridge like a 9mm version of the 45 auto rim. Might as well have a 38/357 then.

One of the attractions of a 9mm revolver to me was the idea of using a modern efficient, small capacity round in a revolver. I'd be interested in a revolver with a shortened frame window to allow short throats. It would be an ugly beast but my 986 sure ain't a looker either.
 
I have a 940.Like the gun a lot but,the reloading not so much. They stick pretty bad.I may send it off for cylinder rework or just may sell it and move on.It does shoot great,just sticky reloading.:(
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

cherokee5425
Bond Arms 9mm to 38 Super
Replies
11
Views
648
colt_saa
colt_saa
jimmyj
Florida HR-218
Replies
13
Views
952
zmmnm3
Z
justicetyme
S&W 9mm Revolver Bore Sizes??
Replies
1
Views
325
dogdoc
D
D
9mm hardcast?
2 3
Replies
48
Views
2K
Riposte1
R
J
Need help choosing good 1st Revolver for a beginner..
7 8 9
Replies
178
Views
8K
Tom Garrett
T

Latest posts

Back
Top