Moon clips

[hittman]

Is the difference between using half or full moon clips for a 9mm revolver just personal preference?

Is there a preferred brand or style for use in the Speed Six?

 

[loaded round]

You can load and extract full moon clips a lot faster than with half moon clips. Original clips were half moon clips to use with the G.I. 1917 revolvers in 45 ACP. Back then, 1911A1 pistols were in short supply when war broke out, but Colt and S&W had large frame revolvers on hand that were quickly chambered to 45ACP. Because the 45 ACP cartridge was rimless, it could not be extracted and therefore the half moon clip was developed. After saying all that, you see very few half moon clips these days, almost all are full moon clips. I shoot them in my Ruger 9mm pistol and my S&W Model 25 in 45 ACP. Suggestion, buy a demooner tool to remove those spend cartridges from your clips. You will bend these clips otherwise and they won't chamber.

 

[hittman]

A demooner tool!

Okay, something new I'll look for. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Captain America]

Depending on your finger strength and dexterity they make loaders too.

 

[contender]

loaded round has given some good info.

I have several guns now that use moons or half moons. I totally prefer the full moons.

And as for the demooning tool,, MAKE ONE! It's easy. A golf club handle,,, cut to about 8"-10" long,, and cut a notch of about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way around the edge,, about 1/16" deep, and it'll be a charm.
And as for mooning tools,, There are several out there,, and if you are planning on doing any amount of shooting,, buy one. I have 3 of them myself. Saves fingers & such.

 

[hittman]

I put 50 rounds through this 9mm Speed Six today.

First 9mm revolver I've ever shot. Feels like shooting mild 38 Specials. The factory supplied half moon clips all worked fine.

 

[WAYNO]

So, which de-mooner tool did you end up with?

 

[hittman]

Borrowed a home-made one from a friend.

Bought from a member here (its in the mail to me now) a Uniquetech brand along with about a dozen full moon clips that I think were made by TK.

The home-made item worked fine. Think he used a 30-06 case and just fastened it to a small wood handle.

 

[NVSeabee]

I've had good luck with the Speed Beez moon clips in my LCR9. Amazon carries those along with the demooning and mooning tools.

For a CCW style moon clip carrier Jeffreys Custom leather makes one that is excellent.

 

[WAYNO]

Out of the clear blue, Bear Paw Jack sent me a really neat factory made demooning tool. It is truly top notch.







I have loaded and unloaded my share of cartridges into moon or half moon clips using only my finger tips. My finger tips never thanked me, especially when loading cartridges into a brand new moon clip.

This is a completely new experience for me, and this little demooning tool makes the process extremely easy and painless.


Thank you Marlin! This kind of thing is what makes this forum so great. :mrgreen:



Thanks again!

WAYNO.

 

[contender]

If your fingers thanked you for the demooning tool,, get a mooning tool to go with it! You WILL appreciate it as well.

 

[RoninPA]

Here's my home made moon clip loader. The nuts and bolt can be changed depending on the internal diameter of the moon clip. Hard to see but there is a small semi-circular notch (by the black mark) to secure the case. The nut that is holding the arm is a nylon insert nut so that you can tighten it down but leaves the arm slightly loose and won't unscrew when using it. The washers under the arm and the bottom nut that holds the clip are the thickness of the rim of the cartridge so it puts the clip at the right position for the extractor groove . Feel free to copy if you think it might work for you, probably didn't cost but a dollar or so as I used stuff that was laying around.

 

[WAYNO]

Here's my home made moon clip loader. The nuts and bolt can be changed depending on the internal diameter of the moon clip. Hard to see but there is a small semi-circular notch (by the black mark) to secure the case. The nut that is holding the arm is a nylon insert nut so that you can tighten it down but leaves the arm slightly loose and won't unscrew when using it. The washers under the arm and the bottom nut that holds the clip are the thickness of the rim of the cartridge so it puts the clip at the right position for the extractor groove . Feel free to copy if you think it might work for you, probably didn't cost but a dollar or so as I used stuff that was laying around.

Yours is a variation of what I had in my head. Simple and effective.

Thanks. :mrgreen:

In the meantime, even the de-mooner helps to load the clips far easier than without.