Death to Moon Clips (Maybe)

[kayt00]

I recently acquired a Ruger LCR in 9mm and whilst tinkering with it I had a bit of what I think is a self proclaimed moment of genius. To the best of anybodies knowledge, does anybody know if an ejector rod has been devised for a revolver in an auto caliber (rimless) that when pressed rotates a half degree or so so that the star rotates just enough to grab the cartridge rim to eject spent casings thus negating the need for a moon clip to hold cartridges.

[philbo]

Not exactly as you have described, but to the best of my knowledge the two best attempts to limit moonclips are from Charter Arms on their Pitbull series


and a the model 547 from S&W... I owned one of these and it worked perfectly. No personal experience with the Charter Arms but I like the concept, and your idea is similar.


At the end of the day the lack of sales has been a bigger issue than the mechanism used.

[kayt00]

I'd be curious to find out what killed sales. Seems this would be a great idea to build revolvers in some of the funner calibers, .50AE, .357sig, or maybe .40 S&W for example.

[philbo]

I'd be curious to find out what killed sales. Seems this would be a great idea to build revolvers in some of the funner calibers, .50AE, .357sig, or maybe .40 S&W for example.

Mostly lack of interest... everyone wants an auto it seems. The S&W 547 was designed around a contract with a French police unit if memory serves. There have been some fun single action revolvers in auto calibers as there is no need for a moon clip at all. My Ruger Bisley in 45 Colt/45 acp is hoot to shoot with the auto rounds... seriously it's fun to shoot with either caliber

[kayt00]

It seems that I'm just that "niche market". I don't know, I'm kind of curious about loading lead and Trail Boss, for a "cowboy action 9mm" load in the LCR. I'd assume the same could be done with the other calibers if there was a wheel gun for those calibers. Why not a .357Sig in a SAA platform.

[kayt00]

But with a star that rotates a half degree when pushed to grab the case rim you eliminate the need for springs that could fail.

[Boxerrider]

If it turns to catch the rim, then all six cartridges would have to be placed accurately in their chamber before turning it. Correct, or am I missing something? Seems like it would be tricky to load without dropping some too far in.

[warnmar10]

If it turns to catch the rim, then all six cartridges would have to be placed accurately in their chamber before turning it. Correct, or am I missing something? Seems like it would be tricky to load without dropping some too far in.

Yes, toss the moon clips and get some sort of precision speed loaders instead.

[kayt00]

I wouldn't think so since the headspace in the cylender would control how deep the cartridge actually falls. So in the case of the LCR the cartridge actually sticks out of the back of the cylender about an eighth of an inch (roughly) when not using the moon clips. That being said, the star would only need to turn the half degree in the distance of a sixteenth of an inch. I dont know, Im probably trying to a come up with a solution thats looking for a problem.