A moon clip is a ring-shaped or star-shaped piece of

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

designed to hold multiple cartridges together as a unit, for simultaneous insertion and extraction from a

revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...

cylinder A cylinder () has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infinite ...

. Moon clips may either hold an entire cylinder's worth of cartridges together (full moon clip), half a cylinder (half moon clip), or just two neighboring cartridges. The two-cartridge moon clips can be used for those revolvers that have an odd number of loading chambers such as five or seven and also for those revolvers that allow a shooter to mix both rimless and rimmed types of cartridges in one loading of the same cylinder (e.g., two ''adjacent'' rounds of .45 ACP, two rounds of .45 Colt, and two rounds of .410 in a single six- chamber S&W Governor cylinder). Moon clips can be used either to chamber rimless cartridges in a double-action revolver (which would normally require rimmed cartridges), or to chamber multiple rimmed cartridges simultaneously. Moon clips are generally made from spring grade steel, although plastic versions have also been produced. Unlike a

speedloader A speedloader is a tool, device used to reduce the time and effort needed to reload a firearm. Speedloaders come in a variety of forms for reloading revolvers, or the Magazine (firearms), magazines used with other types of firearms such as rifle ...

, a moon clip remains in place during firing, and after firing is used to extract the empty cartridge cases.

History

The modern moon clip was devised shortly before

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in 1908. The device then became widespread during the war, when the relatively new M1911 semi-automatic pistol could not be manufactured fast enough for the war effort. The U.S. War Department asked

Smith & Wesson Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (S&W) is an American Firearms manufacturer, firearm manufacturer headquartered in Maryville, Tennessee, United States. Smith & Wesson was founded by Horace Smith (inventor), Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson as the ...

and Colt to devise ways to use the M1911's .45 ACP rimless cartridge in their revolvers. The result was the M1917 revolver, employing moon clips to chamber the military-issue .45 ACP ammunition. Smith & Wesson invented and patented the half-moon clip, but at the request of the Army allowed Colt to also use the design free of charge in their own version of the M1917 revolver. After the war, Naomi Alan, an engineer employed by Smith & Wesson, developed a 6-round full-moon clip. However, many civilian shooters disliked and still dislike using moon clips. Although full moon clips allow a revolver to be very quickly reloaded, loading and unloading the clips is tedious, and bent clips can bind the cylinder and cause misfires. Moon clips can be formed by stamped high-carbon steel, heat treated, and finished to prevent rust. Alternatively they can be made from pre-heat-treated stainless steel and cut out using either wire EDM or laser machinery. They can also be made by injection molding plastic. Each process has its benefits and drawbacks such as cost and durability.

Speed

Moon clips can be even faster to use than a

with the proper training. Jerry Miculek, an IPSC revolver shooter, has demonstrated the ability to fire six rounds from a Smith & Wesson Model 625 .45 ACP revolver, reload, and then fire six more rounds at the A zone of an IPSC target at in 2.99 seconds. This feat was possible by using moon clips to allow quick and reliable ejection of the fired rounds, and a quick reload of all six chambers at once.

Use

Moon clips have been made available for many different calibers including; .30 Carbine, .327 Federal Magnum, .380 ACP, 9mm Luger, .38 Super, .38 S&W, .38 Special, .357 Magnum, .40 S&W, 10mm Auto, .41 Magnum, .44 Special, .44 Magnum, .45 Colt, .454 Casull, .45 ACP, .45 Super, .460 Rowland, and .460 S&W Magnum. Common revolver models that are manufactured to use moon clips: * 9×17 mm and 9×18mm Makarov ** OTs-01 Kobalt ** R-92 * 9mm Luger ** Charter Arms Pitbull ** Chiappa Rhino ** S&W Model 940 **S&W Model 929 **S&W Model 986 ** Ruger LCR **

Ruger SP101 The Ruger SP101 is a series of double-action revolvers produced by the American company Sturm, Ruger & Co. The SP101 is a small frame and all-steel-construction carry revolver, with a five-shot ( .38 Special, .357 Magnum, and 9×19mm Parabel ...

** Ruger Speed-Six **Taurus Model 905 ** Alfa Proj. 9200 series * 10mm Auto/ .40 S&W ** S&W Model 610 * .40 S&W ** S&W Model 646 * .45 ACP ** M1917 revolver ** Ruger Redhawk ** S&W Model 22 ** S&W Models 25 (for blue) and 625 (for stainless) ** S&W Governor **

Webley revolver The Webley Revolver (also known as the Webley Top-Break Revolver or Webley Self-Extracting Revolver) was, in various Mark (designation), designations, a standard issue service pistol, service revolver for the armed forces of the United Kingdom, a ...

(Beginning with the Mark VI, which was

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

standard issue from 1915.Dowell, William Chipchase, The Webley Story, p. 178, Commonwealth Heritage Foundation, 1987. Moon clips can also be used to enable .455 Webleys to shoot the .45 ACP cartridge — a common, though dangerous adaptation, as the .45 ACP standard pressure is above maximum pressure ratings for all models of Webley revolver.) *7.62×41.5mm SP-4 ** OTs-38 Stechkin

References

{{reflist Firearm components