New 625 Rocks!

M

maxer51tx

New member
I took the plunge and now own a brand new 5-inch 625-8. Thanks to everyone here who gave me 625 advice.

I've already taken it to the range. Whew! Everything I've read about it is true. This gun wanted to put everything into one hole. There's no telling how well I could shoot it if I could still see straight and had steady hands.

The only negative is the heavy d/a pull. It is smooth, however. I compared with several other N frames before I bought it, and some of the other triggers weren't so happy being pulled. I can also see how chamfering the cylinder would speed up reloads. I'll get a trigger and chamfer job later. I might also eventually add some XS sights.

But even without any of that, this gun made it look like I knew what I was doing. It was the first time I can ever recall talking to myself when a bullet missed the hole bored by its predecessors. The 625 is just plain easy to shoot well. And I shot almost all d/a, using that he-man trigger.

BTW, I used a Leatherman to de-moon the steel Ranch moonclips, which I'd bought earlier. The Leatherman's needle nose pliers popped spent cartridges w/o much fuss. Would a de-mooning tool work any better, or should I keep using the Leatherman and save the two bucks?
 
I demoon the clips with a flathead screwdriver... I put it between the cases close to the clip and just pry them out one at a time. Then with the last one, I just twist and pull with my fingers.

I moon the clips (no jokes please!) with a needlenose.

I can't imagine it would be any easier with the $$$ tools.

And congrats on the purchase of one of the sweetest revolvers in current production.
 
Maxer51tx:
Just for grins, try the RIMZ 625 moonclips from Beckham Design. No tools necessary. Perfect for range and plinking use, allows you to spend more time shooting and not mooning or demooning.
 
You do realize that you can shoot that gun without any clips at all, I hope.
Not recommended for carry or defensive use that way, but it'll shoot fine without them.
The only advantage the clips offer in a Smith & Wesson is quick ejection & quick loading. At the range, if you're just shooting, or plinking somewhere, why bother with them?
I just pull whatever empties don't drop out on their own with a fingernail, or poke stubborn cases out with a pen or pencil when the chambers start to get dirty. For serious carry, the clips are a necessity.
Denis
 
Yep, Denis, I'd read it could be fired that way but hadn't tried it at the range yet. Just last night I dry fired it with some empties, and they seemed to eject pretty easily.

So it's okay to shoot it that way a lot? I thought perhaps it might damage the cylinder. If not, I may shoot it quite a bit that way. I'll want to make sure I gain and maitain proficiency with the clips, of course.

Incidentally, don't know if you noticed or not, but I didn't buy a 4-inch and didn't get one with the pin on the hammer either. Couldn't find one hereabouts, and patience ain't one of my virtues, I guess. Thanks for helping me.
 
newbie question

what are moonsclips and demooning? or clips period. I always thought that a clip was something that went into a semi-auto
 
Maxer,
You can shoot that gun without clips for the rest of your life, it'll have no effect on the gun.
The only S&W .45 ACP revolver I've ever fired that wouldn't headspace the ACP rounds properly without clips was the Scandium two-incher from the Performance Center.
With an S&W, the clips are primarily there for simultaneous extraction/ejection, since the ACP brass has no extraction rim for the extractor star to engage. Their secondary purpose is for simultaneous & quick loading. They also help keep rounds aligned in a pouch or pocket for quick use. They are totally unnecessary to shoot a Smith & doing so without them makes no difference to the gun.
Using clips at the range cuts into shooting time, which is an important factor to me when I test guns or loads, and the only benefit to using clips at the range is to maintain loading proficiency, as you noted. The last time I tested a 625 .45 ACP I put about 150 rounds through it & there was no way I was going to waste time with moonclips.
If you're happy with the gun you ended up with, that's all that matters & I hope it keeps you happy with it.

Richie,
Clips are commonly used wrongly in talking about the magazines an autopistol uses.
In a .45 ACP revolver, since there's no large rim around the base of the cartridge brass for the extractor star to grab onto when you push the ejector rod backwards, you have to pull each empty brass out one at a time when you reload, assuming they don't drop out on their own if you tip the barrel up.
As mentioned above, for extracting/ejecting all six rounds at once, clips are used. The clips come in two-round, three-round, and six-round form, and they're a flat stamped piece of sheet or spring steel with open round slots on the outside edges that you snap the cartridge base into. The clips hold the rounds together spaced so that you just guide the bullet noses into the chambers all at once & leave the clips attached when you close the cylinder. When you open the cylinder & hit the rod to eject the empties, the extractor star engages the clip & shoves all the brass out at once, just like it went in.
Moonclips are the six-rounders, the three-rounders are called half-moonclips.
De-mooning is removing the empty brass from the slots in the clips. Since the steel clips hold the brass pretty tight, you use some type of de-mooner tool to snap the brass back out of the clip slots.
Does that help?

Denis
 
I'd suggest trying both 625 and 25 RIMZ clips. The 625's work fine, but hold the cases fairly loosely. The 25's have a firmer grip, making fast reloading of the gun easier, but are still pleasant to unload (demoon) by hand.

Chuck
 
moon clips

Please forgive my revolver ignorance, as I am not even close to an expert on them. Don't the moon clips keep the rounds in the cyllender on a straight walled and rimmed cartrage such as the 45 acp? As I said, Im no expert here, just thougth I'd ask as it might be pertinant if they do fall out the front of the cyllender if not attached to a moon clip.
 
Abe,
Smith & Wesson revolvers chambered for the ACP rounds have "stepped" chambers like an autopistol barrel. Simple way to put it is that the chambers are slightly smaller in diameter at the front than the rear. They're not bored straight through (neither are conventional "revolver" caliber chambers), and the beginning of the smaller diameter section is set just at where the case mouth ends to both keep the round correctly headspaced (close enough to the breech for the firing pin to hit the primer) and, obviously, to keep it from going all the way through.
Factory loads headspace on the case mouth in the ACPs, not like the standard revolver rounds where the case uses the rim to headspace on.
Taurus .45 ACPs that I've fired worked the same way, so do the convertible Ruger single-action revolvers with ACP or 9mm cylinders.
The ONLY thing the clips do in the Smiths (if they're properly set up at the factory) is facilitate loading & extraction with factory rounds, they don't keep the rounds from falling through.
If you stay with factory loads that use taper crimps, no clips needed. If you load your own & use a roll crimp, you may need the clips for correct headspacing because the rolled case mouth may slip a little deeper into the chamber when it hits the "ledge".
Denis
 
Not to hijack the thread at all (really), I'll add that everything Denis has said about the 625 is true of its J-frame first cousin, the 940, which was chambered for 9x19. You can use the 5-shot "full moon" clips or load individually, with results as outlined by Denis for the 625.
 
Thanks for da info

I appriciate the well thought out and helpfull reply, I have been wondering that for a while now, after finding out that S&W made revos in auto cartrages. Would make my shooting days sooo much easier to just use 45acp for everything. Am thinking about getting into reloading, and already have a 1911, want a revolver soooo bad I can taste it. :D
 
Abe, that was my thinking when I chose the 625. I use three handgun cartridges: 9 mm, .38 spcl and .45 acp. (I traded a .22 revo this weekend.) Some might think that's boring. I think it's simple and easy.

Of course, I reserve the right to add at any time .357, .45 LC and .44 special and...
 
The .45 is my preferred caliber & most reloaded one.
I have four 1911s with another one on the way, one ACP derringer, three DA Smith ACPs, and one SA Ruger convertible with ACP cylinder.
Having the revolvers to fall back on in a worst case scenario where autos might be totally banned someday leaves me with several thousand brass & a full setup to keep on reloading, as an extra bonus besides the utility of the round in a dependable handgun. Good power, easy to shoot, easy to reload, not too hard to carry for an afternoon on the desert, and so on.
The Smiths can also handle the hotter +P ACPs indefinitely without stress.
Denis
 
I just dare the GVT to take my autos

They will find out what my limited capacity 10 round mags are really capable of if they try. :mad:
 
Didn't mean to start the Doomsday Machine running.
I can see the remote possibility of outlawing or taxing jacketed hollowpoints to death, another attack on the magazines, restricting autos to police & military, all as absolute worst case possibilities as steps to reduce the number of guns in the hands of the public on the road to outright bans. I doubt it'll happen, but one .45 revolver in the hand is worth two .45 autos turned in to the government.
The .45 caliber revolver can use lead very well & doesn't have to depend on expansion or high velocity to be effective. If you reload you can use heavier bullets than the standard 230-grainers in either regular ACP or Auto Rim brass.
Good all-round defensive choice & can be relatively cheap for fun plinking, too.
Denis
 
Semi-newbie question: I've got a 625 which I purchased new roughly five years ago - how do I tell what sub-model it is (625-6, -8, etc) and are there any significant differences between the versions?
 
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