TK custom moonclip question

[dansedgli]

Hi All, 

Regarding details on their website. 

 

https://tkcustom.com/pages/faq-s

 

There is a table showing fitment by 0-5. 

 

The section for starline brass says: Starline 357 magnum. (Not new brass. )

 

What does not new brass mean? Will these work ok on the 38 short colt brass I just spent a fortune on? 

 

Regionals in 4 weeks and I'll need them shipped to Australia. No Pressure. 

 

Thanks,
Dan

 

 

 

 

[pskys2]

Short answer is yes they will work with short colt.

 

The numbers relate to the difficulty of seating the cartridge.  

My experience is:

New Starline .38 brass, all of them .357 magnum, .38 special, 38 short colt all have the same dimensions from Starline, are harder to seat into the .025' SS clips than the .025" Blued moon clips.  But the SS do hold the cartridges tighter, which also makes them more suceptible to hanging up.  I've actually started using the Blued ones as I see less issues with a good clip and old brass hanging up.

 

I use a BMT mooner and typically with new SS clips it often takes a pair of pliers to finish seating the last 1 or 2 cases (not all clips but some).  After a few uses the edges get smoothed out and are easier to load.  New brass may be a bit tougher for the 1st few but I see just as many issues with the really old cases I have too.

The Blued .025 moon clips are easier to load, leave a little bit of wiggle in the cartridge and yet load just as smooth into the cylinder.  They also are more tolerant to variations in older cases (after dozens of mooning/demooning burrs, debri and even gunk can cause the tighter ones to hang up and not being related to a bent clip).

 

The problem with Blued clips is they use a round mandrell not the SS octagon cut.  Which makes using my BMT a bit more work.  I'll load the 1st 2 cases by hand opposite of each other then drop into the mooner and load the rest as usual.

[Mcfoto]

The “not new brass” disclaimer is new. Not sure what they mean. I can only share that it was a bit harder to get moons loaded when my brass was new. Now that I’ve been through them a couple times, it’s easier going. Probably explains the brass shaving on my loader. My preference is for the .25 blue ones. I just ordered 40 more and the fit just as good as the first batch I got. While you’re on the TK site, order their loader. Makes it a piece of cake.

[EEH]

Do you use short colt brass in a 929 ?

[Joe4d]

4 hours ago, pskys2 said:

Short answer is yes they will work with short colt.

 

The numbers relate to the difficulty of seating the cartridge.  

My experience is:

New Starline .38 brass, all of them .357 magnum, .38 special, 38 short colt all have the same dimensions from Starline, are harder to seat into the .025' SS clips than the .025" Blued moon clips.  But the SS do hold the cartridges tighter, which also makes them more suceptible to hanging up.  I've actually started using the Blued ones as I see less issues with a good clip and old brass hanging up.

 

I use a BMT mooner and typically with new SS clips it often takes a pair of pliers to finish seating the last 1 or 2 cases (not all clips but some).  After a few uses the edges get smoothed out and are easier to load.  New brass may be a bit tougher for the 1st few but I see just as many issues with the really old cases I have too.

The Blued .025 moon clips are easier to load, leave a little bit of wiggle in the cartridge and yet load just as smooth into the cylinder.  They also are more tolerant to variations in older cases (after dozens of mooning/demooning burrs, debri and even gunk can cause the tighter ones to hang up and not being related to a bent clip).

 

The problem with Blued clips is they use a round mandrell not the SS octagon cut.  Which makes using my BMT a bit more work.  I'll load the 1st 2 cases by hand opposite of each other then drop into the mooner and load the rest as usual.

I googled that BMT loader,, looks pretty sporty,,, One I have has the lever off to the side, Been looking for a better mouse trap.. 

[pskys2]

22 minutes ago, Joe4d said:

I googled that BMT loader,, looks pretty sporty,,, One I have has the lever off to the side, Been looking for a better mouse trap.. 

I like mine.  Not perfect but pretty fast.  

[dansedgli]

Thanks guys. Turns out they won't ship to me anyway. I don't think using a 3rd party exporter will allow them to get here in time. 

 

I can get the blued .25 ones locally so will go that route. 

 

I'll see if i can get a bmt tool as well. 

 

 

[pskys2]

5 hours ago, EEH said:

Do you use short colt brass in a 929 ?

You actually can, but you can't use the 9mm moonclips you have to use the .357 moonclips.  The base of the short colts will expand a bit more than from a 357 magnum cylinder, the 50 I shot in my buddies 929 didn't cause any issues in my 627's when I reloaded them.  It might be an issue if done a lot though.