45 GAP moonclips

[Carmoney]

Winchester brass was a rigid fit in the moonclips of my 8 shot Super and the result was disastrous.

It's true that a rigid fit in regular moonclips is not a good thing--that's because plain stamped moonclips aren't correctly or consistently dimensioned for the 8-shot revolvers. For any of the 8-shooters, if you're serious at all, you need the Hearthco clips. They are machined to perfect dimension, and work great when the rounds fit fairly rigidly.

I agree with Dave that .45 ACP tends to be forgiving. Although I own a bunch of Hearthco clips in .45 ACP, I get excellent results from my collection of mixed clips and a bucket of assorted brass I've accumulated over the years, without all the futzing around with mooning tools, etc.

[hearthco]

Is it really good that the rounds be held rigid in the moonclip? Winchester brass was a rigid fit in the moonclips of my 8 shot Super and the result was disastrous.

Dave Sinko

I was curious about the problem Dave had with 38 super Win brass. I have 2 customers in ICORE who rave about the fit of Win brass in my clips. So, I checked some factory Win 38 super wi nickel cases in my 627 Super with my solid clips (no split). They fit and functioned great. I was able to unload the clips with out much effort.

Even tho I designed my clips for use with R-P and Fed brass,(it is what the majority of ICORE shooters use) ACP brass tends to be more consistant because the xtractor groove has a specification while rimmed cartridges only require a corner relief.

Hope them problem clips were not mine. Dave

[bigsaxdog]

one of the best things about the GAP cartridge is that the case capacity is much more copacetic to the 165pf than the ACP. less powder = less recoil, especially in a revolver where the whole mass of the gas column impinges directly on the breech face/frame, not having the reciprocating mass of a slide. if the $$$ for the brass and the inherent feeding problem wasn't such an issue, a .45 GAP single stack would be something......

[David Sinko]

The moonclips I used were TK Custom and the factory supplied slotted version. Actually, the biggest part of the problem was Winchester 231 powder which seemed to cause most of the misery. I soon learned that Winchester and Remington brass caused problems with both styles of moonclips. If I used 231 with those, extraction was very hard (they usually had to be removed forcibly) and the next moonclip would not properly seat in the cylinder. A simple switch to Clays produced satisfactory results, at least for stand-and-shoot, but I never did trust that brass to ICORE matches.

The Holy Grail with that gun was Starline brass, Clays and any jacketed bullet. It could easily go 1000 rounds without needing to scrub the chambers and it was absolutely reliable. With that combination it really didn't matter whose moonclips were used. That little bit of wobble made all the difference and I always felt I could reload that gun as quickly as I could my 625. I recently traded away the Super, since it was useless without moonclips and would not shoot any cast bullets worth a damn. I always felt it was the perfect ICORE gun when used within its limitations, but I grew to dislike those limitations.

Dave Sinko