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I have an LCR 9mm and a small handful of the moon clips. The gun shoots OK, not too much felt recoil, but I discovered a problem with the concept of using autoloader ammuniton in a revolver. At least in a light revolver like my LCR9. Using ammo without a very good crimp can (and probably will) result in "bullet creep" or even "crimp jump". Simply put, every cartridge loaded in a revolver is located nearly in-line with the recoil force from every round that is fired. Without a good crimp, the relatively massive projectile of unfired rounds will tend to remain in place while the lighter casings (captive in the cylinder) move sharply rearward. Each shot fired adds a little"bullet creep" to the cartridges that remain in the cylinder.
What follows is the short version of an extreme "crimp jump" incident that I described here over a year ago.
I was on the range for LEOSA requalification. I started with a full load (5 rounds) of Blazer Brass and fired a 4 round drill, after which the fifth round's projectile simply fell out the front of the cylinder. A fluke, we thought. I reloaded and fired a 3 round drill, after which the two remaining projectiles dropped to the ground at my feet. The RSO halted the qualification at that point. We pondered a minute or so before the RSO insightfully blamed the ammo. Loaded with a different (better) brand of ammunition, I was allowed to continue the qualification course without another "crimp jump" incident.
Later experimentation revealed that even that "better" brand of ammunition suffered some "bullet creep" with each round fired. Not only that, each successive shot from a full load consistently hits slightly higher than the preceding shot. That rising string of hits may be related to "bullet creep", or maybe not. Needless to say, my Ruger LCR9 is not my go-to for EDC.
I have an LCR 9mm and a small handful of the moon clips. The gun shoots OK, not too much felt recoil, but I discovered a problem with the concept of using autoloader ammuniton in a revolver. At least in a light revolver like my LCR9. Using ammo without a very good crimp can (and probably will) result in "bullet creep" or even "crimp jump". Simply put, every cartridge loaded in a revolver is located nearly in-line with the recoil force from every round that is fired. Without a good crimp, the relatively massive projectile of unfired rounds will tend to remain in place while the lighter casings (captive in the cylinder) move sharply rearward. Each shot fired adds a little"bullet creep" to the cartridges that remain in the cylinder.
What follows is the short version of an extreme "crimp jump" incident that I described here over a year ago.
I was on the range for LEOSA requalification. I started with a full load (5 rounds) of Blazer Brass and fired a 4 round drill, after which the fifth round's projectile simply fell out the front of the cylinder. A fluke, we thought. I reloaded and fired a 3 round drill, after which the two remaining projectiles dropped to the ground at my feet. The RSO halted the qualification at that point. We pondered a minute or so before the RSO insightfully blamed the ammo. Loaded with a different (better) brand of ammunition, I was allowed to continue the qualification course without another "crimp jump" incident.
Later experimentation revealed that even that "better" brand of ammunition suffered some "bullet creep" with each round fired. Not only that, each successive shot from a full load consistently hits slightly higher than the preceding shot. That rising string of hits may be related to "bullet creep", or maybe not. Needless to say, my Ruger LCR9 is not my go-to for EDC.
I have heard of creep in magnum revolvers before, that is certainly a sketchy proposition. As a reloader myself I can mitigate this somewhat as I have control over that process...for others this is indeed unfortunate
No problems with my 9mm Ruger LCR. As it's a lightweight snubby, my wife and I have only shot quality self defense ammo through it. As a reloader ,I can tell Blazer is a notch above Wolf range ammo - junk! Found multiple problems with long loaded and out-of-spec rounds. Upside down primers twice.
As to pistol caliber revolvers, have them in 9mm, 10mm/40SW and 45 acp. Moon clips is just another reload to master.
This one is my favorite to shoot:
View attachment 805753
While I can see moon clips being an annoyance at the range when you want to burn through a box, it seems to me like a handy way to throw a reload in your pocket when you head out. No speed loaders or loose ammo.