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Are plastic moon clips a thing?

Or other lesser expensive options?

Curious if there is a market for such a thing?

All the ones I've seen are quite expensive for what they are.

I've seen some as high as $5 a piece. They were stainless wire EDM cut, but dang!

I'd think these should be fairly economical.

I figure the right hardness and flexible plastic at the correct thickness could be stamped out for cheap?

Any information on this type of stuff would be greatly appreciated.

I've been making a move to invest in more revolvers, and a 9mm is high on the list. Moon clips are almost a requirement for something like that, I just can't see buying all of 20 moon clips for $100 type thing.
 
They do make plastic moon clips, can't think of the brand off hand, but they're okay by all reports. Not as durable as steel, and there are some other downsides. They're also not that cheap, as I recall. They're biggest claim to fame is the ability to load and unload them without any tool needed, something that can be a challenge with steel clips, unless you have the right tool.

In the short time I had my S&W 625, I went with steel clips from Revolver Supply, I think they came in at about $0.50/ea. for 100, shipped. Of course, that was pre-Covid and .45 ACP. If you do go that route, do yourself a favor and buy a BMT Mooner tool. Yeah, it's expensive, but it makes loading and unloading moon clips almost fun, instead of a miserable chore. Later.

Dave
 
They do make them. Ez Moon Clips is the one I have experience with.

Pros: Inexpensive, easy to load, easy to unload, and available in many revolvers.
Cons: I've experienced an occasional light primer strike with these. Not a ton, but enough I noticed. Possibly the polymer results in just enough "give" that sometimes that can happen.
Bottom line: If I ever had a revolver setup as such, no concerns using it to plink away. I would only carry with steel clips though.

Hope that helps.
 
Those EZ clips are sort of what I was thinking about. Those look like they are injected molded.

I really was curious if there was any sort of plastic sheeting. Like that clear stuff that you sometimes get packages in, but thicker and more purpose picked plastic. Maybe a polycarbonate. Even thinner aluminum or something. I guess I'm just surprised at the simplicity of a moon clip and the costs.

If nothing like that exists, I may have to get some metal ones and use them as a template to experiment with different plastic sheets.
 
Are plastic moon clips a thing?

Or other lesser expensive options?

Curious if there is a market for such a thing?

All the ones I've seen are quite expensive for what they are.

I've seen some as high as $5 a piece. They were stainless wire EDM cut, but dang!

I'd think these should be fairly economical.

I figure the right hardness and flexible plastic at the correct thickness could be stamped out for cheap?

Any information on this type of stuff would be greatly appreciated.

I've been making a move to invest in more revolvers, and a 9mm is high on the list. Moon clips are almost a requirement for something like that, I just can't see buying all of 20 moon clips for $100 type thing.
The ones ( TK custom)sized for different brass manufacturers seem like they're worth the massive extra expense.
Other than that I would say that spending money on quality magazines is part of the game. A moon clip is simply a magazine for revolver.

Hopefully ProMag doesn't offer a moon clip line.
 
Last Edited:
Are plastic moon clips a thing?

Or other lesser expensive options?

Curious if there is a market for such a thing?

All the ones I've seen are quite expensive for what they are.

I've seen some as high as $5 a piece. They were stainless wire EDM cut, but dang!

I'd think these should be fairly economical.

I figure the right hardness and flexible plastic at the correct thickness could be stamped out for cheap?

Any information on this type of stuff would be greatly appreciated.

I've been making a move to invest in more revolvers, and a 9mm is high on the list. Moon clips are almost a requirement for something like that, I just can't see buying all of 20 moon clips for $100 type thing.
Look up Rimz EZ Moon Clips.
They are the best plastic moon clip on the market.
Best,
Gary
 
Plastic moon clips ARE a thing, and a very good thing at that. I use RIMZ polymer moon clips in competition with my S&W 929. I have a baker's dozen moon clip guns, with the majority being chambered for .45 ACP. When you get outside of that realm, it's a whole new ball game as far as cartridge to clip fit, segregating brass once a suitable combination has been found as well as having the proper tools to load and unload the clips.

I'll confine my remarks to rimless cartridges - moon clips for rimmed cartridges are, yet again, a different ball game. For rimless cartridges metal moon clips hold the cartridge by the extractor groove only. While there are SAAMI specs for extractor grooves, even the smallest dimensional variation from one brand of brass to another, can, and will, affect clip to cartridge fit. While some wiggle is desirable, and actually facilitates loading with .45 ACP cartridges, when an using an 8-round revolver it is important that the cartridges be held as rigidly as possible - remember, you are trying to insert it into eight tiny wholes with the least amount of fuss & bother. That is why it is critical to find a clip, head-stamp combo that accomplishes that rigid fit.

Enter RIMZ moon clips. RIMZ moon clips not only hold the cartridge by the extractor groove, but because of the thickness of the clip, also offer support by surrounding head of the cartridge. There is an actual rebate in the clip so it is being held by the groove and the head of the cartridge, which makes for a very rigid assembly. While there may be small variations in extractor groove dimensions, it is considerably less when it comes to cartridge head dimensions, therefore, no "fussiness" as far as what head-stamp brass works best with these clips.

Here is a picture of a RIMZ clip - you can see the rebate that allows the cartridge head to be supported in addition to using the extractor groove...

moon-clip-RIMZ-2021-03-28-15-09-59-UTC.jpg

This does mean that there is a "right side up" - the side without the rebates goes against the rear of the cylinder.

I use these for ICORE and USPSA competition and have never had a failure to fire or a failure to retain the cartridges during the loading process. While they are not inexpensive, they are far cheaper than the EDM cut metal moon clips that can run $6 - $8 each. Even the stamped moon clips for the 8-shot revolvers are not cheap and the RIMZ are competitively priced with them. Of course, it is a shock to the system when comparing them to ,45 ACP metal moon clips - the last batch I bought (100) - which admittedly was some time ago - cost me $.35/each. RIMZ also has the advantage of not requiring any special tools to load or unload the clips - press them in with your fingers, use a pencil or dowel inside the empty case to pull them out of the clip.

Adios,

Pizza Bob
 

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