Anybody have good luck with the factory blue steel moon clips that come with a new S&W? I have a 442Pro and a PC642 that both came with the blue TK clips but they aren’t flat at all. I purchased some SS TK clips for my Speer/Hornady carry ammo and they are perfectly flat. I contacted Smith and they are sending out another set but I’m figuring they aren’t going to be much better. In the end I’ll probably purchase another set of the SS ones but I was wondering if anyone had and easy way of flattening these out?
Moon Clips are/were Spring Steel. Probably won’t have any luck trying to “straighten” them.
Wilson sells them so they’re likely GTG but pricey.
Numrich usually has reproductions.
In that case I’d think some judicious tweaking with a couple pair of Pilar’s (ideally smooth jaw) would suffice to get them close to flat. But if they’re not Spring Steel they’ll just bend again.
Personally I’d invest in something that has a chance of holding up, like Wilson’s.
Understand that the J-frame clips do not have a lot of material connecting the cartridges together, which makes them a bit delicate even though they are constructed from spring steel.
If you aren’t using a tool to make sure tight fitting cartridges are withdrawn radially out of a packed clip, there is a real risk of the clip becoming distorted.
Yeah I have the golf club de-mooner. These were all new and never used. I did pound them out with a plastic mallet against a old piece of granite countertop and that seemed to take some of the twist out of them. I’m only going to use the blue ones for range practice and keep the good TK stainless ones (that look far more durable) for the rounds in the gun. I carry a speed strip or speed loader for the reload, just like the moon clipped ammo in the gun for the extraction. I’ll look into Wilson, I didn’t know they made any for the J-frame. Most everyone is either .45 ACP or 8 Shot PC guns.