Whipped Cream Difficulties

For reasons I can’t fully explain, I’ve wanted a revolver chambered in .45 ACP.

When I went to my first S&WCA convention in Sturbridge, I was able to shoot one at the Smith and Wesson Shooting Sports Center. The gun I rented was a Model 625 JM. (The “JM” is for “Jerry Miculek”, who shoots for the Smith and Wesson factory team. The 625 is the gun he used to fire 12 shots in under three seconds, including a reload.) Model 625 revolvers show up used fairly frequently, and I’ve been tempted by them. But either I’ve not had the ready cash, or haven’t quite been able to overcome my bias against shiny guns. (Also, many of the used ones I’ve seen have these kind of pastel grips, for want of a better description, and those also turn me off.)

I think my affection for the .45 ACP revolver has something to do with being drawn to the oddball and unusual. With most revolver cartridges – your .38 Special, .357 Magnum, .44 Special/Magnum, etc. – the cartridge has a rim around the bottom. When you go to unload your revolver, there’s a little metal piece (“extractor star”) that catches the rim and pushes the cartridge out of the cylinder. With most automatic pistol cartridges – 9mm, .40 S&W, .45 ACP – the cartridge doesn’t have a rim, so there’s nothing for that bit to catch on, and the cartridge remains stuck in the chamber until you push it out with something like a pencil or cleaning rod.

This wasn’t a big deal until World War I. The military couldn’t get 1911 automatic pistols fast enough to supply everyone who needed a sidearm. Their other choice was to issue revolvers, but they didn’t want to deal with the logistics of having both an automatic pistol and a revolver caliber. They wanted revolvers that could easily use the same .45 ACP cartridge that the 1911 used. One of S&W’s engineers invented something called the “moon clip”, which comes in “half” and “full” moon variants. Cartridges snap into cutouts in the clip (a half-moon clip has three cutouts, a full moon clip has six), and then the clip is loaded into the gun. When you go to unload, the extractor star catches the moon clip and pushes it, and the fired cases, out of the gun. Moon clips are basically a primitive form of speedloader. Not that it matters that much in a defensive gun, but they are also a lot cheaper than a speedloader. (Amazon will sell you an eight pack of full moon clips for $8.95 with prime shipping. A single Safariland speedloader will run you about $11 to $16.) And there’s very little that can go wrong with a moon clip; it’s just a piece of stamped metal with no moving parts.

(Side note: you can also get revolvers and moon clips in 9mm and .40 S&W. There’s also been a trend towards moon clips in some of S&W’s .357 Magnum revolvers.)

Here’s a video from YouTube that explains how moon clips work. And no, I’m not just dropping this here for my own reference.

(more…)

Tam posted hers, so I figured I’d respond by posting mine. Though mine’s not quite as pretty, and she’s a better photographer.

My records show I bought this on my birthday in 2006. (I know I was working at The Other Place when I did buy it. I also know Tam was still working at Coal Creek Armory, because I emailed them looking for Safariland .41 Magnum speedloaders, and she responded.)

It was picked up used at McBrides for $417 (including tax). I figured it would make a nice home defense gun; if you can’t stop a rampaging home with six rounds of .41 Magnum, you should at least be able to fight your way to your elephant gun and put a couple of rounds of .460 Weatherby through the bay windows.

(Yes, I will be here all week. Try the veal, and remember to tip your waitress.)

Anyway, I got the gun home, picked up a box of remanufactured .41 Mag at the next gun show, and took it to the range. Can’t have a home defense gun you haven’t shot, can you?

I set up at the bay, took aim, and…

(click)
(click)
(click click click)
(click click click click click click)
(click)

Capstick mode.[1] Sigh. My friend Karl recommended a good gunsmith, and $125 later, I had a gun that would go “Bang!” instead of “Click!”. As I recall, the cylinder timing was a bit off, and my smith said the previous owner had apparently trimmed a spring to make the trigger pull lighter. It probably would have gone “Bang!” with factory .41 Mag ammo, but the remanufactured stuff had harder primers…

Even at $500+ all in, I’m still pretty fond of this gun. If I had to hike in bear country, this would be the sidearm I’d take. It doesn’t have a lot of collector value, thanks to the refinish (the barrel was also cut down from 6″). But, though I can’t prove it, it has the same feeling my pre-Model 10 does: that this was a gun carried and used daily by someone who relied on it, knew exactly what he wanted and why (like Earl Swagger), and made the changes he wanted without worrying about future collectors.

[1] “The most terrifying sound in the world is not the scream of a descending bomb nor the roar of a charging lion, but rather a click when you expected to hear a bang.” –Peter Hathaway Capstick