S&W 625 .45 ACP revolver
 

I just inherited the above. Do they still make .45 auto with lips, or should I just use moon clips? Thanks for any info you can give me on the gun. It is a model 1988.:)

OOPS, it is a model 625 / 1988

Moon clips are the easiest. You can also get .45 ACP rimmed ammo, but $$$$$$. You will need a tool to remove fired cases from the moon clips. Check on Midway USA, the screw driver style works best.

:D:D:D:D The word is RIMS.

Sorry, but the mental image of .45 Auto lips sort of cracked me up.

But yes, Auto rim brass is still to be found, don't know about loaded ammo.

Bob Wright

Cor-bon, Doubletap and Buffalo Bore still make 45 Autorim ammo.

Starline and Remington make brass.

.45 AutoRims are available from a variety of sources. We load and sell them, I see that at gun shows often. I also use them at the range when I don't want to deal with moon clips.

For that matter, one can shoot normal .45 ACP ammunition without problem. Then use a short screwdriver or cleaning rod to push out the fired cases. Your revolver does not need either rimmed rounds or clips to keep the ammunition from falling through the chambers.

As I have said in posts elsewhere, a No.2 yellow pencil works very well. Also the red Coca Cola pencils work, too.

Bob Wright

I have my Dillon 550 setup so I can load .45 ACP or .45 AR by just switching out the shell plate. I prefer to use .45 AR in the revos because I have found moon clips, both full and half, to be a bit of a pain in the a$$. I have even modified the .45 ACP cylinder for my .45 Colt NMBH to use .45 AR as well.

Excuse my naivete, but why bother with any of this? I've never understood a 45acp revolver to begin with. It seems like a made-up gun for a gunsmith long ago who had a free month on his hands and thought, "I wonder if...well, what the heck, I'll give that a try."

I'm meaning to throw a bomb, just an honest query.

That may be, but it dates to WWI when the lack of production capacity for the then new Model 1911 couldn't provide the Army with sufficient quantities of handguns. Both Colt and S&W didn’t have any trouble doing modifications to large frame revos to chamber them for the .45 ACP. A guy at S&W invented the half moon clip for rapid reload/extraction. After the war in the early 20’s the .45 Auto Rim was invented to eliminate the need for the clips. Later revo shooters favored them for bullseye competition. More recently pin shooters liked them. Now they are used for IPSC and IPDA combat shooting.