Clip Vs. Magazine: Don’t Waste Your Breath

A stripper clip and a magazine for 7.62×39. To get this out of the way let’s explain what separates a firearm magazine from a clip in the simplest possible terms:A clip is literally a clip that holds multiple ammunition cartridges together. There are several types of clips, but they are all used to load ammunition into a revolver cylinder or magazine. A 7.62×39 SKS 10 round stripper clip versus an 5-round Mosin Nagant Stripper clip. A magazine is a mechanism which not only stores ammunition, but also feeds it to the firearm. It usually uses a spring. Some magazines are permanently attached to the gun, while others can be removed and inserted. A Mosin Nagant with a fixed box magazine is loaded using a stripper clip versus a Mosin Nagant that has a detachable 10-round box magazine. The word was originally used to describe ammunition storage areas in artillery, but it has since been adopted for small arms. As previously mentioned, one of the most important characteristics of a magazine’s ability to feed cartridges is its ability for it to feed them into a gun’s firing mechanism. The magazine works by using a metal or polymer follower to push the cartridges through the gun. A disassembled AK Magazine. The follower is attached to the top spring on the right side of the picture. There are three different types clips. Stripper clips are used to hold cartridges and then load them into magazines by pressing down on the ammunition. The clip can be thrown away once all the rounds have been loaded in the magazine. Stripper clips are used to hold the cartridges together until the magazine is stripped. En bloc clips, however, retain their usefulness a little longer. En bloc clips are inserted in the magazine along with the ammunition they hold. The M1 Garand is undoubtedly the most iconic example. An M1 Garand loaded with its eight-round en bloc clips. Moon clip revolvers don’t exist in large numbers, but those that do are equipped with cylinders that are specially shaped to hold the clip when closed. The clips are inserted into the cylinder and hold the ammunition. They can be full moon clips or half moon clips. Two.45 ACP revolver Moon clips. By the mid-19th Century, integral box magazines had replaced tubular magazines. This invention was made to allow the new pointed bullets (spitzers) to be used without the primers exploding each other (as they did in tube magazines). A drawing from 1905 shows various early internal magazine designs for military firearms. Even early rifles with detachable boxes mags, like the Lee-Enfield were designed to be reloaded using a stripper clip. In the first half 20th century, detachable magazine box was mainly used by military semi-autos, submachineguns and machine guns. There were detachable magazine rifles on the market, like the Winchester Model 1907. But they were not as popular. Wheelguns were far more popular than semi-autos, such as the Browning Hi Powers or 1911s. How does this affect the words people use? This became part of the common lexicon. During this time, “magazines” were more commonly used to refer to the integral tube magazines on lever-action rifles or pump-action shotsguns, and not the detachable boxes magazines of an M1 Carbine. This phenomenon was further reinforced when it was used in more official, less colloquial media, such as this Colt ad from 1969. What do you think Joe Schmo would call magazines if even Colt calls them clips? A Colt advertisement from the year 1969 refers to AR-15 magazines by the term clips. Photo: Colt Forum user “khe san”. The trend has continued to this day, and many people still call their magazines clips. It’s not hard to understand why, given the historical context. For the layperson, the difference between clips and magazines is not important. The same thing is done by a stripper clip on an SKS, and a PMAG on an AR-15. For a large part of the early 20th Century, clip-based firearms were more common than detachable magazines. This ensured that the word “clip” was used in everyday language long after detachable mags became the norm. To avoid being misunderstood, one must be very precise with their diction. Accuracy is important in many areas, not just marksmanship. It’s also true, however, that correcting people about “magazine vs. clip” is at best pedantic. It can be worse than useless. It’s not worth preaching to the choir. Other “gun people” already know the difference. The people who don’t know probably don’t give a damn, and they don’t even care if you do. So getting caught up in semantics is not going to win you any friends. This trope, which can be found on gun websites and social media platforms, seems to be dying. It’s less common to hear or read that “It’s just a magazine and not a clip!” It’s worth noting that there are very few firearms in production that use clips, and they are almost all revolvers. As a result, the word clip is no longer commonly used, at least not according to its definition. You can invite them to the range, load some “clips” into your AR and just have a good time. Why not invite them to the range and load some “clips”, into your AR, and have a great time? More on Mags and Clips:NEXT STEP: Download Your Free Storm Tactical Printable Target Pack62 Printable MOA targets with DOT drills – Rifle Range YARDSThis impressive pack from our friends at Storm Tactical includes62 printable targets for rifle and handgun ranges. The target grids and bullseyes are measured in MOA. Subscribe to the Gun Digest newsletter and we will send you your print-at home target pack immediately. Enter your email below.