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​What is the difference between a clip and a magazine?

Jul 16th 2020

​What is the difference between a clip and a magazine?

Throughout the age of firearms, there have been many different reloading methods. From the primitive function of the tedious flintlock loading system to the magazine and belt fed designs, loading guns has become a rather easy concept to understand. However, like all things that have lasted, they are not immune from their share of myths and misconceptions. One such misconception is of the distinction between a clip and a magazine.

Why the myth exists.

Well it stands true that the youth owns the future. However, the youth is heavily influenced by the things it is entertained by. Video Games like Call of Duty and other FPS shooters are oftentimes, children’s first experience with firearms. And the knowledge they gain from those games is what influences how they know them in the real world.

With in-game phrases like “changing clip,” and “changing mag,” it is no wonder that these two are thought of as being the same thing, when in fact they are very different from each other in terms of functionality.

What is a Magazine?

A magazine is a device that is able to hold multiple rounds and serves the purpose of allowing those rounds to be chambered one after another. There are many different ways to load magazines, whether without auto-loaders or simply by placing each round in the magazine.

Magazines can either be internal or external. The most common variety of Magazine today are external, meaning they are not made inside the firearm. Instead you can purchase them separately and insert them into the magwell.

What is a clip?

A clip, AKA stripper clip, is an ammo feeding device that carries different quantities of bullets to be quickly loaded into a magazine. This is seen in most older bolt action rifles which are equipped with internal magazines. The Springfield 1903, Mosin Nagant, and Kar98, are all guns which are able to be operated with stripper clips. However, clips are not necessary for putting bullets into an internal magazine. You can place rounds into a magazine one by one if need be.

There you have it. The main purpose of the stripper clip is to allow more rounds into a magazine at a time, decreasing the rate that someone would need to reload and increasing the rate of otherwise slower firearms. Stripper clips are used in conjunction with magazines to speed up reload time.