"Clip" vs. Magazine CLARITY....

[NM234]

All I wanted to say was, being somewhat of a newbie (have done safety research and gun model researc, don't own any yet, and only fired a few times), as I said before I was calling the magazine on a glock (for example) a clip and am now happy to know the correct terminology. I never gave thought to the spring enclosed and thought it was a clip.

Had I used the term I would have hoped to be politely corrected, I like to learn things instead of remaining ignorant.

Thank you for starting this thread, I learned something new.

 

[CajunBass]

Yea. I know what you mean. The first thing I thought about when I heard about the VT shooting, was "Gee, I sure hope they don't call the magazine a clip."

 

[CountGlockula]

Affirmative. It may seem a big deal to some and also, not a huge deal to others...but knowledge is power right?

 

[Joe Demko]

but knowledge is power right?

It can be, but isn't necessarily always. Is an in-depth knowledge of Hummel figurines a source of power? What about being able to quote Monty Python at length from memory? Does knowing all the secrets and cheats for the Final Fantasy videogames empower you? How many of these will cause hot chicks to throw themselves at you? Will insistently differentiating between clips and magazines cause that to happen?

 

[whistler]

ok I just loaded the magazine well of my 1911 with a clip

 

[Tinmancr]

define

the definition of clip is incomplete and can be understood as a synonym of removable or box magazine however the manufacturers call them mags so ok.
but what about the difference between cartridges, shells, bullets and rounds.
I have heard a random redneck to a master gunsmith use them as synonyms, and the manufacturers listen to him by the by on any problems with new guns "the gunsmith"
thank god for freedom of speech.. and typing

 

[No_Brakes23]

"however the manufacturers call them mags so ok."

Remington and Marlin call them clips.

 

[1911Tuner]

Clipped

Lordy...This one can be a hot topic button for some.

Technically, if it has a spring that moves ammunition into the feeding position, it's a magazine. If it holds ammunition together and is discarded after the ammunition is manually fed into the weapon's magazine...it's a clip.

Now for the "Devil's Advocate" part...

Why is it such an issue for some? Is it worth all the energy and time...and often confrontation...just to make a point? When someone says: "I've got a few 7-round clips for it" we all know what he means. If a member of the 101st Airborne relates that he jumped into Normandy on D-Day armed with a
Thompson and as many clips as he could carry...Do we chide him for his mistake...do we dishonor his bravery and his service by literally calling him an idiot for failing to use the correct terms...or do we let it go and listen to his story? When a veteran of "Frozen Chosin" tells us that he fought an M2 Carbine and "30-shot Bananna Clips" do we likewise listen with reverence...or do we launch into a mini-tirade over terminology in order to educate him? For that matter...can you say "Bananna Magazine" 5 times in a row and keep a straight face?

I spoke with a veteran of Iwo Jima a few years back. He was part of an honor guard at a funeral. He said bullet instead of cartridge and round...and clip instead of magazine more than once. Guess I was too much in awe of the Navy Cross on his Class A's to interrupt him.

 

[ProficientRifleman]

Tinmancr

the definition of clip is incomplete and can be understood as a synonym of removable or box magazine however the manufacturers call them mags so ok.

You are incorrect, Sir.

A clip is a binder, as in paper clip, or a cartridge stripper clip. Or even an en-block clip as feeds the Garand rifle.

A magazine is a container. It fully encloses the loaded cartridges. Examples are, the BAR magazine, the M14 magazine, the 1911 magazine and the Glock-17 magazine. If the terms were synonymous, a bunker on an ASP might be called a "clip", instead, it is called a magazine.

 

[jeff-10]

Who cares...

+1

I know lots of people who are regular shooters and even some who carry a firearm for a living that call magazines clips. Some people call cartridges bullets or shells. Those are legitimate names and people understand what you are talkinge about when using them. Deal with it.

 

[Eleven Mike]

Magazine and clip are more akin to pronouns, like "guy" or "dude". There are Glock Magazines, Springfield Clips, and so forth.

I just wanted to highlight this great bit of scholarship. It seems that, to those who think a mag can be called a clip, nouns (guy and dude) are actually pronouns. Noun? Pronoun? Who cares, what's the difference?


Toss me a magazine for my K98.

 

[Joe Demko]

Unless it is missing some parts, your k98 should already have an internal magazine, sometimes referred to as a "blind" magazine. During WWI, a few 20 round "assault" magazines were manufactured for the Mauser, but they weren't widely used. You can find modern reproductions for sale in Shotgun News.

 

[Jim Watson]

Sorry, Joe, a K98 does not have a blind magazine, it has a detachable floorplate. A blind magazine is one with no bottom opening in the magazine well or stock at all. Like a Remington 700 ADL and some of the cheap plastic Savages.

 

[Joe Demko]

My bad. You're right about the Mauser. It does have an internal magazine, though. With the somewhat rare "assault" magazine, it has an external (non-removable?) magazine.

 

[Eleven Mike]

Yes, Joe, my Mauser also has a fixed magazine. But since it doesn't matter, I will now refer to the clips as magazines. Now, can you toss me one of those stripper magazines? I need to reload.

 

[obxned]

Yes, a magazine is not a 'clip', but I bet you regularly use slang in your everyday conversations.

 

[steveracer]

This is positively maddening!

YOU KNOW THE DIFFERENCE!!
Many of you are making an argument supporting and defending ignorance. When an anti calls your AR-15 an "assault weapon" you correct them. When they call your Mini-14 a "machine gun", you come back with how stupid they are, but you are continuously advocating the deliberate use of term YOU KNOW TO BE INCORRECT.
You, me, all of us, we know better, and we have an obligation to the new guys to teach them the difference. No, don't be rude, but there's no excuse for getting it wrong when you know better.
This may not seem like a big deal, but every time we call a magazine a "clip" we are contributing to the ignorance of firearms, which as gun enthusiasts should be our mission to stamp out.
Get it right, people, it really does matter.
Steve

 

[GLOOB]

For everyone who thinks the terms are interchangeable, try reading this without cringing:

"Well, first ya got yer M16. You stick the clip in the bottom. Then ya got yer M1 Garand, where you stick the magazine in from the top. For a Colt .45 SA revolver, ya got these nifty little "moon" magazines that you drop into the cylinder. For your Browning machine gun, you got this nifty box clip that holds 200 belted rounds. For your pump action shotgun, you load dem bullets into the clip through this here hole."

This isn't the same thing as "Kleenex" vs "tissue." Using "clip" and "magazine" interchangeably is roughly equivalent to wiping your ass with Kleenex and blowing your nose with Charmin.

 

[230RN]

Sometimes in the little snapshots of eternity we call our lifespans, we forget that many went before us who used different terms for the same things.

Language evolves, changes, grows, shrinks.

And it's the same thing with gonne terminology.

What disturbs me about this clip v magazine "debate" is the passion involved.

Fifty years and more ago, clip was right, or at least not wrong. Bullet was right or at least not wrong. And they still appear on some manufacturers' and suppliers' websites and literature.

It's changing, viz the remarks about the decorated veterans, whose clips for their 1911s served well in holding seven bullets. When they served, clip and bullet were OK. They're not intrinsically wrong, just dated.

I used to use clip all the time. Now, more to avoid controversy than anything else, I am more scrupulous about differentiating clip from magazine and using bullet for cartridge.

And I no longer use "riffling" for the little spiral riffles that are cut into the bore of a gonne.



Free Example (Exempli Gratia, E.g.):

Riffle

Rif"fle\, n. [CF. G. riffeln, riefeln, to groove. Cf. Rifle a gun.] (Mining) A trough or sluice having cleats, grooves, or steps across the bottom for holding quicksilver and catching particles of gold when auriferous earth is washed; also, one of the cleats, grooves, or steps in such a trough. Also called ripple.


Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc

 

[Golden Hound]

Just to throw some gasoline on the fire...

...CHAAAARRRGGGERRRRSSSSS!

 

[yeti]

For a Colt .45 SA revolver, ya got these nifty little "moon" magazines that you drop into the cylinder.

I could never get those dang things through the loading gate.


Now what is the difference between shrapnel and bomb splinters?

 

[Griz44]

Personally, I would rather see a rant or indignation over something that mattered, like the erosion of our gun rights or CCW issues. I have been around a lot of years, and the "trendy" things seem to be to make a big deal of un-important things. I grew up in a military household in the 50's. Clip worked just fine then. My Uncle was UDT (yea, way before "Seals") and he loaded his pistol with "clips" Grandpa, died in '86 at 101, and he hunted with an autoloader rifle that he too loaded with "clips". I think his WW I AND WW II service entitled him to call it anything he wanted to call it. Four pages of rants about "clip" and "mag". Geez, go watch the Oprah and find something more important to carry on about.

 

[moxie]

I've known guys who carried and used 1911s in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam who called their magazines clips. You tell them they are wrong. Not I.

 

[moxie]

I've known guys who carried and used 1911s in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam who called their magazines clips. You tell them they are wrong. Not I.

And yes, 5.56 stripper clips do have a spring in them.

 

[GLOOB]

Damn right. They earned the right to wipe their ass with all the facial tissue they want.