Clip or magazine?

Question

I've never got the hang of this...

So a clip is a device for storing rounds ready to be inserted into a gun.
A magazine is the part the clip is put into.

So the way I understood it was that, say for a 9mm pistol, the clip was the detatchable part with the bullets in, and the magazine the 'handle' into which the clip was put.

But Wikipedia implies the detachable part is the magazine, so then what is a clip?!?

I'm from the UK so don't see many guns. Someone explain the difference (with examples) to me please in easy to understand words.

Sorry, but they are different things, not just two names for the same thing.

Go tell the NRA they are the same thing :)

Answer 1

same thing

Answer 2

Yes, a clip holds rounds in storage. Normally, the clip would be "stripped" (hence stripper clip) into the magazine. In the case of an automatic pistol, or modern assault rifle, the magazine is detachable, meaning you can remove it from the firearm. In the case of older weapons such as the Mauser 98, M1903 Springfield, Lee-Enfield and the M1 Garand service rifles, these all had 'integral' (built-in) magazines. The bolt action rifles would have a clip that was folded around the base of the cartrige, and this clip would be placed at the base of the breech (with the bolt to the rear) Then you would place your thumb on the top round and push down, quickly inserting all five rounds. Throw the clip away, shove the bolt home, and you are ready to fire. With the M1 Garand (which is credited as having a true clip), the clip held 8 rounds, offset to creat two rows of four. The whole thing was pushed into the magazine of the weapon (again, an integral magazine) and the bolt released. As you fire the weapon, the spring in the magazine pushes the next round up, preparing it to load. As the last round is fired, when the bolt moves to the rear, the spring would hit the clip and eject it from the rifle, clearing the way for a new clip.

In the case of, say, an M-16, the rounds would still be on a five round clip, but these would be placed at the top of a spring loaded box magazine. Again, push down on the top round, and you quickly load five into the magazine. Insert the magazine into the magazine well and rack the bolt to load a round.

In your example of a 9mm pistol. The part that comes out of the handle is the magazine, not the handle itself. The handle acts as both a grip and a magazine well.

Many people believe that clip and magazine are interchangeable, but this is incorrect.

Answer 3

The easiest illustration of this would be the M-1 Garand rifle or the Broomhandle Mauser pistol of WWII.

Ammunition came in metal clips that secured the rounds at the head. A clip loaded with rounds was placed into the open receiver on the top of the weapon and the rounds were pushed down, out of the clip, into the magazine, which was built into the weapon.

In a modern semi-automatic pistol, the detachable part that comes out of the grip of the gun is sometimes called a clip but is actually a magazine. In modern rifles, same thing. A magazine could be the detachable box in the bottom of the receiver or a tube mounted under the barrel or embeded in the stock.

There have been other examples such as the WWII Colt revolver that was chambered for the same round as the Colt .45 automatic. There's no rim on the head of the round so it could not be extracted from the cylinder unless the rounds were held together by clips. In this case they used a half-moon shaped clip that would hold 3 rounds and to fully load a revolver, you used two clips.

Hope this helps.

Answer 4

Ok, we seem to have a lot of confusion here.

The answer may well depend on where you are from, but as this is UK/yahoo I'll answer from a UK military perspective.

A Magazine is a container for a number of rounds, it is either permanently fitted to a weapon or may be removeable. ( Most modern weapons it's removeable).

A clip is a metal slide which generally holds 5 rounds of ammunition, ready for feeding into a magazine.

The most recent time I used a clip was to reload magazines for the SA80 Rifle, a guide is fitted to the top of the magazine, a clip of 5 rounds inserted and then by simply pressing down all 5 rounds are loaded into the magazine, this is repeated until the magazine is full.

I've never known of a clip for pistols, I think the rounds are too small, although having said that, I remember hearing about speed loaders for revolvers...

I've added the Wiki link to clip ammo

Answer 5

They are basically the same thing. "Clip" is more of a slang term, that originated from the old inserting mechanisms from WW II's M-1 Garands. "Clips" today hold the bullets ready to go into the magazine. Some weapons, the SKS, like the M-1, have internal magazines where M-16's and AK's have detachable magazines, detachable magazines have a greater capacity and you don't have to reload it to get back into a fight, just pop a new one in.

Clips are slang terms, sir. with all do respect, And they are still used with modern machine guns. i.e. two full clips and 8 rounds from a third fill a mag.
to non-military individuals we never fill a mag to full capacity-it screws up the spring

P.S. I grew up in Brooklyn NY-clip is very much a synonyms, slang term for a mag in my neighborhood

Answer 6

I'll try to keep it simple.

They are NOT the same thing; they're not even close.

A clip is a piece of metal which holds a set number of rounds of ammunition together, ready to be inserted either directly into the weapon (as with an M-1 Garand) or into a magazine (as with the M-16A1). Clips are NOT reloadable and reuseable in the field.

A magazine is a small metal container which holds a set number of rounds; these rounds can be loaded either individually by hand, or by groups using ammunition contained in/on a clip. Once the magazine has been loaded, it is then inserted into the magazine well in the weapon and the weapon is considered "loaded and ready to fire." Magazines are reloadable and reuseable in the field.

The place in the Beretta which holds the magazine is called the magazine well which is located in the grip itself, and the thing you slide into it which holds the bullets is the magazine.

Hope that clears things up.

Answer 7

Magazine and clip are almost synonymous

Clip is more of a slang term anymore that does not apply to most modern automatics.

On old rifles (like the SKS for example) the ammunition would come on Clips that would be used to load the magazine. The magazine would be a fixed part of the weapon and the clip would be discarded once the weapon's magazine was loaded.

modern rifles have detachable magazines.

Answer 8

Not the same thing -
A clip feeds from the top of the weapon ( as in an M-1 Gerand). A magazine feeds from the bottom (as in the .30 cal. BAR - Browing Automatic Rifle) or the 7.62 cal. M-14 rifel.

The same nomenclature applies to hand guns - the magazine feeds into the butt (or grip) of the pistol.

Answer 9

I do not care what anybody else says. They are the same thing now. US terminology = clip. UK terminology = magazine.
I grew up with guns and served in the army for 22 years. I think I know what I am talking about. To be exact a clip is a separate device which holds rounds, but as I said above the two terms have become interchangeable.

Answer 10

Numrich does not checklist the .410 magazine of their catalog (see links under). So, telephone or e mail them to work out in the event that they understand of yet another source. additionally, make be conscious that the Coast to Coast style a hundred and eighty is predicated on the Savage style fifty 8 .410 shotgun. The Stevens style fifty 8 is likewise a similar gun. So, in case you won't have the ability to locate a Coast to Coast magazine, then one from a Savage or Stevens style fifty 8 ought to extra healthy. Edit: whoops, i became too sluggish. M1911/HKP7 already stated the Savage style fifty 8 factor. :-) Edit 2: hi M1911/HKP7! I gave you a thumbs up, too! Yeah, it rather is strange that somebody (3 of them) might provide you thumbs down... extremely in view that i think of you have been the 1st one to show Numrich. :-(

Answer 11

Magazine is the correct word ,clip is slang at one time only used by americans but has crossed the water via Hollywood