Why do American soldiers bang their magazines on their heads in some war films?

Question

Could it be to ensure the correct feed of the rounds by ensuring they lay at the back of the magazine???

Or could it be to let other soldiers know they are changing mags??

Must say it must be an American proctice because I have never seen a British soldier do it.

Answer 1

Actually, they do it because that's what the military USED to do. The OLD magazines for the M-16 didn't always seat bullets properly, which led to misfeeds and chronic jamming of rounds... often during combat. This is largely responsible for the terrible reputation that the M-16 carried with it for a long time (along with corrosion and cheap parts on the original production).

To stop jamming by poorly seated rounds, soldiers would tap the magazine on a hard surface to set the bullets properly. In combat, the most readily available hard surface is your helmet, so long as you were sure you were wearing it before you hit yourself in the head.

Today, however, the M-16 has gone through several revisions, and it's magazines have recently been redesigned as well. Tapping the magazine is MORE likely to cause a jam and repetitive problems, so movies that show modern soldiers doing it are innacurate.

Edit: Rek T, if tapping your bullets has changed the composition enough that your bullets fire differently, you need to look into what ammo you're using because it's incredibly deffective. the powder isn't just floating loose inside the cartridge...

Answer 2

A bandoleer of 5.56mm ammo comes with a small device called a speedy loader. The bullets come seated into 10 round clips. There are 2 clips to each of the 7 pockets in the bandoleer each clip in a cardboard cover.
You place the speedy loader device on the back of the magazine and put a clip into the groove of the speedy loader, then press on the top bullet, all ten bullets will load into the magazine. You do this 3 times to get the magazine loaded with 30 rounds.
When using the speedy loader, some rounds will not be seated completely to the rear of the magazine, where they should be. Smacking the back of the magazine on the heal of your hand (better and quieter than on your helmet) pushes the bullets to the back of the magazine.
If you load each bullet individually you won't need to do this as you can seat the bullet to the rear of the magazine each time, but it's slow.
The clip is a straight rectangular piece of cheap pot metal with the sides angled up so that the base of each brass cartrige is held into place, a thin metal tab at each end keeps the bullets from sliding off. When you press on the top bullet, the tab bends releasing the bullets in a straight line into the magazine.
I hope that covers it.

Answer 3

Ensure Correct feed>

Answer 4

Pretty much the answers are right, to seat the bullets back in the mag, so they feed correctly in the weapon. ,also to knock any gross dirt particles out.


"Must say it must be an American proctice because I have never seen a British soldier do it."

Well, not many good british soldiers in the movies..

Answer 5

we banged the manually loaded magazine on the other palm, to all rounds to settle their bottoms at the back of the magazine, so that they could be taken smoothly from the magazine by the rifle bolt and not jamm the weapon. in combat, you hold the weapon in your other hand, so only your head or your helmet may serve you for that purpose.
i am not american :)

notice that machine gunners never bang the full magazine 200+rounds on their head :) they have no problem with feed.

Answer 6

Seats all the rounds to the back on the magazine so the round will feed into the weapon without jamming

Answer 7

Okay it seats the rounds in the Magazine, also (most soldiers don't think of this) it packs all the powder in the cartridge close to the same. This makes the rounds more accurate. If the powder is packed the same way in each bullet, each bullet will go the same direction. Today it is closer to tradition than practical application.

Answer 8

well not only do we hit it to ensure that the rounds are well seated in the magazine but it also shake off any dirt that might be stuck in the magazine, this prevent the malfunction of the weapon while it is completing a cycle of fire.

Answer 9

To properly seat the rounds in the magazine, helps prevent weapon stoppage due to a jammed round.

Answer 10

maybe it is to ensure the spring is not stuck occasionally magazine springs jam but a quick tap is all it needs