Talk:Magazine (firearms)

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"Clip" should be removed from the synonyms, as a clip is NOT a magazine. 69.218.180.18 21:39, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

Clip has become synonymous with magazine in common usage, though it's not a precise correct technical usage of clip which more properly is en-bloc clip or stripper clip etc. A clarification to that effect on the main page would be ok. However, it has been a couple of generations since people commonly encountered firearms loaded by en-bloc or stripper clips. While they haven't completely gone away (many military ammo packs ship to the field in stripper clips, in many calibers and many countries, though not universally), the only usage most firearms users or curious people are likely to encounter is as the synonym for magazine. Wikipedia isn't here to try and pedantically force the terminology back into precise dictionary usage... it has to reflect common usage to some degree as well, though noting the different dictionary meaning (see the clip wiki page for example) is a good thing. Georgewilliamherbert 22:02, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

But what IS the difference between a magazine and a clip?? Adam Marx Squared 06:31, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

A clip is a mechanical device that holds ammunition, but does not by itself feed the ammunition into the firearm mechanism. The two variations in common use are the:

• En-bloc clip used in the M1 Garand rifle, which is a sheet metal frame holding 8 rounds of ammunition, but which has no spring or feed mechanism. It's fit into a space in the rifle, and a spring and follower in the rifle force the ammunition up into the action.
• Stripper clip, which holds a stack of cartridges (5-10 typically) by their bases, and which is then used manually to load ammunition into magazines either externally or internal to the weapon. In the SKS rifle, for example, a 10 round stripper clip fits into grooves in the top of the action, and then you push down on the top of the stacked ammuntion. All 10 rounds are forced down into the internal magazine, and then you remove the empty stripper clip.

Magazines perform both the role of holding and feeding the ammunition into the mechanism. Georgewilliamherbert 20:02, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Revolver

Could the cylinder in a revolver be correctly called a magazine? Seems to me it is functionally identical to a fixed rotary mag... and not even fixed as many revolvers have removable cylinders for speedloading. --Jquarry 22:46, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

The magazine just holds and feeds ammunition - the revolver cylinder also forms the chamber that the ammunition is fired from. Georgewilliamherbert 22:49, 22 February 2007 (UTC)