Enfield stripper clips

jcuffe6240

jcuffe6240

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I recently took my No. 4 Enfield to the range for the first time and was having issues getting the cartridges from the stripper clip into the magazine. Is there a trick with brand new stripper clips that I don't know about? Should I do something to the stripper clip to break them in a bit? They really mark up the brass too. Help from a newbie!
 
Make a roll out of a sheet of fine emery cloth, and polish the roughness out of the clips. Some are pretty bad! I've often wondered how the soldiers dealt with crappy chargers, since I've had more than a few that were so rough you could hardly slide a round through them. Also make sure you load your chargers correctly, NOT the way Riflechair says to load them!
 
Load rims alternately, your first, middle and last contacting the rear face of the charger (clip). The second and fourth rounds are supported, both sides, by the ones already in the charger. _-_-_ ....... like that. Works.

As to sticky chargers, that has already been dealt with. Works, too.

With the chargers loaded correctly, it can be just a-ma-zing how smooth and quick it can be to load; you can begin to understand the terrific rate of aimed fire it is possible to achieve..... but only with the Lee-Enfield. Sotty, guys, but the MN just can't do it!
 
Shouldn't the bullets be loaded like
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So they don't lock up? That is how I load mind and I never have a problem.
 
low high loading doesn't have an up or a down so you don't need to worry about loading it upside down and loading then whole charger with the lips behind..Also with a p14 the lip under load always seems to throw the last round in behind the rest
 
I have a bunch of WWII issue charger clips that I use, given to me by a relative of a soldier who was over there. I load the straight forward pointing rim overlap method, and I've never had an issue. I still prefer the enbloc clip loading myself such as on the M-95 Austrian rifles and the Swiss K-31. Speaking of which, where can I find me some of those clips?
 
I always load them the other way, not alternating them. See link.

http://rodandgun.sslpowered.com/article/stripperclip.pdf

The method below makes zero sense to me. Yes you can load the clip either way with this method, but the rounds are going to hang up. I've tried it lots and it doesn't work well, at least that's been my experience.

image013.jpg
 
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I load mine with the _-_-_ technique and the rounds always seems to sort themselves out somehow, doesn't make sense but it works. I have tried the overlapping method and it worked no different in my rifle. As for jams, I have a tendency to push the top round back causing a rim over jam on the last round loaded(full 10 round mag) using both methods. Never happens when loading 5 rounds though. Practice practice practice!
 
aric84 said:
I load mine with the _-_-_ technique and the rounds always seems to sort themselves out somehow, doesn't make sense but it works. I have tried the overlapping method and it worked no different in my rifle. As for jams, I have a tendency to push the top round back causing a rim over jam on the last round loaded(full 10 round mag) using both methods. Never happens when loading 5 rounds though. Practice practice practice!
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I, too, load mine that way. I've tried all the other methods, and none of them work as well as the approved method. In fact, the ///// method borders on absurd, as you can only load the clip one way. -_-_- is also problematic, as the rims tend to sort of cam lock when you try to push the rounds out of the clip. The _-_-_ method is the way REAL soldiers, who used these rifles in REAL COMBAT, loaded their chargers. THEY certainly seem do have done alright. Soldiers spent a lot of their time practicing CORRECTLY filling chargers as fast as possible. In fact, they weren't even allowed to charge the mag with loose rounds. An incorrectly filled charger would most likely have got a soldier in deep sh!t!
 
Well, Riflechair is one of the few on here that can actually say he uses the Lee Enfield in active service. There must be a reason they are doing it the way he explains it. That may not have been the case back in the earlier days I know. Just saying. ;) I'm going to have to go practice the different methods with my drill rounds for fun sometime.
 
Vimy Ridge said:
Well, Riflechair is one of the few on here that can actually say he uses the Lee Enfield in active service. There must be a reason they are doing it the way he explains it. That may not have been the case back in the earlier days I know. Just saying. ;) I'm going to have to go practice the different methods with my drill rounds for fun sometime.
Click to expand...

They are most likely doing it that way because Riflechair told them it's the right way! The Rangers aren't even issued chargers, they get a spare mag instead. I used to do all my hunting with a 1911 vintage SMLE, and always loaded from chargers. I also packed that rifle every day for several years on my evening hikes, again loading from the charger. I would load five, and at the end of each trip, the rounds would be cycled out of the mag, then replaced them in the charger. Not once did I get a jam from overlapping rims. When hunting from the truck, I would keep a charger handy, and on sighting a deer, I'd bail out of the truck and speed load with the charger. Never a jam. All my years of packing that SMLE, the only problem I ever encountered was two rounds ending up side by side in the mag! :confused: That was with old Aussie cordite ammo, must have been a bit on the skinny side.
 
The alternating rims method (_-_-_) is the method shown in the 1909 Text Boox of Small Arms. It is also the way much factory ammo was packed, until things got jiggled out of line. Our Sergeant would have EATEN anyone who tried it any other way.

As for sticky chargers, I have noticed that nearly all of my sticky or too-tight chargers are post-War production. During wartime, they kept pretty tight controls on tolerances.

With ANY charger, the correct method of loading is to sweep all 5 rounds into the magazine in a SINGLE swift motion, pressing with your thumb on the bottom of the top round, immediately adjacent to the charger body. Slow and gentle is the finest way to make love, but slow and gentle in a war can get you killed. Load your chargers as per the Army instructions, sweep them into the magazine with a single swift, solid motion.... and all the problems sort themselves out.
 
An old thread - I'm just catching up.
The paper I put together was a few years ago now. There are two ways of loading a clip as previously stated. The traditional _--_--_ style won't shake any rounds lose from the clip if its bouncing inside your pocket when we run about playing silly bugger. A bit more reliable that way - especially if your clips are a little loose or tired (they are 60 years old after all). Plus you don't need to worry about which side is up when using clips in the traditional sense. A big bonus if you're in the dark and in a real hurry. I can see why they insisted on it.

I have a newish parked clip that I keep loaded in my field vest (breast pocket) while out with the Rangers. It's loaded in the manner described in my paper and no rounds have ever shaken loose. I've carried it that way for many years now (which reminds me to inspect it and brush the hemlock needles out of it again). Your clips need to be in good shape.
Anyways - stripper clips loaded with rimmed rounds will eventually result in a jam regardless how you have them loaded - its the nature of the beast unfortunately. I've just had better success with clips loaded the way I do it. Not saying its any better but it works for me.

Oh one last thing - I find it makes sense to take some wet / dry sandpaper (400 grit) and polish the insides of the clips if you're using them in competition. Removing some of the phosphate finish in areas where they touch your brass really makes them run smoother. My 2-cents worth.

Richard
 
Riflechair is quite right: that phosphate finish on the late ones is a d*mned nuisance at the best of times. And, as pointed out, a bit of polishing will take care of it. Myself, I always try to keep a small stock of the early chargers on hand: nice and smooth.

It also makes big difference HOW you shove them down into the mag. Putting your thumb RIGHT at the back end of the rounds, right where they peek up out of the charger, generally will get them into the mag with a single, fast sweep. Putting your thumb halfway up the cartridge is just asking for a jam.

Some time, load yourself up 15 drill rounds, load them into chargers and load your magazine very slowly, just so you can watch what happens. You almost won't believe what the cartridges actually DO while they are being loaded. Do it right and they sort themselves out very nicely.

For charger loading practice, you really should have 10 or 15 drill rounds. If you can't find originals, you can load them up out of some of that Berdan brass we all have lying around. Just drill out the primers so you can tell that they aren't live rounds and then practise, practise, practise. Practice makes perfect.

Nice thing about chargers is that you can load rounds at an awful clip if you have practised. The way we were taught, you loaded 5 into the mag with a single charger, removed the charger from the guides, replaced it with another full charger, swept those rounds into the mag and then just slapped the bolt forward hard and fast. You didn't even remove the second charger from the guides: it removed itself, right quick.

MUCH faster than mucking about, trying to change magazines!

Have fun!
 
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