Stripper clips

S

snowhunter

CGN frequent flyer
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
The little I can find out about the stripper clips, is that it was an original Mauser invention, first used on the "Belgian Mauser" in 1889.

What I find interesting is, such a simple and cheap, but effective invention had such an impact on firearms designs at the time, and the stripper clips is still very much with us.

Because of it, the stripper clip forced the U.S. military to give up the Krag after few years of use, because it was impractical to use stripper clips when reloading the Krag, and lessons from the battlefield, when fighting adversaries using Mausers with stripper clips, tought the americans and the british an expensive lessons, and soon after the Boer war, the Lee-Enfield also converted to use the stripper clips.

Stripper clips, one of the most inexpensive, strategic weapons ever made, when it, overnight, made weapons obsolete, that could not use this smart invention ?
 
A stripper clip is tactical rather than strategic. Strategic weapons would be things like a heavy bomber or ballistic missile.
 
Mannlicher had clips in his 1885 straight pull rifle, but it was the later 1886 that was adopted. The Italians used a charger in their modified Vetterli in 1878.
 
cyclone said:
Weapon? :yingyang:

I dunno. :p

Accoutrement? :)

Definitely. :cool:
Click to expand...

Man you ever had a stripper clip thrown at you? I be it would hurt, especially an Enfield one. It would also confuse and disorient the enemy for a second. Here is ol joe bad guy enemy soldier thinking your gonna shoot him and he gets a handful of stripper clips thrown at him. He would sit their and stare for a second, allowing you do move in for the kill.
 
I come across the word "force multipliers" often when reading about the U.S. military flying tankers and other military transport units that supports combat troops in keeping on fighting.

Could that word "force multiplier" also be used for the stripper clips ?

Intersting to learn the the italians had chargers in 1878.

Does the Garand chargers owe their existence to the italian chargers ?
 
sail32 said:
Mannlicher had clips in his 1885 straight pull rifle, but it was the later 1886 that was adopted. The Italians used a charger in their modified Vetterli in 1878.
Click to expand...

Wasn't the Vetterli the Italians had a tube magazine rifle??

There is a big difference between the Mannlicher clips and Mauser's stripper clip system.

The Mannlicher clips were actually placed IN the magazine, while Mauser's clips were smaller and weren't inserted into the magazine, just into the stripper clip guide and the user pushed them into the magazine with his thumb. Also, Mannlicher clips couldn't be topped off (the Garand clip is similar) with loose rounds. You couldn't reload the Mannlicher clip rifle until the clip was empty and had dropped out of the magazine.
 
shredder said:
Wasn't the Vetterli the Italians had a tube magazine rifle??

There is a big difference between the Mannlicher clips and Mauser's stripper clip system.

The Mannlicher clips were actually placed IN the magazine, while Mauser's clips were smaller and weren't inserted into the magazine, just into the stripper clip guide and the user pushed them into the magazine with his thumb. Also, Mannlicher clips couldn't be topped off (the Garand clip is similar) with loose rounds. You couldn't reload the Mannlicher clip rifle until the clip was empty and had dropped out of the magazine.
Click to expand...

IIRC, the Italians used just about whatever they could get (esp. around the time of Caparetto), including Swiss, French, British and Carc rifles....:yingyang:

Austria-Hungary’s Mannlicher Model 95 was closer to Italy's Mannlicher-Carcano Model 91 than either was to the Mauser action....:wave:

Here's a long-ish article:

http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-6774570/Italian-shoulder-arms-of-WWI.html

with this text:

Shortages of small arms appeared from the very beginning of Italy's entrance into the war on the side of the Allies. As more and more of the Italian male population mobilized for the first total war in European history, the supply of modern small arms fell woefully short of needs and a large number of obsolete 10.4mm Fucile di Fanteria, Modello 1878/87 Vetterli-Vital were issued to newly formed regiments before the end of 1915.

While the various Italian Government arsenals of Temi, Brescia, Torre Annunziata and Torino geared up to increase the production output of Mannlicher-Carcano's for the war effort, a conversion program was undertaken to alter large numbers of the then obsolete Vetterli-Vitali rifles and carbines to fire the standard 6.5x52mm Carcano cartridge. In order to breathe some life back into these 1870-vintage antiquated weapons, first seeing service as black powder, single-shot bolt-action rifles, a rather ingenious conversion method was developed.

The original 10.4mm barrels were reamed out and a rifled 6.5mm barrel sleeve was silver soldered within the original barrel. The 4-round Vitali-designed box magazines, which had been used to convert the Vetterli's from single shot to repeaters in the late 1880s, were removed and replaced with M91 Mannlicher-Carcano magazines.

Due to the width of the Vitali black-powder magazines, surviving rifles and carbines converted to 6.5x52mm will display wooden inserts glued in place on either side of the thinner Mannlicher-Carcano magazines used for the conversion. The original sights were replaced and the wartime expedient rifle conversions were issued to lines of communication troops, artillery gunners and reserve infantry units. These rifles are referred to as either Model 1870/87/15 or Model 1870/87/16 Vetterli rifles and carbines, depending on the reference source consulted. The rifles were issued with original Model 1870 bayonets cut down to knife length to approximate the bayonet of the standard issue Mannlicher-Carcano.

The conversion program was started in late 1915 and continued well into 1916 with a reported 400,000 to 500,000 Vetterli's converted to fire the 6.5mm cartridge before the end of the war. Surviving rifles turn up today with 1918-dated arsenal rework cartouches appearing stamped over the original production cartouche.

...............

.....As converted from their single-shot configuration, the Model 1870/87 Vetterli-Vitalis had been retrofitted with 4-shot magazines designed by Giuseppe Vitali, hence the name Vetterl-Vitali. The floor of the bolt-way was cut away to allow the magazine to be accessed from the top of the open action. The unusual 4-round Mannlicher-style clip was then inserted into the top of the magazine and pressed downward...
Click to expand...
 
Personally, I think charger clips aka stripper clips were an amazing invention. I use them in my Enfields on the range all the time, being careful not to ding the metal. They are original black painted WWII clips too. I'm looking for Mosin Nagant stripper clips, oddly enough, I cannot ever seem to find any at the gun shows? Why is this? Are they uncommon? I have a few Mauser stripper clips and I find them a much tighter fit than the enfield clips. There's my 2 cents on the matter.
 
Trade Ex has Mosin chargers. I lucked out and bought a case of Hungarian surplus 7.62x54r that came on chargers. I also bought a couple dozen brass ones at The Soldier Shop before they closed out
 
"...U.S. military to give up the Krag..." Stripper clips had nothing to do with it. The Krag and its cartridge just didn't cut it as a military battle rifle.
"...the Lee-Enfield..." The Lee-Enfield wasn't used during the Boer War, always used chargers. Never had more than one magazine per rifle. Originally each rifle had a wee chain between the rifle and the mag so the mag couldn't be inadertently lost.
"...Garand chargers owe their existence to the Italian chargers..." Nope. J.C.'s first .276 calibre design used a 20 round BAR mag. U.S. military didn't want it. J.C. redesigned the rifle to use enbloc clips. In any case, the M1's clip stays in the rifle, unlike most charger clips. No 'topping up' the rifle's ammo supply like you can a bolt action.
 
"...the Lee-Enfield..." The Lee-Enfield wasn't used during the Boer War, always used chargers. Never had more than one magazine per rifle. Originally each rifle had a wee chain between the rifle and the mag so the mag couldn't be inadertently lost.

The Magazine Lee Enfield MkI was placed in production in 1896 and some of the early production was sent to Canada. This arm was the standard rifle of the Cdn Army in the Boer War and was extensively used by British and Imperial units. The MLE did not use chargers.
The MkI Lee Metford was issued with two mags for a brief period.
No military organisation ever used the term stripper clips. In Empire service they were called chargers. A clip referred to the Mannlicher style clip.
As far as I can tell stripper clip was a term invented by US surplus dealers in the 1950s.
Stripper clip joint is totally different. Exotic entertainment and even more exotic prices.
 
I like strippers clips. They are a convenient way to store ammo too.

I can't understand why some guys are throwing out their Czech 7.62x39mm stripper clips, when they are the high quality Soviet Com-Bloc type.

The Chinese ones are complete junk in comparison.
 
MapleSugar said:
I like strippers clips. They are a convenient way to store ammo too.

I can't understand why some guys are throwing out their Czech 7.62x39mm stripper clips, when they are the high quality Soviet Com-Bloc type.

The Chinese ones are complete junk in comparison.
Click to expand...

Plus they sell for .50 cents a piece (Ebay pricing) down in the U.S. That's $61 per case, thats about a 25% return on the cost of the ammo. So if you look at it, every four cases of ammo you buy, you get enough cash in return to buy another one.
 
cyclone said:
IIRC, the Italians used just about whatever they could get (esp. around the time of Caparetto), including Swiss, French, British and Carc rifles....:yingyang:

Austria-Hungary’s Mannlicher Model 95 was closer to Italy's Mannlicher-Carcano Model 91 than either was to the Mauser action....:wave:

Here's a long-ish article:

http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-6774570/Italian-shoulder-arms-of-WWI.html

with this text:
Click to expand...

A VERY interesting article, I hadn't heard about the Italians going bubba on the old rifles. Thanks for the info!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom