The Use of "Stripper Clips" really Sucks!

T

The Wizard

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Recently a friend has gotten me into what might be described as "vintage military rifle combat shooting". The way the "course" is setup requires reloads using "stripper clips". The rifles used so far are a M1917 "Enfield", a No. 4, a Yugo M48, a M1 rifle and a FN Model 49. I am finding "stripper clips" really suck! First, a lot of the times it takes a lot of force to strip the rounds off the clip. And on the No. 4 and Model 49 the second 5 rounds are even harder to load. Not only do you have to "fight" the clip but also the magazine spring. Second, I find that when stripping the rounds into the magazine "get out of alignment" and hang up on top of the magazine feed lips. I know I could improve the performance of the clips by pre-selection of the clips to be used but I was wondering about real life. A soldier can not "pre-select" the clips he has to use. Sure glad I got to use magazine fed rifles!
 
huh, the ones i've used where all quicker and easier then changing a mag....Sounds like your clips are well used, bent or improperly filled... When they're new they work slick as snot.
 
Weird. I have about 15 K98 and 3-4 SKS clips. Everything works just fine. I didn't "pre-select" mine. Just picked up a bunch. Even SKS dressed up in Tapco stock/ Tapco mag reloads without any problems after I modified magazine to accept stripper clips.
 
Never used clips in any of the rifles mentioned by the OP. But they can sometimes be stiff and stubborn. Some more so than others.
 
If you cant operate a stripper clip in a few seconds or less you are A) doing it wrong or B) not suited to use stripper clips. There are a ton of videos on youtube of guys shooting the full 10 rounds in a US sks magazine and reloading in just a few seconds. Id practice a bit more before declaring that "they suck". I love pressing rounds into a mag.. just has a cool feel and sound lol.
 
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I have not had great success with using stripper clips at first, but it gets easier with practice. A bit of jiggling seems to help also. Perhaps if you
pretend that you are under fire!
 
some of the mosin actions can be worked on to make the feeding from stripper clips easier. The design/machining of some of the parts sometimes causes variations in the force required to send the rounds to the mag. I just worked on my M44 that would never load from stripper clips (both new and old style strippers) and now it loads smoothly. So, it might the be firearm itself that is causing the issue versus the concept. Might be worth googling to see if it is the case for your reluctant feeder.
 
Practice, and re-using(thus loosening) will make for slicker reloading than a swapping of magazines.. Depending on what you shoot, a stripper is a very quick reload for rifles designed around them. I love the SKS for the quick zip of 5 vs. the clunkiness of those that chose a mag-swapping gem, but any example of a stripper feed is a snappy means of recharging!
 
I can only speak on sks after some practice im pretty speedy
and mosin hopeless im better off feeding one round at a time
have been unable to find strippers that feed properly all hang up for me
cheers
 
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chadeech said:
I can only speak on sks after some practice im pretty speedy
and mosin hopeless im better off feeding one round at a time
have been unable to find strippers that feed properly all hang up for me
cheers
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Corwin Arms routinely has stripper clips for the mosin and svt, they are the best. I highly recommend grabbing some next time they are in stock. He's got some nice Enfield strippers atm.
 
Cocked&Locked said:
huh, the ones i've used where all quicker and easier then changing a mag....Sounds like your clips are well used, bent or improperly filled... When they're new they work slick as snot.
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I wish I was in Canada. I would challenge you to a friendly race. And as the visiting team I would respect the host country and use C1A1's. Rules: to start with rifles loaded with five rounds. Fire the five rounds, reload twenty rounds. The person who fires first after reloading all twenty rounds wins. You use 4 - 5 round "stripper clips; I will use a fully loaded magazine. Any bets on who wins? By the way all clips used are either in excellence condition or new. Not that easy to "improperly load" most clips. Now the .303 clips are different matter but we insure that the rounds are properly positioned. I agree that with practice things will improve but how much practice did soldiers (1898 to 1950) really get before having to do it "for real"?
 
The Wizard said:
I agree that with practice things will improve but how much practice did soldiers (1898 to 1950) really get before having to do it "for real"?
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Probably a lot more than average weekend shooter. I remember first 2-3 blank fire events, shaky hands, adrenaline, having hard time reloading even though I knew it wasn't live ammo. Eventually I got used to it.
 
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