What's the Difference Between Clips and Magazines for Firearms? – Featuring the SKS QuickClip

Clips vs Magazines - what's the difference?

Understanding the differences between these two firearm accessories can do a lot for your enjoyment of firearms. It can make loading and unloading ammunition a lot easier, reloading your firearm more convenient and transporting your guns and ammo easier so you're ready to shoot as soon as you get to the range.

The thing is, both have their advantages and disadvantages, and understanding that can help you with anything from plinking (that's target shooting) to hunting and anything in between.

First we look at the easy stuff: the way they look. mags (magazines) are often referred by people as clips, when nothing can be further from the truth. It's easy to see the difference though. Clips tend to be made of thin strips of metal and hold cartridges predominantly by their rims. This is true for both rimfire and centerfire cartridges. In this video we look at a magazine for the popular 5.56 NATO round (5.56x45mm, 22 caliber) and the 7.62x39 round (a 30 caliber AK round that also happens to be what the SKS rifle is chambered in). We also introduce the Canadian Operator SKS QuickClip, available here: https://canadianoperator.ca/products/canadian-operator-sks-quickclip which is a modern replacement for the humble SKS Stripper Clip - and also takes 5 rounds of 7.62x39mm ammunition,

Besides the differences, we also look at functional and practical differences between the two. They not only look different, but work differently too. The magazine is extremely easy to load compared to the clip, but slightly more tedious to unload. The stripper clip makes unloading fairly simple - by just putting it into the groove at the top of the firearm and pressing the ammo down into the internal magazine of the gun. The problem with that is that you can have the cartridges shift sometimes, which means you'll need to make corrections and push some more - like we had to do in this video.

The SKS QuickClip makes loading a breeze. Just place it over the internal magazine of the SKS, and push the plunger with authority. Your ammo is loaded in an instant, you remove your clip and can begin using your SKS immediately.

We also talk about how they are different in the way they are unloaded, (or "stripped" in the case of the clips) and how differently that happens between them. Clips offer a much more manual feeling, whereas magazines are typically only unloaded by hand for storage, and unloaded by the firearm's action otherwise (in the course of loading cartridges into the firing chamber). This is the case for any magazine fed action, including lever action, semi automatic, pump action and bolt action, to name a few.

Lastly we discuss the difference in where the ammunition actually goes (that is to say, where in the firearm) after leaving the clip, versus the magazine. Generally speaking, clips feed mags, and mags feed chambers. The chamber being the only place in a firearm from where you can discharge a cartridge.

We also lightly touch on the definition of cartridge magazine, as noted in the Criminal Code of Canada s.84, available here: https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-46/section-84.html . With that, it's established that magazines are regulated by law, and clips are generally not (as they are often not referred to in legislation). At the moment, a PAL (Possession and Acquisition License) is required to buy magazines in Canada.

If there's anything we missed or you have some of your own information to share - let us know in the comments or come by our Discord to continue the conversation (linked below).

Check out https://www.canadianoperator.ca for all our awesome products, including the SKS QuickClip.

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Canadian Firearms Act: https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/F-11.6/