1903-03A3 "clips"

[PWC]

I know that is not the right term to use. I've done a search here and can't find the thread from some time ago that discussed how to tell real clips/chargers from German and Sweadish ones. Has to do with the bumps on the side.

Anyone have a link or can answer the question, I would appreciate it.

[Parashooter]

46166

Left and center - "wide" clips
1 - US clip for M1903, M1917 - brass
2 - Same in later parkerized steel
3 - M14 clip, single central lugs
4 - Mauser "export" clip, for 7x57 rifles
5 - Swedish Mauser clip

Right - "narrow" clips
6 - Argentine 7.65 Mauser clip, no lugs
7 - 8mm Mauser clip, 3 lugs per side
8 - 8mm Mauser cllip, 2 lugs per side

The US clips (1&2) have little tabs on the end, bent to retain cartridges. These usually break off after a few uses, rendering them useless.

None of the narrow clips (or the M14 clip) work properly for the US M1903 or 1917. 7mm Mauser clip works perfectly. Swedish clip, designed for a slightly larger rim, is a slightly loose fit with 30/06 but still works well.

[PWC]

Thanks folks, just what I was looking for.

[Merc]

I’ve always known them as “stripper clips.”

[PWC]

I knew that.......but getting old, and reaching max memory, I probably need to defrag. Access time is longer

[Parashooter]

In US military manuals, they are called "clip" up until the M14 era, where they are called "charger" in some (not all) M14 manuals.

"Stripper" is an unfortunate excrescence resulting from some amateurs' discomfort with standard US military terminology - which uses the same word (clip) for the type used in the M1903 and also the "en-bloc" device of the M1 rifle.

[Cosine26]

Here is a photo of a spam can of FA 30 M2 Ball

The Ordnance Dept called them clips

https://imgur.com/lWZNcB4

Actually is quite easy to make excellent clips usable on the M1903/03A3 and M70 Winchester from the M14 clips by adding a couple of bosses with a simple tool. I have made hundreds of them and the work very well..

At one time these were in ample supply and many people just discarded them - I still probably have several hundred.

https://imgur.com/NussGrN

M14 clip left-modified clip right

https://imgur.com/HW82vQC

Midified clip top view

https://imgur.com/RIOKBSW

The tool

Tool in use

https://imgur.com/M5N57Ta

I usually disassemble the clip and polish the spring.

https://imgur.com/QXbG73S

See picture below.
Insert screwdriver and release tab.

https://imgur.com/bXU3KIE

You can also bend the spring slightly to increase tension on the rims so clips hold cases more securely



FWIW

[PWC]

I used to load my Uncle Sammy's CAR-15 mags with the 10 round "stripper clips" with the mag adapter that came with them. Wish I knew then how valuable they wluld be 50 years later, before I threw them down.

[RH Scott]

They are actually referred to as "charger strips" in FM23-9 back from 1974. Ref page 17, para 2-12a(3)

On the side of M855 and M855A1 cans they are referred to as 10rd clips.

I have heard them referred to as "stripper clips" for all of my 32 years service. You put them in a magazine charger and "stripped" them off into the magazine.

[Cosine26]

Nomenclature changes. It was into the 20th Century that the US Army stopped using the term "musket" for army long arms. The DCM sold ".22 caliber Winder Muskets" well into the 1930's.
FWIW