One month of my life

[AtlLaw]

According to the time-on-line counter I have now spent 30 days on the forum!     One month of my life!!    One month that I could have spent living life!  But Nooooo, I've got to sit here at a keyboard reading and typing, reading and typing!    What a waste of my time!     I sure am glad I'm a Gub-ment employee and can do all this wasteing of time when it doesn't matter... at work!   

[Graybeard]

Wal Richard I reckon you just ain't spending enough time here. Mine rat now reads: Total time logged in: 109 days, 20 hours and 45 minutes. so you are just a slacker who needs more GBO time it seems.

BTW I was not smart enough to figure out how to use that stripper clip and thingy you sent me. Got any instructions for a dummy? I spent a bunch of time messing with it and never managed to get a shell loaded into a mag with it.

[AtlLaw]

Wal, I always been a slacker according to some folk.  I prefer to think I am practiced in the art of procrastination...  But for you, I'll get workin on it!   Soons I get back from deer huntin 

Someone posted a video that showed the loading of the clips, placement of the clip guide and loading of the magazine.  All you have to do is slide the wide portion of the clip guide down over the rear of the magazine, only about an inch, from the top and in the vertical groove in the magazine body.  slide one end of the clip into the narrow end of the clip guide until it bottoms out; make sure the little tits on each end of the clip are bent out so you can load the clip from the top and the rounds will easily go into the magazine from the bottom.  Single load rounds into the clip from the top.  Push the rounds into the magazine from the clip with a thumb.  When I use this setup as a magazine charger I usually load 5 rounds at a time into the clip, for me it makes pushing them into the mag smoother.

I'm assuming that all non-USGI mags made nowadays still have the clip guide recess in the magazine body.  If there's no channel for the guide to slip into the clip guide is pretty much useless.

This is the same method that was used to reload M1 Carbine magazines except the guide and clip were one piece.  Now, or the last I knew, 5.56 bandoleers come with the ammo on stripper clips and one clip guide (and a safety pin) per bandoleer.

[Graybeard]

That's reasonably close to how I did it other than I did preload the full ten rounds it would hold much like I expect it was intended to hold. The little folding tabs were out far enough to allow rounds to move. I then tried pushing down on the ten rounds to force them into the mag as it seemed logical was the way it should work. Problem was they didn't go period.

I'll give it another go with only five rounds to see if that works but with ten rounds there was no evidence they would ever go into the mag. Other than the fact it didn't work I guess I was using correct procedure.

[AtlLaw]

they didn't go period.

   Well dadgummit there GB!  Troopers been loading magazines with that little contraption since WWII!  And I've loaded some of mine with that very set!  There got to be something goin on here!     The only thing I can think of is how it fits in the slot.  What kind of mag are you using?  USGI?

[Graybeard]

Don't recall if the mag I tried was USGI or not. I have some of several types. The piece fit on it fine I just couldn't seem to force any of the ammo out and down into the mag. I'll try again.

Are the little stripper clip thingies supposed to be straight or have a slight bend in them? The one you shipped has a slight bend which I was not sure if it belonged or if it got that way in trasit. The package it was in was buggered up pretty good on it's way here.

[AtlLaw]

It takes a little force to push the rounds down, naturally more then if you were just loading one round.  But not a great deal.

The stripper clips are spose to have a slight bow in them.  This matches the taper of the bullets and keeps the rounds snug against each other.  see the pic I just took.

Leave it to the post office to tear stuff up!     I don't know how they manage to do it!

[bilmac]

I've loaded way too many magazines with stripper clips. You don't need to straighten the little tabs on the clip, the amount of force used to straighten them is insignificant, especially if Viet Cong are getting close. It takes some force to make it happen, don't be afraid to really mash em. No sense in loading the clips with only 5 rounds, they are made to speed up loading your mags, they would be bulky and inefficient with only 5 rounds. A way to make it all easier is to put the top bullet in the clip against a solid ledge of some sort, like the edge of the shooting bench. Make sure the solid edge is near the base of the bullets not in the middle or near the tips. Then push on the magazine. A lot easier on your hands to push the mag instead of the bullets. You have to push near the base of the bullets or the whole thing goes cockeyed. When you have loaded the first 10 rounds you've done the easy part, the next 10 are harder.

[AtlLaw]

Hey Bill,
This is an aside from another discussion GB and I were having.  To give you a little background, he is not loading mags in the sense you are thinking, i.e. many magazines with bulk ammo on strippers, but using the clip and clip guide more as an aid to an occasional loading of a magazine with boxed bullets.  Since he is not using the clip to store ammo, I told him to straighten the tabs to get them out of the way.  He could even break them off, heck he could even super glue the clip into the clip guide if he wanted to!   

He's not as much interested in speed of loading as he is wear and tear on his thumb and 5 at a time do push down easier as you have cut the friction factor in half.  Of course he wouldn't be carrying his ammo like that.

Thanks for reminding me about pushing down on the base of the bullet though.  That's very inportant and I forgot it!     I also hit the rear of the charged magazine against the heel of my hand.  A 40+ year old habit I never saw the need to break!   

[bilmac]

Works better to tap it on your steel pot

[bilmac]

What outfit were you with? I always figured you for a Viet Vet, young an handsome just reaching the prime of his years. So you are sneaking in on this site for old guys too eh.

[AtlLaw]

What outfit were you with?

B Troop, 1st Sqdn., 9th Cavalry Regt., 1st Cavalry Division '66-'67
D Troop, 2d Sqdn., 1st Cavalry Regt of Dragoons., IFFV '69-'70

young an handsome just reaching the prime of his years.

Ah you know me well!   

[AtlLaw]

Bill, you ever get that field expedient speed loader to work?

[Graybeard]

Haven't gotten back to it yet Richard. I did watch the video link above on how to use it. It sure looked easy when he did it. Maybe I'll remember to try again tonight or tomorrow.