I'm going to have to disagree on the, "it's a magazine if it can be topped off without removing it from the weapon" and "it's a clip if it can NOT be topped off without removing it from the weapon" defination.
I have *never* heard that used as the defination of the difference between a magazine and a clip. Not only have I not heard that defination, it contradicts the commonly accepted defination of the difference between a clip and a magazine.
The commonly accepted defination for the difference between a "clip" and a "magazine" is this:
A "clip" does NOT contain a spring to feed the cartridges into the chamber. A "magazine" DOES contain a spring to feed the cartridges into the chamber.
An easy way to tell the difference is this: "A clip is used to load the magazine of a rifle. The rifle's magazine may be permamently fixed (non-detachable) or detachable. The rifle's magazine holds the rounds and feeds them into the chamber."
A clip is a piece of sheetmetal used to hold cartridges together for easier insertion into the magazine. One example would be the "stripper clips" used to load (with a charger guide/spoon)M-16 magazines. These types of "stripper clips" are also often called "chargers."
There are also stripper clips/chargers available to load M-14 rifle magazines. These can be used if the magazine is in the rifle, by using the charger guide on the receiver or can be used to load the magazines when they are separated from the rifle. In that case they have a separate "stripper clip guide" (or "charger guide" or "spoon" - all the same thing) that is attached to the magazine so the stripper clips can be used to load the magazine.
Another example is the WWII U.S. M-1 Garand. The Garand uses a sheet metal "en bloc" clip that holds 8 cartridges. It is called an "en bloc" clip instead of a "stripper clip" because instead of "stripping" the rounds off the clip into the magazine, the whole unit of clip and 8 cartridges is inserted into the (internal) magazine of the rifle. The clip fits INTO the internal, non-detachable magazine of the Garand. The rounds are held by the clip in the magazine, but the follower spring built into the internal magazine feeds the rounds into the chamber.
The M-1 Garand is probably the reason for the confusion between "clip" and "magazine." In WWII the U.S. had weapons with a detachable magazine, such as the B.A.R, the M-1 Carbine, and the 1911 pistol and we had the M-1 Garand with it's "en bloc" clips. Since the U.S. soldiers were used to refering to the "clips" that were used to load the M-1 Garand, they took to calling the "magazines" for the Carbine, B.A.R, 1911 pistol, etc, "clips" as well. The technical distinction between "clip" and "magazine" was lost on them. The misuse of "clip" for "magazine" has now entered popular usage, althought it's still incorrect.
If you think about it, determing if something is a "clip" or a "magazine" based on the rifle design doesn't make a lot of sense either. For example, the FN FAL has two variants. In one variant, the "metric pattern" version, the magazine can NOT be reloaded when it is in the rifle. That means by your defination it would be a "clip." Yet there is another variant of the FN FAL, the so-called inch version, that has a stripper clip guide in the top of the dust cover so that the magazine can be loaded with stripper clips while the magazine is in the rifle. That means that if we take two identical magazines, whether it is a magazine or a clip would be dependant on which rifle we use that magazine with.
Here's a couple of Wiki links that talk about the difference. I could dig up non-wiki references if I had to as well, but these cover the info.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clip_(ammunition)
The "Dean Speir" article linked at the bottom of the Wiki "clip" article is a good article to read as well.
no subject
I have *never* heard that used as the defination of the difference between a magazine and a clip. Not only have I not heard that defination, it contradicts the commonly accepted defination of the difference between a clip and a magazine.
The commonly accepted defination for the difference between a "clip" and a "magazine" is this:
A "clip" does NOT contain a spring to feed the cartridges into the chamber. A "magazine" DOES contain a spring to feed the cartridges into the chamber.
An easy way to tell the difference is this: "A clip is used to load the magazine of a rifle. The rifle's magazine may be permamently fixed (non-detachable) or detachable. The rifle's magazine holds the rounds and feeds them into the chamber."
A clip is a piece of sheetmetal used to hold cartridges together for easier insertion into the magazine. One example would be the "stripper clips" used to load (with a charger guide/spoon)M-16 magazines. These types of "stripper clips" are also often called "chargers."
There are also stripper clips/chargers available to load M-14 rifle magazines. These can be used if the magazine is in the rifle, by using the charger guide on the receiver or can be used to load the magazines when they are separated from the rifle. In that case they have a separate "stripper clip guide" (or "charger guide" or "spoon" - all the same thing) that is attached to the magazine so the stripper clips can be used to load the magazine.
Another example is the WWII U.S. M-1 Garand. The Garand uses a sheet metal "en bloc" clip that holds 8 cartridges. It is called an "en bloc" clip instead of a "stripper clip" because instead of "stripping" the rounds off the clip into the magazine, the whole unit of clip and 8 cartridges is inserted into the (internal) magazine of the rifle. The clip fits INTO the internal, non-detachable magazine of the Garand. The rounds are held by the clip in the magazine, but the follower spring built into the internal magazine feeds the rounds into the chamber.
The M-1 Garand is probably the reason for the confusion between "clip" and "magazine." In WWII the U.S. had weapons with a detachable magazine, such as the B.A.R, the M-1 Carbine, and the 1911 pistol and we had the M-1 Garand with it's "en bloc" clips. Since the U.S. soldiers were used to refering to the "clips" that were used to load the M-1 Garand, they took to calling the "magazines" for the Carbine, B.A.R, 1911 pistol, etc, "clips" as well. The technical distinction between "clip" and "magazine" was lost on them. The misuse of "clip" for "magazine" has now entered popular usage, althought it's still incorrect.
If you think about it, determing if something is a "clip" or a "magazine" based on the rifle design doesn't make a lot of sense either. For example, the FN FAL has two variants. In one variant, the "metric pattern" version, the magazine can NOT be reloaded when it is in the rifle. That means by your defination it would be a "clip." Yet there is another variant of the FN FAL, the so-called inch version, that has a stripper clip guide in the top of the dust cover so that the magazine can be loaded with stripper clips while the magazine is in the rifle. That means that if we take two identical magazines, whether it is a magazine or a clip would be dependant on which rifle we use that magazine with.
Here's a couple of Wiki links that talk about the difference. I could dig up non-wiki references if I had to as well, but these cover the info.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clip_(ammunition)
The "Dean Speir" article linked at the bottom of the Wiki "clip" article is a good article to read as well.
Here's the Wiki article on Magazines:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magazine_(firearm)