M1 Carbine and stripper clips

Y

yankytrash

New member
Finally picked up some ammo for my 'new' M1 Carbine. I found some on strippers in bandoliers. The ammo is on two types of strippers - one kind with ears and an attached spoon, the other kind is a typical stripper with no ears. The guy was loading the strippers himself with LC ammo, and the bandoliers are marked for 30 Carbine on 10-rd strippers.

The Carbine itself is a post-war commercial Iver Johnson.

Are the strippers made for M1 Carbine charging? The reason I ask is because I can't seem to get the buggers to work in mine.

There's no sort of guide on the top of the receiver, so I have to line up the stripper by eye - not an easy task when you have to hold the bolt back at just the right location. When I finally have it lined up, I push the base of the top shell while carefully balancing the stripper and shove. Most of the time, I get an 'explosion' of shells flying around my shop. Not exactly what I would call convenient in the field.

There are three answers that I come up with:
1) There is another receiver type that accepts these clips better.
2) This is the best joke an ammo company could come up with.
3) I am doing something wrong.

Any help here?
 
There is only one I know of.

The strippers you need are the ones with the guides attached. What you do is not load the magazine from the gun, but from the magazine. I am not aware of M1 Carbine clips without the guide, but I could be ignorant. Simply take the magazine out of the rifle, line up the guide on the rear of the magazine, and then push as normal on the base of the cartridges and they should load fairly easy. I was just doing it the other day so I know it works. Good luck.
 
Do you find that the stripper itself wants to drop into the mag? I tried it the way you describe, and I still have the same basic problem. It's far from what I would call 'easy'. In a field situation, I still can't see myself using the strippers - more ammo would be lost than charged.

Maybe these strippers are spent? (that's my ignorant guessing at work)

Today, I'll keep trying different strippers with different mags. Maybe I'll catch what I'm doing wrong.
 
ARR-190.jpg

The "Stripper Clip Guide", shown above, slips onto the magazine. The M1 Carbine's magazines are charged from 10rd stripper clips (typically) which are inserted into the guide, push down on the cartridges firmly with your thumb. They should go in relatively easily. The strippers seat on the rear edge of the mag and are not free to fall forward into the magazine.

Surplus USGI ammo will have one stripper clip guide per bandoleer. There are a lot of different kinds of stripper clips and guides out there for all kinds of rifles and even some pistols. It's possible the stipper clips you have are not intended for the M1 Carbine, maybe that's why they're not working with your mags. -- Kernel
 
That appears to be a M14 guide.

From my understanding since I have both M14 mags and M1 Carbine mags, the picture Kernal shows is of a M14 mag guide. All of the M1 Carbine clips I have ever seen have the guide already attached. They are an integral unit. I wish I had a digital camera, I would snap some pictures and post them. Too bad. Sounds to me like you either have non-M1 Carbine stripper clips or that as you stated, they are in poor shape. Tough to say from 2000 miles away. ;)
 
I think it's time for some facts. :) Carbine ammo does indeed come on plain stripper clips, otherwise this brand new case that I just cracked for these pictures would not exist! This is how the US Military distributed .30 Carbine ammo.

94032_Dscn0458.jpg


94033_Dscn0459.jpg
 
Thanks guys. Got it. My mags had little grease hanging the back of the followers. I figured it out when I charged a freshly-cleaned 30-rounder. I guess the hard grease was unnoticeable when I hand-loaded the mags one by one.
 
Johnwill, if you root around in those bandoleers you should be able to find an "official" carbine stripper clip guide. Weither the picture I posted is of a Carbine guide or a M14 is immaterial, other than size they're essentially identical in every respect... sorry if it threw anyone, it was the best pic could find on the web in 60 seconds or less. -- Kernel
 
Hi, guys,

Confusion on top of confusion!!!

Carbine ammo was issued either in 50 round boxes or later in 10 round stripper clips. The clips are used to load the magazines off the rifle; the carbine has no clip guide on the rifle. There were two types of clips. The first is just the clip and a clip guide is included in each bandolier. The newer type has a clip guide attached to each clip. IIRC, there is no difference in the marking on the bandolier or on the can.

The clip guide shown is for the M16 rifle, whose 5.56mm ammo is also issued in 10 round clips. Like the carbine, it is for loading magazines off the rifle. The M16 has no clip guide and magazines cannot be loaded on the rifle.

The M14 clip is 5 rounds, and can be used with a separate clip guide to load magazines, or can load a magazine on the rifle using the clip guide built into the rifle. It is NOT the same as the Mauser or Model 1903 Springfield clips.

Jim
 
I haven't actually looked around for the clip guide in that box, I just popped the top to take these pictures. I'll have to check, it makes sense that they'd include the clip guide in there...
 
Hi, Hawkman,

If you buy US GI in bandoliers, the ammo comes in clips with either a guide in the end pocket or with the guide attached to the clip. Otherwise, the clips and guides are available at gun shows from time to time.

Be careful. Dealers, either through ignorance or greed, will sometimes try to sell the cheaper 5.56mm clips and guides as carbine. The carbine clip is narrower and a bit shorter (the cartridge base is smaller), and the clip guide is flat on the back. The 5.56 M16 clip guide has a vertical hump (like the one in the picture) to clear the hump on the M16 magazine.

As noted before, the M14 clip is a whole different animal and the clip guide is bigger than either of the others.

Jim
 
I have never seen or heard of a clip/clip guide before for the carbine before this thread and am having trouble picture how they work. In my mind I picture the guide attaching at the rear of the mag, the clip going into the guide and the rounds being pushed down in to the mag. What about the "ears" on the mag that keeps the rounds from popping right out. When I load a mag I place a the back of the rounds ahead of the "ears" and push down and back. How does the clip account for the "ears"?

Could some one post a pic of clip\clip guide and mag in action?

Also, why ten round strippers? Didn't the M-1 Carbine come with 15 and or 30 rnd mags? Wouldn't 15 round mags have made more sense? Could you use 1 stripper clip and half another one to fully charge a 15 rnd mag?
 
Seeker -

Like I said, this M1 Carbine is new to me, so I'm no expert. But I think I can take a stab at this one:

My Mi Carb came with an unknown 30-rd mag. At a gun show, I bought 5 ol' beat-up WWII/Korean War 15-rounders from 5 different manufacturers. Although the gun books I have say to load the mags like you describe, all 6 of my mags load directly into the top of the mag, like the AR15. No push/shove-method necessary, the bullets fall right in between the ears.

And yes, I agree. Why 10-rd strippers? I tried to load a stripper and a half in to mag, then put the five remaining in another mag, and it seems to be a good way to lose shells (although it is possible to do it if you're careful). I think the best answer for that comes from my first post:
2) This is the best joke an ammo company could come up with.
Click to expand...
;)
 
Thanks yankytrash!

I tried it with single rounds and I'll be danged if they don't just pop in there, (my 15 rnd mags are marked with BW, IA and SS-4), just like you said!

I tried it with the mags for Rem 30.06 pump and it worked for that too.

TFL is cool! There is always somethin' to l'arn.
 
I've never felt the need for stripper clips for loading either the AR or M1 Carbine magazines, the rounds pop right in pretty quickly. The problem comes if you decide you want to unload the magazines without shooting them empty, it's a PITA to get the rounds out! :)
 
The problem comes if you decide you want to unload the magazines without shooting them empty, it's a PITA to get the rounds out!
Click to expand...

Dang right!! Especially that M1 Carbine. After fiddling with the stripper clips awhile, it was time to unload them and clean the mags. My fingers are still recovering from it - and I think I left my thumbnail in of the older 5-rounders....:eek:

I'll admit, the stripper clips are cool and all, but I also find no practical use for them. One by one gives the barrel time to cool down.
 
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