Are You a Magazine Snob?

Are you a magazine snob?

Magazines and [Stripper] Clips

At Frontier Firearms we have never understood why some shooters make fun of old timers and newbies who mistakenly call "magazines" "clips". In fact, we cringe when we see posts and photos of clips and magazines with snide or cute captions demanding everyone know the difference. 

We feel that if magazine snobs took a moment to think about why so many folks refer to magazines as clips, they wouldn't be so quick to ridicule.

Indeed, the first time large numbers of Americans were introduced to repeating firearms was during WWI and then WWII. During these wars our Doughboys and then GI's fought with arms like stripper clip-fed '03 Springfields or clip-fed M1 Garands.

After the wars veterans came home with the knowledge that one reloaded with a clip. Thus, anything holding ammo for reloading was called a clip. The Vets passed the terminology down to their son's and to many a clip is still the name of something that holds ammo for loading and reloading.

To the day of his death my Grandfather Rex Dudley Williams (Tellico Plains, TN) who fought in WWI called a magazine was a clip . The same was true for my Great Uncle Rass Smith (Knoxville, TN) who fought his way to Burma and back in WWII.

Soon this debate will be over and gun-snobs won't need to worry about magazines being called clips because the Vets of our Greatest Generation who carried the term "clip" home with them from distant and foreign battles and their son's will be little more than fading memories. 

Anyway, that's why at Frontier Firearms we never make fun of folks who use the term clip when they mean magazine. In fact when we hear the mistake, instead of ridiculing or correcting, we pause and give silent thanks to those who fought for our freedom without ever learning or caring about the difference between a magazine and clip.