Clip

From GunCounter

A device that holds a quantity of ammunition together for ease of handling, storage and loading. The basic types in common use are:

1. En Bloc. A quantity of ammunition is held together by the clip. The entire clip is loaded into the magazine of the firearm, and the clip is ejected when the last round is fired so that a new one can be loaded. Example: The 8 round En Bloc Clip used on the M-1 Garand.

2. Stripper Clip. The ammunition is held together at the base. The Clip with ammo is held in place with a loading tool or notch on the firearm and the ammunition is "stripped" into the magazine. The empty clip is then removed. The clip is not in the weapon when it is fired. A stripper clip can be used to feed an internal magazine (K-98 Mauser rifle), a fixed magazine (SKS), or a detachable magazine (M-16).

3. Moon Clip. A circular (Full Moon Clip) or semi-circular (1/2 Moon Clip)piece of metal or plastic designed to hold handgun ammunition for loading into revolvers. Examples are the S&W M1917 and S&W 940.

The term Clip is often incorrectly used when discussing a magazine. An easy way to remember the difference is that magazines feed ammo to the firearm, and clips feed ammo to the magazines. Also, magazines tend to fully enclose the ammunition, while clips simply hold the ammunition together in easy to manipulate groups, and do not fully enclose the ammunition

(Note: Apparently in areas outside the US, particularly in the British Commonwealth, use of either term is considered correct).