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I have been cussing at the stripper clips for my Mosin for as long as I have owned it. Now that there are three more of them, I started casting about for a solution, or at least better clips.
Turns out I was merely loading the damn things wrong.
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| This is wrong. |
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| This is how they should look! |
What was happening is the rims were locking when they were being pushed past the interruptor and that keeps them from going into the magazine. If you set the rims so they're already properly aligned as if they were in the magazine they zip right in like they're supposed to! In retrospect, it's obvious. What threw me is that SMLE clips load with a symmetrical pattern with rounds 2 and 4 slightly behind the other three and the shape of the charger guide and follower stage them in correctly. So far that was my only experience with rimmed rounds and box magazines.
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| Ta da! |
From a comment by The Redactor:
Despite owning, like, a bunch of Mosins, I Did Not Know This.
ReplyDelete"The blog that you are about to view may contain content only suitable for adults." Must be all the talk about strippers.
ReplyDeleteI actually know the correct way to load and use the stripper clips, but I still can't get it right most of the time.
You also need to avoid those old Tapco stripper clip copies like the plague.
ReplyDeleteThey are made with somewhat loose tollerances, and have a tendency to jam up even if you load them correctly.
For best results, buy genuine combloc blued or stainless clips, followed by those Chinese soft brass copies ( they work OK for a while, they were meant to be disposable, similar to the Swiss cardboard and brass strippers ).
In fact, there is a scene in "Enemy at the Gates" where one of the characters is being punished for loading the clips wrong by putting her up to a defensive position with a rifle and a bunch of her incorrectly loaded clips ...
ReplyDeletePushing down with your thumb like that could cause you some pain. I've shredded many knuckles trying to get it to work that way.
ReplyDeleteYou may want to try it like this guy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1sLqC5k6_4 (Starting at about 4:18)
Use the thumb and either the index or middle finger to rotate the nose of the top cartridge up sharply as you're pushing down with your thumb.
Good video! I'll add that to the main post. Thanks!
DeleteI figured I couldn't have been the first person to figure this out in 121 years... ;)
I DID not know that.
ReplyDeleteBeing a Mosin, I always just assumed one went straight to using a hammer, 2x4 or whatever else was handy.
ReplyDeleteGood to know.