I couldn't decide whether to include the clip-vs-magazine distinction -- OT1H I hear folks who know the difference saying "clip" either from sloppiness or because they think that's more intelligible to their listeners; OTOH it really annoys some people and raises the "can't tell whether you're being lazy or ignorant" problem I mentioned.
I thought a clip looked awkward as hell, until my brother demonstrated loading a WWII-or-thenabout rifle with a clip. (He didn't show me on a Garand; this was one that used a stripper clip, where you pull the clip out leaving he cartridges in the magazine. An SKS maybe?)
Another distinction I left out because even though it serves as a shibboleth it didn't seem important right now, is 'cartridge' vs. 'bullet'.
(For anyone listening in who's unsure of the difference: the bullet is the projectile that comes out the end of the barrel when the gun is fired; the cartridge is the complete package with the gunpowder and bullet (or shot, for a shotgun) in it that you load into the gun. But saying "bullet" when you mean "cartridge" isn't usually confusing, because (AFAIK) the only time you'd load a gun with a bullet that isn't part of a cartridge would be with a muzzleloader or maybe naval artillery.)
(no subject)
I thought a clip looked awkward as hell, until my brother demonstrated loading a WWII-or-thenabout rifle with a clip. (He didn't show me on a Garand; this was one that used a stripper clip, where you pull the clip out leaving he cartridges in the magazine. An SKS maybe?)
Another distinction I left out because even though it serves as a shibboleth it didn't seem important right now, is 'cartridge' vs. 'bullet'.
(For anyone listening in who's unsure of the difference: the bullet is the projectile that comes out the end of the barrel when the gun is fired; the cartridge is the complete package with the gunpowder and bullet (or shot, for a shotgun) in it that you load into the gun. But saying "bullet" when you mean "cartridge" isn't usually confusing, because (AFAIK) the only time you'd load a gun with a bullet that isn't part of a cartridge would be with a muzzleloader or maybe naval artillery.)