The Probert Encyclopaedia of Warfare

CLIP

In firearms, a clip is a method of loading some rifles, particularly the US Garand and Mannlicher series. A clip differs from a charger in that the entire unit, cartridges and metal frame, are inserted entirely into the gun's magazine and the metal frame is only discarded when all the cartridges have been fired. Clip-loading rifles suffer from two distinct drawbacks. Firstly, the magazines cannot be partially reloaded. The operator must wait until the magazine is empty before fully loading it. Secondly, the discarded clip provides an audible signal to the enemy that the operator's weapon is empty.
Research Clip