Hello everyone, I have a question that is really quite unique, and one I'm surprised I hadn't asked about earlier. The Swiss military developed a fantastic straight pull action rifle in the K31, this rifle like the vast majority of it's other bolt-action rifle brethren was fed with a stripper clip. Only there was one small difference, the Swiss stripper clips were made of a combination of something similar to cardboard and wax. So why is it the Swiss didn't go the direction literally every other nation of the time period went by, and that was using metal stripper clips? I don't know the answer, but I'm assuming it might be an attempt by the Swiss to ration metal, and find a cheaper more readily available material so they don't have to rely on the import of foreign metal, which in a time of war, is nearly impossible to get. How come Germany, Japan, and even the Soviet Union didn't use different materials for their stripper clips, which would have allowed the excess metal to be allotted to higher priority designs. I'm an unsure if you could make a wooden stripper clip, or maybe a hardened fabric clip that could feed just as reliably and effectively as a metal one. Thoughts, answers?? Thank you for any input or answers you may have!
After further research, I have found that no other nation diverted from metal stripper clips, why is that??
Hmmm.... i can only agree that it was made from cardboard for the cheap price. No other reeason found.
I have the 1911 model and have casually wondered about this too. However, as you can see by your photo, there is metal involved in the clip, so go figure.. The other little difference in this system is that the clip and magazine hold six rounds instead of the usual 5 or 10. I have a few of these clips but use them only rarely since they seem rather fragile.
Collect the used clips, remove the cardboard if needed, put new cardboard on the metal parts. You can use the same clip over and over but not be too stressed if it's lost. /swag
An idea, but what I think is weak part on this type of clip are those little flanges sticking down (they kind of look like a tongue). These flanges hold the rounds in the clip. When you strip the rounds into the gun, the flanges are forced outward and have to be re-bent in order for the clip to hold rounds. After a few bends back and forth they break off. Therefore I use mine sparingly. It wasn't a problem in the Swiss Army since they were probably only used once.