Repeating rifle

A repeating rifle is a single barreled rifle containing multiple rounds of ammunition (consisting of primer, powder, and bullet contained in a cartridge). These rounds are loaded from a reservoir chamber (magazine) by means of a manual or automatic mechanism.

Clip & Magazine Types

Stripper Clip

The Mauser bolt action design uses a "stripper clip", holding a number of rounds in a vertical stack. Positioning this clip between the opened bolt and the breech, the rounds are pushed down into the magazine against a spring, with the clip being discarded after the cartridges are "stripped" off.

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En Bloc

Several rifle designs have relied on an "en bloc" clip design. En Bloc clips hold several cartridges under tension within a bent metal clip. The cartridges and clip are inserted as a unit into a fixed magazine within the rifle, and the clip is traditionally ejected by the rifle upon firing or chambering the final chamber. The first rifle to use an en bloc design was the M1895 Steyr-Mannlicher, and other notable en bloc fed rifles include the M1891 Paraviccini-Carcano and the US M1 Garand.

Related Topics:
Carcano - M1 Garand

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The major shortcoming of the en bloc design that prevented further adoption is that it is typically difficult or impossible to "top off" a partially loaded magazine without first cycling all unfired rounds through the action.

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Box Magazine

Other designs use a pre-loaded box magazine that is inserted into a slot in the receiver of the weapon, usually from the bottom. The magazine includes a spring to elevate the rounds into position. This type of magazine is common in most modern weapons and may be straight or curved, the curve reflecting the somewhat conical shape of a high powered round, where the cartridge containing the powder is of larger diameter than the bullet.

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In extreme combat situations two box magazines may be taped together with an offset, forming a reversible magazine ? when the first magazine is exhausted the double clip is removed, reversed, and reinserted.

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Drum Magazine

Used in the Thompson submachine gun and the "Street Sweeper" shotgun, a moving partition within a cylindrical chamber forces loose rounds into an exit slot. After loading of the magazine a key is used to wind the spring that moves the partition against the rounds. The Thompson could also use a straight box magazine holding thirty rounds.

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