Holsters and Gear Recommendations
Mag vs Clip: The Difference Between a Magazine and a Clip
Quick answer: A magazine feeds rounds into the gun. A clip holds rounds together so a magazine or a revolver cylinder can be loaded faster. MantisX puts it simply: “a magazine is what feeds ammo into the gun, while a clip is what feeds ammo into the magazine.” Modern pistols and rifles mostly use magazines.
What Is a Magazine?
Wikipedia defines a magazine as “an ammunition storage and feeding device for a repeating firearm, either integral with the gun (internal or fixed external) or detachable.” It works “by holding several cartridges within itself and sequentially pushing each one into a position where it may be readily loaded into the barrel chamber by the firearm’s moving action.”
It also addresses the mix-up directly: the detachable magazine “is sometimes colloquially referred to as a ‘clip,’ although this is technically inaccurate since a clip is actually an accessory device used to help load ammunition into the magazine or cylinder of a firearm.”
What Is a Clip?
Wikipedia: “A clip is a device that is used to store multiple rounds of ammunition together as a unit for insertion into the magazine or cylinder of a firearm.” MantisX describes it the same way: “A clip is a device that holds multiple rounds together and is a tool for loading a magazine.”
SecureIt Gun Storage sums up the direction of travel: “Clips can be used to load ammo into a magazine, but magazines cannot load ammo into a clip, and that is the main difference between the two.”
Types of Clips
| Type | How the source describes it |
|---|---|
| Stripper clip | Wikipedia: holds “several pistol or rifle cartridges as a unit for easier loading into a firearm’s internal box magazine.” The cartridges are pressed down, “removing or ‘stripping’ them off the clip and into the magazine.” |
| En bloc clip | Wikipedia: “both the cartridges and clip are inserted as a unit into a fixed magazine within the rifle.” MantisX names “the en-bloc M1 Garand” as the classic example. |
| Moon and half-moon clips | Wikipedia: “a ring-shaped or stellate piece of metal designed to hold a full cylinder of ammunition for a revolver (commonly 6 rounds) together as a unit.” A half-moon clip holds “a half cylinder of ammunition (commonly 3 rounds).” |
Moon clips are a revolver item; our IWB revolver holster guide covers carrying a revolver.
How to Tell a Clip From a Magazine
MantisX gives two quick checks:
- How much of the ammo you can see: “if most of the rounds are exposed rather than just the first 1 or 2 it is a clip, a mag is generally fully enclosed like a box.”
- Whether there’s a spring: “a magazine has a spring and follower to push up the ammo as each round is expended, a clip is just holding ammo stationary and staged for loading.”
Why People Say ‘Clip’ When They Mean ‘Mag’
MantisX: “The biggest reason people say clip when they mean mag is pervasive misinformation from popular culture.” History plays a part too: “Rifles that used clips used to be much more prevalent and we fought both world wars with that technology.”
Clips haven’t disappeared. MantisX notes that “at Shot Show 2025 KelTec introduced the new PR-5.7 pistol that uses 10 round stripper clips to load.” Still, it adds that “most people are going to deal with magazines in their modern pistols and sporting rifles.”
The Other ‘Clip’: Carrier Clips
In carry gear, ‘clip’ has a second meaning: the spring clip that holds a holster or magazine carrier in place. Holster clips are covered in our holster clip guide.
The Cloudster 9mm magnetic pocket mag carrier “Ships with a hardened spring-steel deep-conceal clip already attached, plus a titanium standard clip” in the box, so you can set how deep it rides in your pocket. The 9mm IWB/OWB mag carrier uses one belt clip for inside or outside the waistband.
- 9mm carriers: Fits most 9mm and .380 magazines.
- .45 ACP carriers: Fits .45 ACP 1911-style single-stack magazines.
Our pocket mag carrier guide covers carrying a spare magazine, and the Kore pistol mag pouch is a MOLLE option. For carrying the gun itself in a pocket, see our pocket holster guide.
Mag vs Clip: Questions People Ask
Is a pistol magazine a clip?
No. Wikipedia calls the ‘clip’ label for a detachable magazine technically inaccurate, because a clip is a loading accessory.
Do pistols use clips?
Most use magazines. MantisX gives the KelTec PR-5.7, which loads from 10-round stripper clips, as a current exception.
What kind of clip does an M1 Garand use?
An en bloc clip, which goes into the rifle together with the cartridges.
What is a moon clip?
A ring-shaped clip that holds a full cylinder of revolver rounds together as one unit.
Written by the Cloudster Pillow team. We make the Cloudster Pillow and the Cloudster magnetic mag carriers, and carry Kore belts. We don’t sell firearms, magazines or ammunition clips, and no maker paid to be mentioned here.
