Stripper Clips/Chargers

[Jack Leslie]

Last night, I was going through some of my old stuff, and ran across my long lost bunch of stripper clips. Some were steel with the spring folded longitudinally, which I remember were from WWII. The end tabs are long gone, but the catch on each end of the spring still holds it into the body.

The other group is brass colored with almost all of the end tabs still attached. These are still bright, so I doubt that they are pre-WWII. Did they make brass ones after the war? How can I tell the vintage? (Brophy doesn't have good enough photos to ID them).

Thanks,
Jack

[NuJudge]

I've always been told that Brass chargers were from WW I, Parkerized steel were from WW II.

Most of the brass ones I've seen have still been rather bright. Maybe someone here knows if there was some surface treatment to maintain this.

CDD

[JohnMOhio]

While your on the subject of the WW1 stripper clips, any idea of what they are going for these days.

The ones I have are in pretty good condition. I see some discoloration that appears to be caused by moisture droplets. Others seem to me that the discoloration may have been caused by the oils from a person handling them. The usual discoloration of brass such as seen on my house address numbers is different than that seen on the stripper clips.

I suspect it could also becaused by the quality of the material that they were made from. Not necessarly uniform, with some impurities. Not knowing what causes the discoloration I have kept them in sealed plastic and have refrained from opening or handling them.

Anyone have some answers?

Thanks in advance.
John