Difficulty with charger clips

Hey there, folks. I recently purchased a No 1 MK3 made at Ishapore in 1952. The rifle is in very good condition, no problems whatsoever. Where I am finding myself having difficulty is with the charging clips. They're either too tight and impossible to move the rounds into the magazine, or they are too loose and won't line up long enough to properly load the rounds into the magazine.

Most recently I tried the ones sold here -- 5 NEW 5 RD 303 Caliber LEE ENFIELD STRIPPER CLIPS SMLE No. 1/3/4/5 Mk. 1/111 - Hunting -- but I've tried from other sellers as well at other locations.

Is there something I can be doing to make these charger clips just a bit more functional and easy to use? I'm loading them down, up, down, up, down as intended so I'm led to believe I'm just purchasing poor quality chargers.

Any thoughts or help is appreciated. :)

You need to fettle them, try bending them until they are slightly looser.
The insides could probably do with a bit of emery paper as well to the rounds slip easier into the magazine.

Welcome to milsurps, as #2 says bit of judicial bending the end tab lightly mind you also the rim groove though substantial my need a polish up one of the ladies popstick nail files would suffice just do not say what you have re purposed it for.
I always give my charge clips a light coat of oil & wipe down after handling.

Thank you, guys. I'll report back a bit later after I have some time to work on it.

No basically my clips are dry when used as I wipe them with a dry rag after charging them, its only after I have handled them on the range and won't get back to re-charging them for a few days-weeks stopping the rust getting going from handling them, you do not want any oil on your cartridges or hands when charging the magazine that causes all sorts of problems by itself.

I shot alongside a bloke last year who had his chromed............I guess he thought it would give him the edge in the rapids...

I always buy used, original clips. They may not look very pretty but they work.

Buff the inside with a fine wire wheel (or a pencil will help a bit if nothing else is available)

The earlier blued chargers strip much easier than the later phosphated ones. As said above polish the interior.

I media (walnut) tumble my M1 clips. Seems to help a bit.

The clips shown in the link appear to be the later type that are almost impossible to use. I bought a batch of those a few years ago and they where so tight that they would scratch the cases and would not feed easily.
Luckily at the time I had a couple of original wartime production ones that were so much easier to use. Comparing the two shows that there is a huge difference in the type of steel used. The original is proper spring steel and will not damage the cases.
The bullets should be loaded with a downward push of the thumb. That's virtually impossible with the later almost rigid clips. I spent some time with a dremel grinder to polish the inner surface and reduce the thickness of the later clip type. It did work better; but still not as good as the original wartime production.
Luckily I was gifted a few proper clips for use in Service rifle competitions, and the ones I bought get used for dummy (neutralised) rounds for display.

I have those clips and they suck. I used some sandpaper wrapped around a file to take some material off the inners to make them even usable. Possibly tumbling them in a corncob media or other abrasive media might also work at getting some of the thickness out of them, but I haven't tried.

I agree the wartime prod ones are far superior to the new parked ones I have gone through all of mine and keep 60 rounds ea in 2 x Patt 37 pouches all with wartime produced ones the really stiff ones I have in display cartridges or used on practice shoots where it does not matter a hoot.
Some of the guys experimented stacking the cartridges in the charger clips like this ///// instead of _-_-_ with no real issues, another little secret I learnt is just as you feel the last cartridge clear the charger ever so slightly move your thumb forward whilst pushing the cartridge home that way you avoid the time honored soul destroying whilst your in the lead Rim Over.
Takes practice but once learnt becomes automatic.

I think I have 15 stripper clips in all, but 4 just hit the sweet spot and work faultlessly, with just the right amount friction, the others despite my fettling, just aren't quite right.

I prefer originals, the repros don't work so well. I like worn too, if you refinish them then blue them not parkerize as parkerizing is a crystalline structure that forms on top of the metal and it's rough. Blue goes into the metal and remains as smooth as the metal. These are going to be worn anyway...so don't worry about them being silver. If they're parkerized then use a bit of paper and smooth them up as suggested.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Stanforth

I always buy used, original clips. They may not look very pretty but they work.

---

I've found that it's much easier for somebody to list that they are selling an original clip than actually selling an original clip. :lol:

If somebody has a recommendation as to where I can find the originals for sale (and that ships to the United States or within the United States), I would greatly appreciate it!

The trick is to look for a seller who admits that the clips that he is selling are a bit rusty.

Probably too narrow, but the cartridges have to go into 'em correctly too.
This is a How-to.
Correctly fill the 5-round Charger Clip - 2nd Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers
Might be an idea to compare 'em to issue charger clips. $2.60 each from Gunparts(who keep calling a No. 4 an SMLE.). They call their's 'new' then say they're original.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Stanforth

The trick is to look for a seller who admits that the clips that he is selling are a bit rusty.

---

Looks like I might have found some proper original ones being sold by Victory Arms in Mocksville, NC. I suppose I won't know until they arrive next week though.

I'll be taking an emery cloth to the charger clips I have this evening to see if I can get them to function a bit better in the mean time. Poor brass will be all sorts of scratched up after taking them out again :lol:

Well a little emery cloth and elbow grease did the trick to get those charger clips working properly. Thanks for the advice!

I'll still be purchasing some originals as soon as I can, but at least I know I have functioning ones ready now.