Who made these and when?

[mjkberg]

Who made these enfield stripper clips?

And is there a website with info on Enfield stripper clips?

Information

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[RobD]

Are you in the UK? Coincidentally, Bill Harriman is giving a lecture this Mon eve 15th Feb at the Imperial War Museum on Clips and Chargers. If you PM me I will sedn you his email address.
Rob

[mjkberg]

No, I am in the USA.

[armabill]

From: Great War Forum Lee Enfield Rifle


CHARGER CLIPS

The charger loader clip, made of steel, was introduced in 1903 for use with the Lee-Metford Mark II rifle so that 5 cartridges could be loaded faster than by single loading. Many of the early Lee-Metfords in Service were modified to add/improve the charger loading system and enable charger clips to be used. You will often see the modification date on these rifles. The basic charger clip design did not change for the .303 cartridge and was produced until after WWII. Cartridges in charger clips were often carried in leather/webbing/canvas bandoliers. A new design charger clip was introduced for the 7.62 cartridge.

The Mark I charger clip can be easily identified. Its base has 4 oblong slots without ridges; the sides have 1 oval and 2 long oval holes and there are three oval pips on the side. The side end is not cut to form a spring but has a pip on the inside to retain the cartridges. It was not until 1921 that this clip was made obsolete for Naval Service. (L of C 11753 & 24376)

The Mark II can be divided into two variations. It was introduced in 1906, it had the same 4 oblong base slots but with three ridges to improve it’s strength. The side had 1 round, 2 oval, and 1 long oval holes together with the three oval pips. One side end on each side was cut to make the end into a spring stop; this retained the cartridges until needed and then improved the releasing of the cartridges. The numeral ‘II’ was marked on one side of the charger. The second type of Mark II only has 2 oval pips on the side. (L of C 13465).

The Mark III charger was introduced in 1916, it had 4 round holes in the base and 5 round holes on the sides. There were no ribs across the bottom and the side pips were changed to circular. It is Marked ‘III’ and continued in service until sometime after WWI. Some Mark III’s are found marked ‘I’ to ‘V’ with a makers code ‘GM’; these were made in Italy at the end of WWII. (L of C 18973)
(fig 1 3rd from Left clip)


The first Mark IV clip was introduced in 1917 had 4 round holes in the base and 4 round holes on the sides. This allowed for a longer spring on the side, which made it less stiff and easier to use. It is marked ‘IV’. Unmarked examples of this type have been found without the base slots and the spring end is shaped but not cut through.

The second type of Mark IV has 4 round holes in the base but 3 round and 1 oblong holes on each side. There are three ways in which this clip is marked; some have ‘Mk IV’, some ‘Mk 4’ and some just ’4’. This charger clip continued in use until after WWII.
(L of C 19786)

The Mark V was a WWI prototype clip, which did not go into general service. It was smaller and without holes being cut into the sides. It was designed like a Russian charger clip that was being made at the time in England.

Over 50 companies manufactured charger clips in various countries. Some companies are easy to identify, such as ‘BP’ for British Pens Ltd.; others, ‘CWS’ not so easy and still not known. I would like to thank Herbie Woodend at the Pattern Room (Nottingham) for his help in identifying a lot of the makers.

[Peter Laidler]

CWS Cooperative Wholesale Society Ltd

[Alan de Enfield]

CWS Cooperative Wholesale Society Ltd

Did you have to quote your 'divi' number when buying them ?