Stripper clips were never meant to be re-used in any army. They were purely expendable; the Frenchicon simply went the cheapest route. The U.S. did make some M1903 clips without the tabs that were to be used for training and could be re-used, but even those had a short life expectancy.

With clips now hard to get, many civilian shooters have the habit of pulling the clip out of the rifle and saving it before closing the bolt on the top round. In the military, the bolt was simply closed, popping the empty clip out onto the ground.

Jim