Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Stripper clips for H&H Magnum cartridges

In the current American Rifleman there is an article by Ross Seyfried on the origins of belted cases.

Seyfried discusses and shows pictures of belted H&H magnum cartridges in military-style stripper clips. Says they were for quickly reloading a complete strip of solids after emptying the softs.

Where can we get these today ?

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The article states that these are 7x57mm cartridge clips. I suspect that most 30-06 headsize clips would work. Numrich Arms would be a good place to start looking.

This article got me to thinking about rebarreling a No.4 MkI for this caliber. It would be an interesting and fun project. Imagine a Lee-Speed or Metford clone in a thumping caliber, using the 270gr. LBT bullet! Make it with a 26" barrel, band front sight, barrel band sling attachment, express sights, nice french walnut stock, lightly engraved, weight about 7 lbs....

The first paragraph contains these words. " However, this is not about the 375H&H that we all know, but about its father." The name of the cartridge is the H&H 400-375. Later in the article this statement is written; " To achieve this they created a totally new design. The case-head itself is about 30-06 size with a belt."
The reason the cartidges fit on the 7mm stripper clip is because they both have about the same size bolt-head. I don't think the magnum size bolt head will fit the stripper clips for the 7mm/8mm/30-06 family of cartridges, but I could be wrong.

All stripper clips intended for the 8x57, 7x57, 30-06 headsize should hold the 400-375 H&H cartridge with no problem. The .375 H&H Mag. headsize will not fit these clips. The real question is whether the clip will fit whatever action that is being used. That is to say, the width of the clips may vary, depending upon the parent action they were originally intended for.

Options for the stripper clip for the H&H Magnum cartridges would include --

1. Turning H&H case heads to 30-06 dimensions and modifying the rifle accordingly.

2. Having someone make clips for the H&H Magnum case head

3. ??


Can the world last much longer without this being available on an economical basis for us all ?

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Then, there is the matter of the scope being directly over the clip slots.

I've been around the Horn on stripper clips. Yes, they're made for specific cartridges, but they're also made for specific rifles. On the outside of each clip is a bump (or bumps) that keep the clip from going too deeply into the rifle's magazine. If those bumps are in the wrong place, the clip won't work with your rifle - you'll get five cartridges spilled in to the dirt as you try to reload. On a good day, one will go into the magazine.

There's a reason the armies of the world now use detachable box magazines.


Okie John

What scope?

Wayne

303?

True. However, many of those magazines are filled using stripper clips!

LOL! Wayne, you are brutal.....

If you're armed with a modern military rifle and you're using stripper clips under fire, you have serious problems.


Okie John

"Stripper clips for H&H Magnum cartridges."

The British .303 cartridge has a Rim diameter of .540, and the H&H Belted case has a rim diameter of .530.

I don't know if the SMLE rifles used stripper clips or not, but if they did, the clips might be usable for the H&H style cartridges. One problem would be getting the stripper clips to fit into the slots, if you had an action with stripper clip slots and chambered for a H&H belted cartridge.

Someone, and I can't remember who, used to make stripper clip add ons for M70s and M40X Remingtons. The were fastened to the rear receiver ring in place of a rear scope mount.

If the SMLE .303 used stripper clips, and you could find some of them, and you could find someone to make a clip adapter for your rifle, you could load it with stripper clips. Unless you put a scope on it.

The SMLE .303 and No.4 uses a straight stack 5-round charger clip that has side walls on it, not just a guide for the rim.
You might could cut the sides off, leaving just a steel clip around the rim.

The older Model 70 Target came with a stripper clip cut like a Mauser. I have one.

The 40X came with a stripper clip cut for the M-14 5-round stripper clip on the bandolier packs, and it may still, because the Marine Corps has long used the 40X as a base for their sniper rifles.

Try the stripper clips made for the 7.62x54 Russian. AKA Moisin Nagant. Big rims on those rounds.