Stripper clips have several advantages if you have used both. Easier to load on clip, easier to load into rifle if you value your thumb, It can be topped off. There is no tell tall clink when you are empty, easier to carry because they are flatter. Probably cheaper and more reusable. Just some of my thoughts.
Clips or strippers, both are easily loaded.
From the sounds of it, there are a lot of people who were never taught to properly load an M1. I started shooting one around 10 years old, and the only time since then that I had my thumb stuck in one, was when the old man was pissed, and we were being punished. Only happened a couple of times (great old USMC DI motivator. Insert thumb, close bolt, hold gun by thumb at arms length until told to let it down) and we quickly caught on.
Ive got about a bazillion rounds through an M1 shooting them in matches from the 70's on, and cant ever remember getting my thumb caught or even bothered by the bolt while shooting it as it was meant to be shot.
The down side is the topping off thing, but they can still be topped off with loose rounds, if you choose, but why bother? Pop the clip and insert a new one.
The biggest downside to them though, is if you dont have a clip. Then it is a single shot rifle. No way around that.
As far as which is more robust? The clip is the winner by a mile there. Neither were ment to be reused, but the clips are a lot more robust than the strippers.
A big annoyance with the SKS's is using strippers that have been reused repeatedly, and have loosened up. You rarely get 10 rounds in the gun because of it, especially if youre loading from pouches. The rounds often fall off in the pouches, and on the way to the gun from them.
The Russians heard the cursing of American soldiers in ww2 when they got their thumb bit. Siminov saw a better way.
Really? See above.
Can you manually load a Garand without the en bloc clips? Because loading an SKS without stripper clips is easy - just slower. The bolt hold-back keeps the bolt out of your way. I hate the idea that, without your clips, the rifle is useless.
You can just drop an empty clip into the Garand, and load rounds under it. You wont get 8 in the gun, but youll get 6 or 7. As I said above, whats the point though, if you have loaded clips? Pop the clip thats low, or insert a full one. If you dont have a full clip, then you load it as described, and start looking for loaded clips.
