Tube Fed vs. Magazine Clip

[curling leaf]

I just bought myself a new Rimfire .22 rifle that is clip fed. I use to own a tube fed Henry, and I thought the clip would be easier than tube feeding cartridges. It is not. I swear, it's a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. Fingers get pinched, and towards the end the spring resistance becomes significant, and it just doesn't go as quickly as I thought. Is this normal??? I'm starting to wish I purchased a tube feeder instead.

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[gunfreak]

I recently got a Marlin bolt tube fed and love it. Super accurate, smooth action, and no 'magazine' to worry about.

 

[YFZsandrider]

A stripper clip fed .22lr?! Cool!

 

[Jamie6.5]

A stripper clip fed .22lr?! Cool!

Why would you think it's a stripper clip?
M1 Garands are "clip fed" and theirs aren't stripper clips.
My model 511 Remington Scoremaster has a box magazine and Remington referred to it as clip fed. Don't agree? Then argue with America's oldest gun maker.

Then there is the reference, older than me (old! trust me) that refers to a "banana clip" that is curved like the fruit.
Have you ever heard of a "banana mag?" I haven't! But I HAVE heard of a banana clip.

A lot of people love to jump on posters that refer to a box mag as a "clip," but there's really no reason to.
I'll wager you knew exactly what he meant when he said it.

 

[Whaler]

I love my tube fed Henry.

 

[curling leaf]

It's a Marlin XT-22 LR, wood stock. I call it a clip, but if it's called a magazine, I stand corrected.

 

[OFADAN]

It's a Marlin XT-22 LR, wood stock. I call it a clip, but if it's called a magazine, I stand corrected.

If it has a spring to move the cartridges it is a magazine. Clips always charge (not load) magazines and magazines never charge clips. Chambers are loaded, magazines are charged. Whew!

 

[curling leaf]

A lot of people love to jump on posters that refer to a box mag as a "clip," but there's really no reason to.
I'll wager you knew exactly what he meant when he said it.

I've edited the title to this thread to hopefully prevent confusion.

Anyway, to get back on topic, I find the magazine to be difficult to load. Is this just how it is? If so, I'm surprised they are so popular compared to tube feeders.

 

[GED]

I love my tube fed Henry.

And I love my tube fed Winchester 9422....

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

There may be a speed loader for the gun. I know Butler Creek makes a .22lr loader now, the baby LULA, maybe it will work on your marlin (love their LULA for the AR and UPLULA for pistol mags).
First, I'd load it up to maximum capacity and let it sit for a couple weeks. Many magazine springs take an initial "set". Glock magazines are a perfect example. Major pain to load the last round or two until they take that set.
After that, just shoot it a bunch. They tend to loosen up a bit from continual loading and unloading, especially if there are any imperfections in the magazine body that are causing the follower to hang up or cause resistance.
I remember coming home from sage rat shooting weekends with black, torn up thumbs from loading .22lr mags. But those were high volume shooting weekends (like a brick or two was a slow weekend, a case was a good 'un) and it was from the volume of shooting, not the spring pressure. If it's still annoying contact marlin. They may send you another magazine to compare and it's possible yours has a problem.
The advantage of a clip (magazine) fed rifle is to have a few mags loaded up ready to go, rather than always reloading the tube after shooting them all. I've never heard about ease of loading as a selling point. Don't worry, just shoot it a bunch and you'll devlop a nice thumb callus and won't notice it.

 

[mjbskwim]

I have never had much problem with either. Tube or clip. ( I couldn't give a rat *** what the "proper name is and will always call it a clip when some SMART *** think they need to correct someone on it.
Go back to sleep)

The big difference ,here in WA is the magazine makes it easier to load the gun when you are grouse hunting,in the truck, with your riffle.
We can't have any bullets in the rifle up here.
The magazine would let you load and unload faster.Otherwise,I haven't had too much difference in either with how many FTFs they have had.
Not too sure why you would have trouble loading a 22 mag though.Not much resistance there

Most 22s need to be loaded from the front and the cartridge pushed back a little.Putting the rim in first,not just pushed straight down as with,say,an AR magazine

 

[curling leaf]

Not too sure why you would have trouble loading a 22 mag though.Not much resistance there

Most 22s need to be loaded from the front and the cartridge pushed back a little.Putting the rim in first,not just pushed straight down as with,say,an AR magazine

Well, I know I'm feeding them in correctly, so perhaps it's just a stiff spring that needs to relax as Double Tap mentioned in his posting.

 

[H2O MAN]

I have two tube fed lever action rifles, the rest of my rifles are fed by magazines or drums.
All can be a PITA to load, but practice can mitigate most if not all of your frustrations.

 

[mjbskwim]

Try these with thumbs that don't like to push any more. (years of abuse in construction)
I have the 10/22 loader,the lula? loader and always use the 1911 mag loaders.
Love how the 22 pistols have the little nob on the side to pull the spring down

 

[chemist]

My only gripe with my tube-fed .22 is that it has to be laboriously emptied out to clear the chamber.
With my mag-fed rifles, you pop it out, rack the action, and pop the mag back in. Done.

 

[gunfreak]

Pull the spring tube and they all come out, thats just as fast as a mag.

 

[accessbob]

I have never had much problem with either. Tube or clip. ( I couldn't give a rat *** what the "proper name is and will always call it a clip when some SMART *** think they need to correct someone on it.
Go back to sleep)

Try going to Les Schwab sometime and ask for a Wheel for your car when you mean a tire and see what happens. There are distinct differences. Someone familiar with firearms ought to know there's a difference and use the correct term for the item they mean. So, call it what you will but it will likely get corrected, so you might want to get over it as well.

 

[EMP9596]

Try going to Les Schwab sometime and ask for a Wheel for your car when you mean a tire and see what happens. There are distinct differences. Someone familiar with firearms ought to know there's a difference and use the correct term for the item they mean. So, call it what you will but it will likely get corrected, so you might want to get over it as well.

 

[PDXSparky]

I just bought myself a new Rimfire .22 rifle that is clip fed.

It would have really helped if you and mentioned which Rimfire .22 rifle you bought.

If you bought a 10/22, then the Butler Creek mag loader would be worth a look. I have one to load my 25 round mags, whether they are the butler creek brand or the Ruger factory BX-25 mags. It works pretty good most of the time. Just have to be patient and hold it at the correct angle. I've read people also use it on the factory 10 round mags, but I just load those by hand. I usually wear gloves when handling ammo, so that also protects my fingers from getting pinched.

If you bought some other rifle, then I can help you. Try wearing gloves?

 

[ArgentineSteel]

I love my tube fed 22s. I have a 10-22 but prefer the marlin 71. Build a couple speed loaders out of brass tubes and go target shooting.

Nice thing about the tube fed models is they will , shorts, and LR 22 cartridges.