Magazine (firearms)

A magazine is an ammunition storage and feeding device within or attached to a repeating firearm. Magazines can be removable (detachable) or integral to the firearm. The magazine functions by moving the cartridges stored in the magazine into a position where they may be loaded into the chamber by the action of the firearm. The detachable magazine is often referred to as a clip, although this is technically inaccurate.

Magazines come in many shapes and sizes, from those of bolt-action express rifles that hold only a few rounds to drum magazines for self-loading rifles that can hold as many as one hundred rounds. Various jurisdictions ban what they define as "high-capacity magazines".

Nomenclature

With the increased use of semi-automatic and automatic firearms, the detachable box magazine became increasingly common. Soon after the adoption of the M1911 pistol, the term "magazine" was settled on by the military and firearms experts, though the term "clip" is often used in its place (though only for detachable magazines, never fixed). The defining difference between clips and magazines is the presence of a feed mechanism in a magazine, typically a spring-loaded follower, which a clip lacks. Use of the term "clip" to refer to detachable magazines is a point of strong disagreement.

Magazine

Magazines are publications, usually periodical publications, that are printed or electronically published (the online versions are called online magazines.) They are generally published on a regular schedule and contain a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by prepaid subscriptions, or a combination of the three. At its root, the word "magazine" refers to a collection or storage location. In the case of written publication, it is a collection of written articles. This explains why magazine publications share the word root with gunpowder magazines, artillery magazines, firearms magazines, and, in various languages although not English, retail stores such as department stores.

Definition

By definition, a "magazine" paginates with each issue starting at page three, with the standard sizing being 8 3/8" x 10 7/8". However, in the technical sense a "journal" has continuous pagination throughout a volume. Thus Business Week, which starts each issue anew with page one, is a magazine, but the Journal of Business Communication, which starts each volume with the winter issue and continues the same sequence of pagination throughout the coterminous year, is a journal. Some professional or trade publications are also peer-reviewed, an example being the Journal of Accountancy. Academic or professional publications that are not peer-reviewed are generally professional magazines. The fact that a publication calls itself a "journal" does not make it a journal in the technical sense. The Wall Street Journal is actually a newspaper.

Firearm

A firearm is a portable gun, being a barreled weapon that launches one or more projectiles often driven by the action of an explosive force. The first primitive firearms were invented in 13th century China when the one-person-portable fire lance was combined with projectiles. The technology gradually spread through the rest of East Asia, South Asia, Middle East and then into Europe. In older firearms, the propellant was typically black powder, but modern firearms use smokeless powder or other propellants. Most modern firearms (with the notable exception of smoothbore shotguns) have rifled barrels to impart spin to the projectile for improved flight stability.

Modern firearms are usually described by their caliber (i.e. their bore diameter, this is given in millimeters or inches e.g. 7.5mm, .357) or in the case of shotguns their gauge (e.g. 12 ga.); the type of action employed (muzzle, breech, lever, bolt, pump, revolver, semi-automatic, automatic etc.) together with the usual means of deportment (hand-held or mechanical mounting). They may be further distinguished by reference to the type of barrel used (rifled) and the barrel length (19 inch), the design's primary intended use (e.g. hunting rifle), or the commonly accepted name for a particular variation (e.g. Gatling gun). The word firearms usually is used in a sense restricted to small arms (weapons that can be carried by a single person), whereas the word artillery covers larger gunpowder-fired weapons.