A magazine (also called a mag or, commonly but incorrectly, especially when removable, a
clip) is an
ammunition storage and feeding device within or attached to a
firearm. Magazines may be integral to the firearm (fixed) or removable (detachable).The
cartridges in the magazine are loaded into the firearm either automatically or manually depending on the type of gun, but almost always by a
spring. Some magazines can in turn be loaded by a
clip; magazine and clip are not synonymous terms. The
belt of linked ammunition used by most
machine guns is an ammunition feeding device that is not a magazine, since it does not operate by feeding rounds out of a container.
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