# ammo clip tapping **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 20, 2013, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ammo-clip-tapping/674318 "2013-11-20T04:17:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pjtrenthem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/90db22/32.png) [@pjtrenthem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjtrenthem)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ammo-clip-tapping/674318/1 "2013-11-20T04:17:22Z")
In Viet Nam, when loading the clip in an M16, why did the soldiers tap the clip against their helmet, or was that just in the movies? If so, why was that in the script? ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ammo-clip-tapping/674318/2 "2013-11-20T04:28:04Z")
To align the rounds in the magazine and/or knock loose any accumulated dirt; either can cause misfeeds (“jams”). Also possibly a superstitious “luck” ritual. [Here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7519135)’s an older thread on the topic. ---
**Author:** ![SanDiegoTim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@SanDiegoTim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanDiegoTim)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ammo-clip-tapping/674318/3 "2013-11-20T05:20:10Z")
Just to clarify, you are referring to magazines, not clips. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ammo-clip-tapping/674318/4 "2013-11-20T23:30:39Z")
It knocks all the rounds to the rear of the magazine, like tapping a deck of cards on a table squares them up nicely. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ammo-clip-tapping/674318/5 "2013-11-21T00:05:17Z")
FYI: [**This is a magazine**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magazine_%28firearms%29), and [**this is a clip…**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clip_%28ammunition%29) ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ammo-clip-tapping/674318/6 "2013-11-21T01:19:09Z")
Yeah, I tapped my mags against my helmet or the stock of my M-16A1. The story was by lining up the bases of the rounds, you’d be less likely to get a misfeed. I didn’t know how true that was, but I didn’t see much harm in doing so. Even though the M-16A1 corrected the problems with the the M-16, well, there’s nothing more superstitious than a GI in combat. So we tapped our mags. ---
**Author:** ![dstarfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dstarfire/32/5762_2.png) [@dstarfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dstarfire)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ammo-clip-tapping/674318/7 "2013-11-21T01:34:22Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > FYI: [**This is a magazine**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magazine_%28firearms%29), and [**this is a clip…**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clip_%28ammunition%29) … This is for fighting, this is for grip"? ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ammo-clip-tapping/674318/8 "2013-11-21T18:31:43Z")
> [@dstarfire](#): > > … This is for fighting, this is for grip"? Yeah, and they’re named Charlene! ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ammo-clip-tapping/674318/9 "2013-11-21T22:27:13Z")
I was wondering: Did people also do this in order to “free up” the rounds inside the magazine? After being stored, they might have gotten a bit stuck to the sides or each other and after a tap they would move more smoothly. Ditto the spring mechanism. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ammo-clip-tapping/674318/10 "2013-11-21T22:41:20Z")
Did it make the rounds last longer, too? ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ammo-clip-tapping/674318/11 "2013-11-21T23:49:29Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > I was wondering: Did people also do this in order to “free up” the rounds inside the magazine? After being stored, they might have gotten a bit stuck to the sides or each other and after a tap they would move more smoothly. Ditto the spring mechanism. Magazines shouldn’t be used for long term storage.