I was watching some TV news thing a while back and they were talking to some army soldiers out in Iraq.  During the interview I noticed one of the soldiers take a 30 round magazine turn it upside down on a stack of bullets that were held together by some means  (couldn't make out what they were held together by).  He just put some of his weight down on the magazine and it appeared to me he loaded 30 rounds into the magazine in one quick motion.  Can anyone explain what I might have seen?

no idea

30rds in one stripper clip seems kinda flimsy

Quoted: I was watching some TV news thing a while back and they were talking to some army soldiers out in Iraq.  During the interview I noticed one of the soldiers take a 30 round magazine turn it upside down on a stack of bullets that were held together by some means  (couldn't make out what they were held together by).  He just put some of his weight down on the magazine and it appeared to me he loaded 30 rounds into the magazine in one quick motion.  Can anyone explain what I might have seen?

In addition to what Chuck says, have you read through www.ammo-oracle.com?  If not, it is a must read about .223/5.56 ammo.  It has a couple of paragraphs about stripper clips.  It will save you a lot of future questions.