i own two m44 clones - one is polish and nicely beatup w/ only 45% blueing, the other is a type 53 from china in immaculate condition.

i'm having a tough time loading the 53 w/ stripper clips.  the clips are new production bought from tapco. the rounds are czech silver tips.

rounds go in hard on the polish, but they go in. on the 53 it's faster to load one at a time than w/ the clip - a lot of jiggle to get the rounds to fall at all.

has anyone else had troubles w/ the highly utilitarian russian stripper clips?  is there something i'm doing wrong here?  could it be that the spring is just too tense and needs wear?  i made my thumb numb trying all possible ways to load this frickin rifle.

these are the only bolt actions i own and it's a new (old) world to me.

Pretty typical experience for mosin strippers,
there not the most user friendly stripper clips ever made !

are those the stirppers with the creased metal or the rounded ones?  

the rounded ones rarely work.  when folded they are too wide to fit into the stripper guide.  the creased ones work awesome.

last i saw tapco had the rounded ones.  i bought the good ones at a shop.  one guy had many bads of nangant stripper clips and i looked through the all.  i found the one pack.  it took me 5 or 6 shows to find those.

i'll haved to get some of those creased strippers if i can find em - see if they're a better fit.

thanks, snafu

edited to add:  i've got some metal working tools lying around, maybe i'll sacrifice a couple clips by creasing the bends and see if they'll fit better - will post on result.