Spent clips and magazines. Pick them up, or drop and go?

[GIZMO8Z]

I've had this silly question brewing in my mind for a while, so I figured this would be a good place to ask it.

I figure this would be situational...

Say a soldier is participating in an assault during World War II... after said soldier expends the entire load of bullets within the clip or magazine of his/her weapon, does he take the time to collect the clips and magazines and fumble with putting them back into pouches/ bandoliers, or would they just reload, drop the spent clip or magazine, and continue fighting?

I would imagine that soldiers would take the time to save magazines, as they are more complex in design, more expensive to produce, and in general probably harder to come by... Still, stuffing a magazine back into an ammo pouch while trying to reload a weapon/ returning fire/ being under enemy fire must have been a pain in the butt. Beyond that, it must have SUCKED to try to remember which magazines in your pouches were full or empty while under fire... I can imagine that some unlucky souls grabbed empty magazines at the worst possible time and met their end.

I can understand just dropping clips... especially the ones for the M1 Garand considering how they flew out of the rifle. Those clips must have been so hard to find among rubble and debris on the battlefield...

Thanks for your time and consideration!

[ObKrieger]

Bullets are very heavy so even the least experienced soldier would probably be able to discern perhaps a full Thompson mag from an empty one. Not to mention the fact that you would be able to see the couple of visible top rounds.

I would imagine that Garand and stripper clips were lost all the time though. Speaking from reenacting experience I can say that those damned things are hard enough to find when there AREN'T real bullets flying at you, let alone fake ones.

[ian]

i was always told ,,pick up your mags ,cos resuply will give you ammo,,but mags?? no they are the responsability of the user
never drop a mag from your weapon on the flor it damages the mag ,allways remove it by hand
the condition of your mags is the difference between a stopage and death,or a working weapon and life
mags are so so important
cheers ian

[robin morley]

During my Army days empty mags were stuffed in my smock leaving only full ones in the ammo pouches.

[Zeller]

Believe that when you're under fire you would not mind much about empty mags, unless you know you may need later to refill them. Otherwise, you just drop them while taking the target.

[Rockhopper]

Your drills will take over and you'll always keep your empty mags in your pouches. Some of the guys have a dump pouch on their leg which they can stuff their empties into in a hurry. As has already been said any resupply will be loose rounds and you'll have to bomb up your mags yourself. We are issued with six magazines although its usually possible to obtain a couple more if needed. We will also carry several hundred loose rounds (in boxes or more commonly these days in plastic stripper clips). If you loose any magazines you'll get billed for them (i think about £11 each) !!

[GIZMO8Z]

Thanks for the insight!

[Mikel]

It depends on what day it is and the pucker factor.
Fiddling about stuffing an empty mag into a pouch can cost you or a mate his life.
The situation governs the action. There is no set "always or never."

[Walkwolf]

I think there is a big difference between a 'clip' and 'magazine', although
the names are used for both. IMO, no one picks up
empty clips to be refilled.........

[Thanatos]

If you wish to save your government some cash,pick up the empty mag,if you enjoy life reload and fire.Is your life worth a piece of stamped steel or plastic.
Cheers
Dave