It's not nitpicking since they are different in a simple technical sense. They are both different items and perform different functions. I agree it's one thing to correct someone for technical purposes and another to do it for the sake of being an elitist asshole, but small details matter in pretty much every hobby.

I find myself doing what predator20 does mostly though, constant reference to the item being a magazine and not a clip when referring to a magazine, as it's the most subtle and mannerly way of letting the correct information get out. Rarely do I outwardly dispute the difference between a magazine and a clip unless I'm among company who respects me and who I respect enough to know it's not about ego, it's just about correct terminology.

Depends, does it really matter if someone calls a TEC-9 a machine gun or an M1 Garand an assault rifle?

A tech 9 a machine gun? Ok, that's kinda true.

An M1 is NOT an assault rifle in any sense of the definition because it isn't select fire.

Um, except the part where it's semi-automatic. :confused:

Not really.
Though the M1 Garand's a bit of a stretch and TEC-9s can be machine guns..
All I'm saying is clip is now modern vernacular for magazine.

Perception is reality

Although I always use the term "magazine" myself, I think it's way too OCD and Aspergian to constantly correct others who use the wrong term. At the end of the day, it's a stupid thing to obsess over.

For the record, my grandfather carried a 1911 in WWII. He often tells me a story about how his platoon held its position during a Wehrmacht counter-offensive with very little ammo, and he always says that he had only "half a clip" for his 1911. Although my Dad and I agree that the story itself is probably exaggerated, I just think it's interesting that my grandfather says "clip" to refer to the magazine of his 1911. Apparently, this was acceptable at the time, before the Mazryonhs of the world gained the ability to proselytize over the Internet.

Watching my History Channel Tales of the Gun series, a lot of the old timers they have guests do actually say clip, but they also say magazine

The thing is, by that logic, a TEC-9 is a machine gun and an M1 Garand is an assault rifle, depending on someones definition or "perception" of the terms or weapons. What I'm saying is that in purely definitional terms, clips and magazines are different devices. Connotatively they are the same, but by definition (at least as I know them) they are not, just as those weapons are connotatively something to someone when they aren't to someone else.

Now without getting too deep into it and too technical, I understand appreciating that thee two terms are colloquially interchanged today, but just the same, it should be respected and understood that in a purely technical sense, they are different.

uh what? TEC-9 is NOT a machine gun. The full auto version CAN be called a submachine gun since it fires a pistol cartridge, but NOT a machine gun. A Machine gun fires rifle cartridges and higher (though when it's a lot higher it's either a HEAVY machine gun or an auto cannon). One could call it a machine pistol since it was NOT originally designed to be fire with a shoulder stock (like an Uzi, MP5, MP40, etc).

Here is my own rule of thumb list:

1) Machine pistol - fires pistol cartridge - (a full auto version of a handgun aka Glock 18 or Beretta 93R) or a full auto weapon designed to be fired either via one hand or without a buttstock (Tec-9, Micro Uzi (the version with no stock), Mauser 712, etc) For the purists, the stock for the Mauser 712 was also the stock for the non full auto Mauser

2) Submachine gun (any select/full auto weapon) that fires a pistol cartridge and was originally or generally is offered with a folding or telescoping stock. Examples: Uzi, Madsen M50, MP40, MP18, M1928 Thompson, etc.

3) Carbine (any shortened and lightened version of a full sized assault or battle rifle for specialty usage) like an XM-177E1 or a dedicated semi auto rifle like an M1 Carbine or short specialty manually operated rifle like a cavalry carbine (Carcano Cavalry Carbine M91/38, etc.)

4) Assault Rifle - Any select fire rifle that fires an intermediate cartridge (between a pistol and a full sized rifle cartridge)

5) Main Battle Rifle - Any infantry rifle that fires a full rifle cartridge. Some argue that .308 is an intermediate cartridge, but then people argue whether or not the G3 or FN FAL are assault rifles or MBRs. Depends on what you think a full sized rifle cartridge is. Either way, the M1 garand is a MBR as well as any Bolt action rifle that was fielded.

6) Squad automatic weapon/Light Machine Gun - a fire support Machine gun that fires the same intermediate cartridge as the rest of the infantry squad. (M249, RPK, RPD)

7) General Purpose Machine gun - a belt fed machine gun that fires a round that is not used by the rest of the squad (M60, M240, PKM )

8) Machine gun - belt fed machine gun (more vintage term) a crew served weapon that fires the same FULL SIZED rifle round as the rest of the squad (M1919, M1917, M1908 Maxim, .303 Vickers, MG42, etc)

9) Heavy Machine gun - any sort of machine gun that fires a round that is normally too large to be carried by any other squad infantry member, the most common example is the .50 BMG, even though in recent years we have seen marksmen using the Barrett 50 cal rifles in combat. (M2HB, M3, DShK, _

10) Auto cannon - 25mm Bushmaster, 40mm Bofors, etc.

:D

With all due respect, that's my point, the item in question is whatever the person or persons define it as. In this case, these guys are allowing common vernacular by ignorant or uninformed people (again, with all due respect) to define the term for them, when in fact there are true technical definitions or at the very least an opposing common vernacular used by more educated people like yourself or other gun enthusiasts. The two answers as to what something is are what it is according to actual definition of terms (which can be wide ranged and very complicated) or what groupthink among people allow it to be (which is not always accurate), and that's the way it is.