Has anyone considered the value of clip loaded combat rifles, as per an SKS or M1 Garand? The value of clips when loading magazines is clear, to your thumb at least, but what about the value of never needing a magazine, ever? The more ammo you have, the more valuable the clip-loaded rifle becomes. Suppose you have a big stash of ammo, over 1000 rounds. WIth a magazine-fed rifle, how much of your ammo do you pre-load into magazines, ie, how many mags do you need? How long do you leave those magazines loaded? With clip fed rifles, your ammo is always ready. Is someone really going to load 1200 rounds of bulk ammo into 40 x 30 round magazines and leave it stashed indefinately? Not likely. Is someone really going to have 1200 rounds of ammo in pre-loaded clips for their SKS or Garand? Sure, and why the hell not? It's not like clips are prohibitively expensive, and it's especially convenient if the ammo is pre-loaded into clips. BTW, a "mini Garand" with clip-fed, top-loaded internal magazine that fires .223, perhaps from 10 or 12 round clips, would be the ultimate Guerrilla warfare combat rifle. Edit: I never even mentioned the issue of bad magazines, which are very common. If you have dozens of magazines loaded up, have you tested them before hand? What do you do with magazines that "sorta" jam? Seriously, anyone dissing my argument on the grounds that magazines are automatically superior is a knucklehead at best.