"Stripper" clips were designed to be a pretty close fit in the clip guides. One reason is that they had to stay in the guide if the rifle was being moved around while being loaded. Further, clips (with a few exceptions, one of which is the Russian Mosin-Nagant clip) are designed so they will pop out of the clip guide when the bolt is closed. The shooter should never have to manually remove the clip from a Mauser, Springfield, M1917 Enfield, British No. 1 or No. 4/5, Japanese Arisaka, SKS, etc. Just close the bolt.
The photo shows a clip in a M1903 rifle. The picture is not upside down, the rifle is.
M1903clip.JPG
Jim