I compete in a Thursday night pistol league. Last Thursday, one of my team members showed up with a 9mm pistol and a .357 revolver. During practice, he decided to shoot the 9mm in the match.
So far, so good.
He loaded four magazines and when he tried to fire the first shot in the match, the pistol didn’t go BANG. The slide wasn’t in battery. He whacked the rear of the slide and it didn’t move. When he racked the slide, it barely went forward at all.
Long story short, when he’d loaded the magazines, instead of loading 9mm ammo, he’d loaded the magazines with .38 Short Colt ammo.
Now, I’ve heard it said the .38 Short Colt is basically a rimmed 9mm and that’s true as far as it goes. But while the cartridges are similar, they’re not interchangeable. You can’t chamber a Short Colt round in a 9mm pistol. I’ve never tried it, but I’m pretty damn sure you can’t.
But you can load .38 Short Colt ammo into a 9mm magazine. I have tried that. It’s so easy that, if you’re not paying attention, you won’t notice.
My teammate tried to call an alibi. When the range master saw what the guy had done, he refused the alibi and DQd the shooter.
My team still won the match by 6 points, so what the hell.
So far, so good.
He loaded four magazines and when he tried to fire the first shot in the match, the pistol didn’t go BANG. The slide wasn’t in battery. He whacked the rear of the slide and it didn’t move. When he racked the slide, it barely went forward at all.
Long story short, when he’d loaded the magazines, instead of loading 9mm ammo, he’d loaded the magazines with .38 Short Colt ammo.
Now, I’ve heard it said the .38 Short Colt is basically a rimmed 9mm and that’s true as far as it goes. But while the cartridges are similar, they’re not interchangeable. You can’t chamber a Short Colt round in a 9mm pistol. I’ve never tried it, but I’m pretty damn sure you can’t.
But you can load .38 Short Colt ammo into a 9mm magazine. I have tried that. It’s so easy that, if you’re not paying attention, you won’t notice.
My teammate tried to call an alibi. When the range master saw what the guy had done, he refused the alibi and DQd the shooter.
My team still won the match by 6 points, so what the hell.