Wrong Ammo!

[Jim Watson]

In each case there came a moment when a .40 cartridge ended up slipping forward of the extractor hook and not being hit by the striker firing pin. A simple 'tap/rack' eventually fed and chambered a proper .45 cartridge ... and the fired .45 bullet encountered a .40 cartridge obstructing the bore.

Similar 9 down .40 barrel wrecked a local guy's near new switch top 3 gun - Open custom build. It wrecked the .40 upper but did not damage the receiver so he could shoot 9mm while waiting for a new .40 upper to be built.

I can attest that .38 WCF will chamber and fire just fine in a .44 WCF, just with lousy accuracy and tumbling bullets at 15 yards.

.44-40 will also chamber and fire in a .45 LC revolver, with poor results.
A .45 LC in a .44-40 Winchester causes a monumental jam. There was a Texas Ranger who had that happen under fire. He calmly unscrewed the sideplate with the point of his Bowie knife, cleared the jam, put it back together and rejoined the battle. Reportedly when he got back to town he traded the .45 for a .44 Frontier Six Shooter for common ammo.

 

[doubleh]

Mt oldest grand son, son-in-law, and I were shooting pistols at the range early one Saturday morning a few years ago. The kid shot his S&W M&P in M&P 40 caliber for awhile and then switched to his PT1911 in 45. About half way through the first mag he had a stove pipe and after dropping the mag and clearing it we found a fired case still in the chamber. He dropped the slide, racked it, and the extractor wouldn't pull the case out. I carry a three piece cleaning rod in my range tool box for emergencies so he locked the slide open and held the gun while I inserted the the top piece of the cleaning rod and into the barrel and whopped the T- handle with my open palm. Out dropped a very swollen 40 M&P case. I gently pointed out to him that it was good idea not to have two open boxes of ammo out together when shooting, especially when they are almost identical in size.

Edited to add: The 40 caliber round missed the entire target. We were shooting 3" bullseyes painted onto 10" paper plates at about 20 yards.

 

[JohnKSa]

For one, I don't see how someone could be so non-observant that they'd accidently load the wrong ammo. I load my mags before the range session and keep the rounds in a plainly marked box.

Have heard of at least one or two incidents where the wrong ammo was in the box and the shooter didn't realize it.

 

[jak67429]

Once had a guy show up to deer sight in with a brand new rem 700 that was supposed to be a 270 but was actually 3006.

 

[fastbolt]

How can this really be that common? Whats wrong with people

it seems most people aren't as observant as I'd like to hope.

Inattention, distraction, laziness, complacency, assuming ... pick your poison.

Personally, after serving as an instructor for enough years, observing what people can do if they aren't paying strict attention, there came a point when I decided it wasn't a waste of my time to look at the case head stamping of each and every round that I loaded into any of my magazines. To borrow a Movie line ... it's the only way to be sure.

People can be funny, though ...

There was a time on our agency range when a couple of the other instructors and AR armorers asked me to come back to the armory bench to help them diagnose a functioning problem with an AR one of the other guys had 'built' from some assorted parts. He couldn't get it to feed and fire properly and they couldn't easily see any problem. The guys were huddled around the rifle at the bench, discussing various potential causes. I asked to examine the rifle. The first thing I did was look at the caliber stamping on the barrel and the lower. Interestingly enough, the barrel was marked 7.62, which obviously wouldn't be compatible with 5.56/.223. I pointed it out to the guys and suggested that the cause of the problem might be the way it was 'built', meaning the barrel used to build the upper was the wrong caliber. The reaction?

Who'd a thunk that might happen?

 

[mavracer]

I did this with 9mm in a 40. I was so ashamed

I've seen that a lot

 

[sgt127]

I’ve seen:

9mm in .40
.40 in .45 ACP
357 SIG in .40.
16 GA in 12.

On the bright side. It’s usually a smaller bullet than the bore diameter. So, even if it’s a hotter round, there’s no pressure problem.

 

[Riomouse911]

.44 Magnum will fire in a rifle chambered for .45 Colt. Don't ask me how I know. Not the stupidest mistake I've ever made, but close.

A buddy of mine wasn’t paying attention and loaded/fired a .44 Mag cartridge in a .45 Colt revolver. Luckily is was an old model Vaquero or it could have been uglier than just a split case.

My Dad was not much of a rifleman, but in the early 1980’s he bought a very nice, brand new Remington 700 BDL left hand rifle in 7mm Rem Mag and had a Redfield Widefield scope mounted and bore sighted.

He went to Big 5 at some point later on to buy “Seven millimeter” ammo and go shoot. Luckily I saw the red and white box of Federal 7mm Mauser ammo he came home with and told him they were incompatible before he went out. I guess it was kind of an ego blow to have his 15 year old kid point out a potentially damaging error, but at least he listened to me and didn’t go shoot that day.

Somewhere on the shelves I still have that same box of ammo (175 gr RNSP if I recall correctly), and the rifle sits in the back corner of my safe. It is still unfired to this day.

Sometimes it isn’t easy being human.

Stay safe.

 

[Showman]

Good thing you didn't see 20 GA in a 12....uh, algebraic equation be like this: 20 GIFC (gauge in forcing cone)+ 12 GS (gauge shell)= KB

 

[Heir Kommt Die Sonne]

brand new Remington 700 BDL left hand rifle in 7mm Rem Mag and had a Redfield Widefield scope mounted and bore sighted.

Yea and that thing is beautiful. If I had the cash i'd by from you. You're very lucky.

 

[WestKentucky]

I did one that I bet most folks never have the opportunity to do. Several years ago, I was shooting my .357 and my dad was shooting the .256 winmag marlin. Reloads on the marlin are screwy unless you full length size every case every time. We didn’t have that capability at the time, so every few shots a case would stick in the chamber. It’s a known flaw and is common to those rifles. So, dad popped out the box mag and dropped the loose round that was partially stripped from the mag onto the table about the same time I was grabbing 357 from a bull box. I ended up with a .256 in the revolver. It sounded wild and I saw the bullet tumbling through the air.

 

[CapnMac]

Anybody here still think a C-96 Broomie isn't a strong design?

There's no arguing the strength, really, it's that they are so finicky to strip down properly.

Strange things that ought not happen are part of the human condition (that dang Murphy is everywhere).

Was at a Service Rifle match and we had to stop the relay because one of the shooters had put a clip of 7.62nato into a 30-06 Garand. First round managed to not chamber properly, so nothing happened on the trigger press. But a spectacular jam occurred on cycling the bolt. All of which was likely far better than had the extractor held the 51mm case to the bolt head with the case mouth and round 12mm out of the end of the chamber.

Growing up, I had always heard the stories about the Bubba down the block who had forced 30-06 into a 7.5carcano or 7.5arisaka.
That, and putting 380acp in Maks "cuz theys alla same."

Let's all be careful out there.

 

[gobsauce]

That, and putting 380acp in Maks "cuz theys alla same."

Funnily enough, when I bought my Makarov the guy (who's a well respected gunsmith around these parts ) threw in some loose ammo. With it, I got a bunch of 9mm Mak, some 9mm Browning, Luger and a lot of .380 ACP.

Always have wondered about the .380 working or not.

 

[Ks5shooter]

Mental note to self....Keep ammo in box or reloading storage box,you will see it by difference.

 

[Jim Watson]

Reportedly, a .308 that makes it under the extractor of a .30-06 just blows out cylindrical with no fireworks. Not uncommon when one of those Navy Conversion sleeves comes out.

There was a guy on THR who staunchly held that the 7.7mm Arisaka was intended to have a cornered Japanese, out of ammo, kick a captured round of .30-06 into his rifle.

There was a high profile murder that seemed to have been done with .380 in a Makarov, confusing the forensic ballisticians no end.
Another legend of shrewd foreigners making their guns to get by with our ammo, See also USSR 82mm mortar with US 81mm shells.

 

[CapnMac]

threw in some loose ammo.

Ok, without looking it up, isn't there some rim differences between 9x17 and 9x16?

 

[Heir Kommt Die Sonne]

Ok, without looking it up, isn't there some rim differences between 9x17 and 9x16?

One is straight walled, 9mm Nato is tapered slightly

 

[Slamfire]

There was a guy on THR who staunchly held that the 7.7mm Arisaka was intended to have a cornered Japanese, out of ammo, kick a captured round of .30-06 into his rifle.

That was a story my WW2 Veteran Dad used to repeat. The theme was, those horrible Japanese, they intended to go to war with the USA all the time. And then after years of planning, they bombed Pearl Harbor. Dirty rotten $%^& And the Japanese designed their rifles with big chambers so they could shoot our ammunition, but we could not shoot theirs. Clever, devious, inscrutable.

Of course it was a farce. I have a 7.7 Arisaka and I can't get a 30-06 round in the magazine. I suppose with a hammer or something, I could beat the bolt down. But I never tried.

The truth of the matter was, the Japanese intended their Soldiers to shoot their ammunition in their rifles. Their ammunition was designed around whatever criteria they decided was important in a service round, and I really doubt that they cared, or thought, that the ideas of round eyed American's were worth considering. Given that American's are not Japanese!

I know someone who lived in Japan for a decade, and according to this person, the Japanese are racist. Gaijin is the word Japanese use for people who are not Japanese. There is no reason to assume they were more enlightened in the 1920's or 30's.

 

[jrmiddleton425]

.44 Magnum will fire in a rifle chambered for .45 Colt. Don't ask me how I know. Not the stupidest mistake I've ever made, but close.

I've done that, out of an approximately 1904 Colt SAA.

Due to firing a .429 bullet out of a .451 or .452 barrel, it doesn't build up enough pressure to hurt the gun. It does make a really big boom, though.

The recoil is about the same as shooting a .30-06.

It's interesting to know that you could. I'm not crazy enough to do it on purpose.

 

[gobsauce]

Ok, without looking it up, isn't there some rim differences between 9x17 and 9x16?

No clue. Not my field of expertise.

I could similarly ask, without looking it up, what's the difference between the Fourier and Z transform?

 

[AMraider]

Went to the range with a couple of CZ's to try my latest reloads. Loaded a single round in a magazine and fired. The slide did not lock back and sounded/felt funny. The round hit the 10 yard target but no where near where I was aiming. Ejected the spent brass and checked the gun over. Saw nothing out of the norm. Picked up the spent brass.............yup fired a 9mm in a 40. Packed up my stuff and went home...too rattled to shoot that weekend. I now only bring same caliber pistols to the range with the exception of .22's.

 

[Bottom Gun]

I had a round that sounded short but cycled the slide and the bullet hit the target. I discovered it was a 9MM mixed in with my .357 Sig ammo. I try to pay more attention now when I'm loading magazines.

 

[Pat Riot]

I like to think that I am very astute and observant.
One day last year I was going to meet my son-in-law at the range and we were going to shoot our Glocks. All were chambered in 9mm.
I decided to buy range ammo instead of bringing ammo from home. Besides, my SIL and I had these little target shooting competitions and he claimed I was cheating with hand loads so I figured I would show him up with range ammo. It was a friendly competition.
The ammo at this range is loaded by them and is very reliable. I occasionally had used it for years. I bought 100 rounds as did my son-in-law and we commenced to killing paper targets. The ammo came in plastic bags.
It was probably on my 3rd 10 round mag that I pulled the trigger and nothing. No report, no recoil, nothing. I waited a few seconds, dropped the mag and locked the slide back and there sitting in the chamber laid a .380 round. I shook it out and it had a tiny little divot where the firing hit it then sent it into the chamber.
After looking through the ammo I bought I found 2 more .380 rounds. I showed the guys at the front desk. They apologized profusely and gave me another 50 round bag of 9mm. There were no .380 rounds in that bag.
What ticked me off is I didn’t catch that I had loaded a .380 round into my magazine.

 

[Heir Kommt Die Sonne]

What ticked me off is I didn’t catch that I had loaded a .380 round into my magazine.

Honestly, the fight between .380 and 9mm in terms of organization is real. Us reloaders hate the two calibers for this exact reason, when they mix it's hell to keep them seprate. They look too similar. Alot of people have accidently sized a .380 in a 9mm die.
Even for a astute person, loading a .380 that was mixed in a bag of 9mm is not surprising. This isn't a mistake on your part.

 

[Pat Riot]

@Heir Kommt Die Sonne Thanks. I reload as well and I do understand.