Shooting 9mm through a .40?!

[Fedaykin]

I saw the weirdest thing yesterday, and also a little scary. I took one of my younger brother's friends out shooting on some country property that his family owned, because safe places to shoot around here are somewhat hard to find.

I asked what he was shooting and he said 9mm as he loaded his clip. Then he goes and starts firing off a few rounds. The only thing is that he has to rack the slide between each shot :confused:

I went over and asked what was going on and he just said "Oh it always does this." When he let me check it out, to my disbelief it was a Glock 22 in .40. I checked the mag also and it was the correct mag (said .40 on the side), yet it was loaded with 9mm and was firing them as long as he kept racking the slide. I'm assuming the lack of energy wasn't kicking the slide back far enough to eject the shell.

Anyway I didn't realize 9mm would fire so easily(he never would have known) with a completely incorrect caliber inside. The cause of the mix up was the box the guy sold him the glock in said glock 17(I think) and 9MM Parabellum on the front.

Anyway just thought I'd share. We were just plinking cans but now I know why he was having accuracy issues :)

[Headless]

My friend managed to fire a 9mm out of my CS40..i noticed it when the slide didn't cycle by itself. The brass expanded to fill the cylinder, bulged badly on one side. Who knows what accuracy would be like...
They do indeed fill .40 mags just fine. and vice-versa ;)

[Samuel Adams]

I saw somebody do the same thing at our local range a few weeks ago. It worked - for a while.

[HM2PAC]

Not such a great idea. I hope your friends are using proper ammo now. Hopefully they haven't "learned" that it's OK to do.

This could be catastrophic should the brass ever fail.

[tank mechanic]

I watched a guy shoot .32 outof of his .380 walther at his ccw qualification. He wasn't hitting the human silhouette target at five yards. The fired brass looked like a beer glass.

[Robert Hairless]

It's a fairly common accidental occurrence among people who shoot both calibers but I've never seen anyone do it on purpose. At least I don't think so.

[smee781]

I shot 223 blanks out of my sks once on accident. The 223 stripper clip got into my sks stripper clips.:o

[GRB]

Wait till you see what happens when someone mistakenly places a 20 gauge shell into a 12 gauge shotgun, followed by a correct 12 gauge round. I would not want to be nearby.

[nalioth]

I accidentally used a Glock 17 mag in my .40 S&W Kel-Tec Sub-2000 once.

Only time I've had problems with it. :o

[Eroc]

Sounds a bit dangerous....

[Browns Fan]

I have a friend that I saw do that at an IDPA match... completely messed up his game for the match. I'm glad that I shoot either .45 or 9mm. There's no confusing those two!

[Jim Watson]

If you scrounge for range pickup brass, you will see that it happens every once in a while.

Are people more careless now, or does the Internet just make it easier to hear about such stuff?

[jackstinson]

The cause of the mix up was the box the guy sold him the glock in said glock 17(I think) and 9MM Parabellum on the front.
With all due respect; The cause of the mix up had nothing to do with the box the gun was sold in. The cause was the gun owner not reading the ".40" marked on the gun and the magazine. He wasn't loading 9mm's into the box, he was loading them into a gun marked .40 caliber. There is a reason the manufacturer marks the cartridge type on the barrel or slide.
It's good that nothing bad happened from the lesson.

Jack

[Fedaykin]

Yes I realize that. It could more plainly be said that "the cause of the mix up was due to shooter stupidity". I just thought I'd add part about the wrong box for extra info on the incident. It shows how easily people who know little about guns can be thrown off I suppose. No excuse though.

[GEM]

I've seen a friend load a 9mm x 19 with 380 and then wonder why the gun wouldn't cycle.

I've stopped someone from loading the 380 backwards in the mag.

They should know better :fire::fire:

Then I go to a match with my 1911. I go to reload a mag and say: Why aren't those rounds very small!

Yes, - I packed my range bag with 9mm - the boxes look the same except for the label - why read that!

So I have to go buy some 45 at the range house and basically have to spend about $5 a box more. :(

It is not uncommon - one national level shooter I know, racked his 45 to see the 9mm round just fall out of the barrel.

[NG VI]

I've stopped someone from loading the 380 backwards in the mag.


heeheehee, at Basic a guy in another platoon inserted his magazine backwards and upside down, so at a cursory downwars glance all appeared well, it had the same geometry it would if done properly. He couldn't figure out why it wouldn't chamber a round though.

[Sato Ord]

Yeah, it will work. The thing is, it isn't good for the brass or the pistol. It's bad enough with a revolver, but I wouldn't want to do it in an autoloader unless I was absolutely desperate in a defense situation.

As far as accuracy, the bullet will wobble as it goes down the tube and some of the gas will actually get ahead of the bullet causing it not to cycle properly. Also, the improper expansion of the brass can cause pieces of the casing to break away and get caught up in the action.

This wobble I mentioned was a problem with the old Webley revolvers. They were a real .38 caliber and the ammo wasn't available in the states so people used 38 special which is .357. The characteristic wobble of the bullet caused it to be underpowered, and those slugs recovered when the guns were used in crimes were so uniquely marked that this became known to ballistics experts as the Webley Wobble.

Tell your friend to make sure he only fires what the markings on the gun say it's chambered for.

[DirksterG30]

I've stopped someone from loading the 380 backwards in the mag.

They should know better

They don't work for HK, do they?

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/dirksterg30/Humor/reliability.jpg

[Fedaykin]

Please tell me that's a real HK ad.

[LiquidTension]

I witnessed an HK USPc in .357 Sig chamber and fire a .380. The extractor couldn't grab the rim to extract it, which is the only reason I had to go over and check the gun out. I kept the brass - .380 at the base, .40 at the mouth!

[mio]

havent seen that one although i did see one of my friends firing cci mini mags out of a lever action 22mag the first time he shot it.
he had gone into the sporting goods and asked for a box of 22 magnum and thats what they gave him.
he couldnt hit anything and it didnt eject them.

[Dope]

Please tell me that's a real HK ad.

Believe it or not, it is.

Dope

[The Lone Haranguer]

I saw that happen when the shooter rented a .40 (SIG P229 IIRC) but bought 9mm ammo for it, the range salesperson and the shooter both apparently having failed to notice it. (The range requires their ammo - Magtech - be bought at the time of rental and used in their guns.) I noticed that the slide would fail to cycle, then saw some very badly bulged brass hitting the table. It was swollen up like a balloon for about the first half (at the mouth) then stepped down about halfway back, forming a large step. I didn't look downrange to see his target, but would be willing to bet there were no holes in it. ;) I thought about intervening myself ("Dude, stop shooting that gun!!!:eek:), but a RSO noticed.

[kd7nqb]

Darn I was going to post that HK pic but somebody beat me to it.

I shared early my mishap when a range employee handed me a .45acp XD and a box of .40S&W when I rented the .40XD

I shared my experience in THIS thread http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=271507

[Fish828]

i was shooting with my friend and he was using a s&w 9mm and i was using a bersa .380 and he accidentally picked up one of my .380 rounds (they were right next to each other on the shooting bench) and proceeded to fire it out of his 9mm. it fired fine, but like your situation, it wasn't able to eject the brass on its own and had to be racked.

[conwict]

I'm actually glad to have this info. This might sound silly, but it could actually make a difference in a one-time life-or-death situation where you didn't have the right ammo for your gun.

[Mr_Rogers]

http://shootingpartner.com/publicdocs/photos/bullets.jpg

Actual photo of two 380 hollow-point bullets, base of one on the left, nose of the other on the right. Turns out the "bright" individual involved had reloaded some 380 Auto cartridges but he had distorted the cases and so they would not fit in his 380. Since he wanted to reuse the cases he decided to fire them in his 9mm carbine to remove the bullets and powder. :banghead::banghead::banghead:
Thank heaven he used a carbine since a less strongly made gun would probably have blown up. After the first round made a funny noise on firing he took no notice, the case apparently ejected OK, so he fired a second round. That's when he realized there was a problem. I removed the two bullets from the barrel for him.

[Deanimator]

Anyway I didn't realize 9mm would fire so easily(he never would have known) with a completely incorrect caliber inside. The cause of the mix up was the box the guy sold him the glock in said glock 17(I think) and 9MM Parabellum on the front.
Weird coincidence: I got a Glock 17 box when I bought a Glock 22 also! Of course I knew I was buying a Glock 22 and have only ever fired the right ammunition through it.

[enfield]

I've fired (accidentally, if not negligently) a .40 in a .45 1911. Bulged & split case, failure to cycle, could hear the round hit the target after the mild pop.

[Tribal]

I saw that happen when the shooter rented a .40 (SIG P229 IIRC) but bought 9mm ammo for it, the range salesperson and the shooter both apparently having failed to notice it.

The same thing actually happened to me way back before I had bought my first pistol and was trying some out at a rental place. I was using a Kahr PM40 and my problem wasn't that I couldn't hit anything but that the gun itself wouldn't fire at all. The RSO came over and couldn't get it to fire either. He ejected the cartridge, flicked it on the floor (assuming it was a dud), racked another round, and once again: click. Finally he figured out what the deal was and sent me back to the counter with instructions to chew out the staff (which I didn't do).

In my defense, I had simply assumed that .40 was the Imperial equivalent of 9mm.

I've also accidentally fired .22lr out of a .22wmr cylinder in a Mini-Revolver. I didn't notice anything different except that two of the casings had expanded and were a pain to get out.

I haven't made any similar mistakes since (probably because I've only shot 9mm, .45, and .22lr lately...)

[axeman_g]

Done it...

Loaded a SA XD .40 mag with 9mm... first rd was awfully wrong. Pulled mag out and realized the issue. I was actualy very concerned at first, but a check seemed to be fine. I dont shoot .40 anymore so nomore issues.

[jad0110]

Dirkster,

Thanks for posting the HK add, I about pissed my pants ... ROFLMAO! :D

[FieroCDSP]

I think this thread brings to the fore-front a couple items.

1:Even stamping the caliber on the barrel or frame and on the ammo box can't cure extreme inexperience, stupidity, or lack of attention.
2:We need to be extremely attentive to what we're doing with guns. Don't assume anything, as we all know what "assume" means.
3:When you teach people about guns, make sure they know how to properly ID the ammo a gun uses.

[Confederate]

Wow. What a selling point!

Elmer Keith told the story about a few guys who were taken at gunpoint back in the late 1800s and forced into labor. It wasn't an uncommon practice of the day, but the guys were disarmed, their guns unloaded, then given back to them to put back on. The idea is that they didn't want anyone passing by to be suspicious about what was going on. As long as the men appeared armed, no one would notice.

While the guys were working, one of them found a loaded cartridge, but alas, it was the wrong caliber! So one of them took a strip off his shirt and rolled it around the cartridge until it would fit the larger chamber in his single-action revolver (.45 Colt?). He then loaded it into his gun and at the appropriate time shot the foreman dead at point blank range.

The story sound plausible. As long as you can get the primer under the firing pin, you should get some velocity. So what if it keyholed? The dead guy never knew what hit him.

[TheLibertarianMind]

Worst I have seen; An off duty policewomen and her brother where shooting a Glock 17, apparently the brother loaded a Wolf 9x18 Mak (steel case) out of a bag of free mixed 9mm ammo she had received from her department.

I was asked to help fix her gun. The round fired, but the gun locked up and did not cycle. The trigger was not reset, and the gun was slightly out of battery. I used a dowel rod to determine whether the round was fired or not, after I confirmed that the cartridge was spend, it took all of my strength to cycle the gun.

Imagine the most stubborn jar of pickles to open X 2 = Glock with Makarov shell jammed in it.

[Fisherman_48768]

Probably looked something like a 40 fired in a 45 would look like:http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a149/Fisherman_48768/BOOBO40INA45CHAMBER.jpg
Guy that fired this swears the 40 was in a box of 45 issued to his department

[clemsonu0219]

very dangerous... bullet coming out too low or high and catching barrel

[Cliff47]

One night a while back I had an attack of curiosity, and wondered if a 9mm dummy round would fit in a .40 S&W chambered pistol I had just acquired. It chambered all right, and slid down the barrel and landed right into the tumbler holding my beverage of the evening. It came out appropriately chilled. Should have known, .355 is less than .40 any night of the week. The laws of mathematics have not been repealed.

[grimjaw]

The worst I've done is used a CZ P-01 9mm magazine in a Ruger PC9 9mm carbine. I didn't realize the switch until it was empty and time to change magazines. I considerate it a tribute to the reliability of the Ruger, rather than a reminder of my inattentiveness. :/

jm

[punchdrunk]

Someone told me that its possible to get a 12/20 burst by loading a 20 gauge in a 12. Then the 20 slides forward. You think it didn't chamber a round and you put a 12 in behind it. pull the trigger again and boom. Just by word of mouth. is it possible ? what about with a 9 in a 40?

[RNB65]

I've accidentally fired 9mm thru my XD40 a couple of times. Both times I thought it was a squib load due to the reduced noise and recoil. Then I looked at the mag and realized I had stuck 9mm rounds into it. Cases were bulged but no harm was done. Each time I checked the barrel to make sure it was clear and continued shooting (with the correct ammo :o).
-

[rino451]

Guy have me the rest of his box of 9mm that he didn't want to finish through his brand new HK .40. He was having problems with his accuracy during part of the class and finally notice that he had been pulling from a 9mm box to reload. Gun didn't see affected.

[ashtxsniper]

I have shot probably 30 380 and 30 9x18 through a Berreta 92 intentionally to see if it would work in a last ditch type situation. They wont cycle but they come out just as fast as they would in the proper gun. I also reloaded a few 9x18 cases with a full house 9x19 powder charge and a 115 grn bullet set to the same overall length as a 9x19 and they shot great and cycled fine.

[Jim Keenan]

I have no proof, but believe at least some reported blowups were caused this way:

Shooter loads magazine of a .40 pistol with mostly correct rounds but accidentally includes a 9mm. When the gun chambers the 9mm, the smaller round is pushed into the barrel but does not fire because the firing pin does not reach the primer. The shooter, thinking he had a misfire, racks the slide, keeping the gun horizontal. Now there is a live .40 round in the chamber and a live 9mm round in the barrel. The shooter fires. Barrel bulges or blows as the .40 bullet hits the 9mm round.

Same thing can happen with .45 and .40.

Don't mix ammo!

Jim

[novaDAK]

9x18 through a Berreta 92
If that is even possible, it is extremely dangerous because the soviet 9x18 is a .365" while the 9x19 NATO is .355"

[passintime]

You beat me to it novadak. That is absurdly dangerous.

[Lonestar49]

...

As mentioned by many so correctly, and it could turn out ugly for anyone..

File this under "luck" and that is always a good thing to have around..

I know that, once, when I took both my P229's, 9mm and 40cal, that even with my placing the 40cal/347 mags that are clearly marked, in different colored mags holders than my 9mm mags, somehow, while I was loading my 40cals, and my CA. mags hold max 10 rounds and, as I got to the 7th round loading, I could feel a big difference, with 3 to go, and only could force the 8th round in, and I knew, round count wise, something was not right, along with the feel.. resistance wise.

Sure enough, somehow I got the 9mm mag mixed for the 40cal/357mag. Both are marked, but hard to read in the dark.

Counting works, along with feel/touch, and the light went-ON :scrutiny:

Stuff happens, but when something doesn't work right, feel right, sound right, that is the time to investigate and find out, or discover, why..

As the old saying goes, ~ Learn or Burn ~


Ls

[lvcat2004]

Well, I always check my ammo before I shoot, but perhaps that's why I only own 9mm, 380, and 454 Casull's....no mixing them up. ;)

[Ringer]

Wow, I guess I'm surprised so many cases where these 9's actually fire in a .40. I don't own a .40 caliber gun but if you put a 9mm cartridge inside a piece of .40 brass it fits with plenty of room to spare. I would think the whole cartridge would slip throught the chamber and fall out the end of the barrel. How are these things even able to discharge? :confused:

[Mr_Rogers]

The extractor claw holds the cartridge in position during firing (rather than the cartridge seating on the case mouth as designed).

[ashtxsniper]

The 9x18 I fired in my 92 was loaded with .355 bullets.

[MechAg94]

This something I don't think I have ever done and I have multiple handguns in different calibers.

I did come across a guy at a rifle range once. He was sitting down with a brand new rifle in 7mm. He put a cartridge in and "click", it wouldn't fire. He asked me if I knew anything about it since I had noticed the problem. He had a box of ammo sitting on the table that said 7mm '06. I looked at the gun and it said 7mm WSM. I just told him I didn't think he had to right ammo. The guy at Academy where he had just bought the gun gave him that box when he bought the rifle. The range didn't have 7mm WSM so he had to go back to the store. I reflected on how happy I was that the round didn't seat up and go off when he pulled the trigger.

I think the guy knew the basic 223, 308, and 30.06, but 7mm was new to him and he didn't realize there were 72 different types. The gun manufacturers don't help when they put out new cartridges twice a year.

[JDGray]

I have found 9mm bullets downrange, that were fired from a 40, looked like new!:D