25-06 Shot out of 30-06

[whipper]

I bought some 25-06 brass the other day and mixed in were 20 rounds of 25-06 shells with .309 mouth openings. Looks like they were fired from a 30-06. That must have sounded very weird. Other than sounding weird, what damage to the barrel can this do if any?
Thanks.

 

[memphisjim]

im guessing there wouldnt be enough horizontal velocity to damage the barrel
but the velocity would be very low

 

[Funshooter45]

Or perhaps they were sized up to 30-06 before firing. It's hard to know.

But my dad claims that as a teenager in the early 1940's that it became impossible to buy factory ammo during WW2. By about 1944 or so, pretty much everyone had used up their supply of 30-30 ammo. But a few people still had some 25-35 ammo stashed away. His family only had one 25-35 rifle but 2 or 3 others in 30-30, so they shot the 25-35 ammo in their 30-30s for deer hunting. He claims he didn't see any difference. But those guys probably only took shots about 30 yds away. I'm still skeptical.

 

[243winxb]

what damage to the barrel can this do if any?

*Gas passing around the bullet in the oversize bore. = Extra gas cutting to the throat &leade, as the brass fire forms to the chamber.

 

[Grumulkin]

In my youth I shot a 270 Winchester cartridge out of a 30/06. It didn't sound weird. I only did this once so have no data on accuracy, effectiveness, etc.

 

[MEHavey]

Please note the case specs below:




Think low pressure and lousy accuracy, but no appreciable damage.
Think also that the pickup 25-06 cases were more likely expanded to .30 cal then reloaded/fired than fired as .25s in a 30-06 chamber.

 

[JimKirk]

As ME has said ... the chambers are exactly the same between the 25/06 & the 30/06 ...only the caliber differs. I think there could be very little harm in firing a 25/06 in a 30/06... by the time the case opens up enough to free the bullet the whole bore basically is open to relieve the pressure. If there were to be any firecutting it would be between the brass and the bullet as the case expands and the flame/pressure escaping around the bullet as it travels down the barrel.

Jimmy K

 

[ReloaderFred]

There would be no damage, if they were in fact fired in a .30-06 chamber. I've seen lots of .270 Winchester brass that has been fired through .30-06 chambers and none of those rifles suffered any damage.

As for flame cutting, there wouldn't be any more flame cutting than a normal case firing in a normal chamber of the proper caliber. The case mouth is the case mouth, no matter what the caliber. This is an old wives tale, which if true, would mean you couldn't fire .22 Shorts, Longs and Long Rifles in the same chamber, or .38 Special in .357 Magnum chambers, et. al.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[whipper]

Thanks for all the responses.
I was just curious going from .257 to .308 not enough room for the bullet to tumble but enough to bounce around.

It just seemed odd I have exactly 20 rounds of 25-06 with .309 mouths. someone did not look carefully at the box of ammo they bought.

Thanks again.

 

[JimKirk]

Or as said ... someone simply resized a 20 round box of 25/06 to 30/06.

 

[Japle]

It won't hurt anything to fire 25/06 through a 30/06, but accuracy will be rotten.

I've seen .308s fired through a 30/06. The cases looked pretty strange.

Back in the '70s I watched a guy shoot .45 hardball out of a 30/06 Enfield. The bullets swedged themselves down to .30. Accuracy sucked. No damage to the rifle.

 

[1KPerDay]

Back in the '70s I watched a guy shoot .45 hardball out of a 30/06 Enfield. The bullets swedged themselves down to .30. Accuracy sucked. No damage to the rifle.

WOW.

 

[gamestalker]

Someone posted a question a couple of days ago about using 30-06 brass to reload 25-06, was that you? My response was you can resize and use .270 win. and 30-06 but the case mouths might need trimming after sizing down. Now as far shooting 25-06 out of a 30-06 it will chamber up OK, but I'm pretty certain accuracy will be horrible at best. But common sense tells me, don't shoot ammunition intended for a different firearm through another. That is one of those rules usually stamped into the barrel or in all owner's manuals. Me, I would toss the ammunition not specific to that weapon and go buy the right stuff. Why would anyone even want to shoot a bullet that is going to likely bounce down the barrel, for that matter I would be concerned that using the wrong ammo. would risk damaging the lands or throat of the rifle.

 

[whipper]

Gamestalker,
No, that wasn't me. I have sized 30-06 and 270 down for 25-06 before. I just found a good deal on some once fired 25-06 rounds, and saw 20 that were head stamped 25-06 and the mouths were 309 in diameter. So I thought I would post the question if it would hurt the barrel if you shot a smaller caliber out of a larger caliber barrel.

Thanks,
SW

 

[bloominonion]

I was the one asking about the 25-06.

I once borrowed a rifle from a friend, who said it was a 257 Roberts, and I believe it was stamped as such, but it wasn't... No harm to the rifle, but every round left a perfect sideways silhouette of a bullet in the paper at the end of the range.

I would assume that basically any ammo will not cause damage unless the bullet has a bit of room before it hits the rifling, in which case it would not chamber.

i still wouldn't recommend trying it. I am of the same belief as gamestalker. Only fire ammunition made for that caliber gun in it.

 

[W.E.G.]

I know of a case where a fella fired a 30-06 round in a .270.

That will put an eye out for sure.

He sued the Olin Corporation, alleging that it was really a .270 round that blew his gun up - even though 30-06 ammo was found in his bench supplies at the location of the injury.

The jury found for the plaintiff.
Damages award was ONE DOLLAR.

So, there ya go.
Be careful with that stuff.

I caught myself loading 9mm ammo into a .40 magazine just the other day.