Accidentally shot .380ACP in two 9x19 firearms.

[stchman]

I went to the range today and loaded up a few mages with what I thought was 9x19.

My buddy got his new Walther PPQ and I had my new EAA Witness. I shot about 3 or 4 rounds of 380 in his PPQ and thought something was wrong with his pistol. It would fire but not cycle the slide.

I then shot about 3 or 4 rounds in my Witness. We both thought that it was a bad box of S&B 9mm.

My friend noticed that the ammo box said 9mm Browning and my heart almost popped out of my chest.

We loaded up 9x19 on both weapons, shot some more rounds, and they appeared to be undamaged. My buddy seemed not upset as I thought he would. I did only fire 3-4 rounds in the pistol. He let me shoot actual 9mm through his PPQ and I have to say that is one exceptional trigger. Great gun.

After doing some reading shooting 380 in a 9mm pistol probably won't damage the pistol All it appeared to do was not be able to cycle the slide back.

Moral of the story, make double sure to check your ammo boxes.

 

[mjsdwash]

you wont damage it, ive seen it done. The 380 get enough pressure to seal the chamber, and the case is similar to the point of not distorting to rupture. The only damage could be the chamber edge where the headspace sets being damaged after many many time. The 380 will headspace off the extractor. Saw 380 cycle the slide on a beretta m9 though. but ive had a shooting trip where someone dropped a 9 mak round into a 9 para. bad jam on that, so yea, always isolate your ammo when shooting with friends.

 

[JohnKSa]

It's not especially dangerous to do it once or twice. It's hard on the extractor since it ends up having to hold the round in place while the firing pin strikes it instead of having the chamber do the job. You can end up with what amounts to "excessive headspace" depending on how well the extractor does that job. That can cause pierced primers.

If you do it a lot, there's a small potential for building up bullet material at the front of the chamber. That can make it difficult to chamber the proper rounds in the gun, and, if there's enough of it, it could even create a partial obstruction which could result in a catastrophic incident.

 

[TruthTellers]

you wont damage it, ive seen it done. The 380 get enough pressure to seal the chamber, and the case is similar to the point of not distorting to rupture.

Does that mean it's possible to shoot .380 from 9mm revolvers too?

 

[sgt127]

I've seen .40 in .45 and 9mm in .40 several times. Sounds like a mortar. Just kind of "Foomps" and fails to cycle. Never seen any damage.

 

[rcmodel]

Does that mean it's possible to shoot .380 from 9mm revolvers too?

No.
It means somebody wasn't paying attention, made a mistake, shot the clearly marked wrong ammo in two guns, and didn't get hurt.

Which is not unusual, but not the smartest thing to do either.

Like the old 18-wheel truck driver used to tell the young ones.

If you're too lazy to check your tires when you stop?
At least count them and make sure they are all still there, and not on fire!!

Same applies to loading mags.

Read The Box, and look at the rounds while loading!!

rc

 

[ny32182]

Yep, guns should be fine. They are not as fragile as we make them out to be.

Headspacing off the extractor is not going to damage the extractor... it is put under MUCH greater pressure just doing its normal function every time the gun fires.

I have friend that intentionally fired a good bit of .40S&W through a 10mm Witness. Personally I would have bought a .40 barrel instead, but, I'm not aware of any ill effects that were ever experienced... It actually ran 100% in that configuration.

 

[OilyPablo]

Remain vigilant. The guns aren't delicate but......well people are.

 

[dogtown tom]

rcmodel

Quote:
Does that mean it's possible to shoot .380 from 9mm revolvers too?

No.

It would work if the cartridge is clipped into moon clips.

 

[TarDevil]

Last practice session I fired one .380 round through my SR9c... didn't eject, but no other issues.

I'm still trying to figure out how that round got into my gun. I'm responsible, I was the only one loading those particular magazines and I should have noticed that shell.

 

[weblance]

It would work if the cartridge is clipped into moon clips.

.380 wont clip into a moon clip designed for 9mm Luger. It falls right out. I suppose you could manipulate it to "stay" in a moon clip, and then into the chambers of a 9mm revolver, but it would be obvious what you were doing, and not by mistake, as the Original Poster was doing, in his case, in an autoloader...

 

[BP Hunter]

I'm glad there was no damage to the gun.

Once I inserted a Glock 17(9mm)magazine into my Glock 22 (.40cal)by mistake. Twice I had to tap and rack since the gun didn;t go off when I pulled the trigger. The 2 rounds only had dimpling on the primers. Odd...but it fired the .40cal bullets flawlessly.

 

[Coyote3855]

Friend had two identical Glocks, one 9mm, one .40 S&W. He disassembled both. Not paying attention, he put the .40 barrel in the 9mm. Cases ruptured, slide wouldn't cycle, no damage except to his significant ego when we figured out what he'd done.

 

[Ignition Override]

The main danger seems to be when having two handguns in front of you, with different chamberings on the same shooting bench.

My Russian Makarov (380 Auto) Won't accept 9x18 Mak ammo, because the 9x18 bullets have a wider diameter.
But .380 will easily go into a 9x18 chamber.

 

[R.Ph. 380]

I have fired 32 acp in 380 and it results in the strangest "necked up" piece of brass you can imagine.

 

[AJumbo]

I fired some .380 in a 9MM Polish Radom ince. The gun and ammo belonged to a friend, and we were both puzzled about why the groups were suddenly centering about 4" lower than they should, and why the report was so anemic. No harm done, but that was a great lesson.

 

[Reefinmike]

likely not the end of the world, nor any major risk of removing your hand at the wrist. I've popped some 380's in my 357 revolver and fired em intentionally. They dont always go bang(poor primer strikes) and you have to tip the gun back after each shot to get the round back in the rear of the cylinder. Wont be shooting any more like that. It was a curiosity.

 

[justin22885]

there was a cylinder for revolvers that had these spring loaded extractor claws that would clip to the rim of any cartridge you wanted, you could fit 9mm, 357, 38 special, 380, 38 super, 9x20 browning, 9x23, 9x21, 9mm largo, and probably a few more all into the same cylinder and all would safely fire, the only problem is the 9mm, 9x21, 9x23, etc have a base diameter of about 9.96mm while 380, 38 super, 357 mag, 38 special, 9x20 browning, etc have a base diameter of 9.5mm which is enough of a stretch to significantly reduce brass life

 

[BSA1]

It is no big deal. Actually it is not even a small deal.

Working at a indoor shooting range I saw 22 L.R. in 22 magnum, 32 acp shot in 380 auto and 41 magnum in a 44 magnum. No harm to the guns but made for some really unusual looking brass.

I am a little surprised it didn't cause the slide to cycle. A buddy shot a 380 that go mixed in with his 9mm High Power and the slide and gun function fine. He did not discover the error until he was policing his fired brass.

 

[Schwing]

I would mourn the brass that will never be reloaded.