Got away with one....

[sleepyone]

I have been shooting for 30 years and never had anything happen like this. I was at the range today with my new 243 and 270 Winchester M70 featherweights. I was switching between the two to give my barrels time to cool to maximize my shooting time, so I had both calibers of ammo out. Well, you probably can deduce what happened. I shot a 243 round through my 270. I noticed the recoil was lighter than normal for my 270, and the sound was different. I also could not find the hit on the target. Still not sure what was going on, I ejected the casing and it was split in a few places. Amazingly enough, that is all that happened. I checked and cleaned my bore and inspected my chamber. No damage. I shot a 270 round through my 270 and it hit on top of a previous shot. I shot another 10 rounds and everything seems to be fine. Anyone ever pulled this mistake before? Anything I should look at beyond what I have already done? The casings are close to the same diameter but the 243 is obviously shorter and smaller. By God's grace, no harm was done to me or anyone else on the range, and as a bonus, my rifle seems to have escaped unscathed. Go ahead and let me have it. I have thick skin.

 

[Shadow Man]

You sir, are incredibly lucky. I'm sure you have already let yourself have it for that kind of a mistake, so all I can say is that I'm glad nothing untoward happened...

 

[Publius1688]

Glad you weren't hurt. Thanks for sharing your experience, it reminds us all to be careful.

 

[Rshooter]

Mixing 8mm and 30-06 does not end as happy. An 8mm round can cause a Springfield 1903 rifle to fail. And yes, they both are very similar.

 

[sleepyone]

I have since done a complete inspection of the bolt, chamber and bore. no marks visible. Yeah, that had to be the dumbest gun-related thing I have ever done. Trying to multi-task. Going forward, only one caliber of ammo out at a time!

 

[joejoeshooter]

I did this once with a 380 and 9mm doing the same thing.

My 9 would shoot one and then not chamber the second one.

I thought "oh well - I guess I'm gonna have to send this thing back to Taurus."

No damage - I wonder if the great warranty that Taurus offers includes idiotism?

jjs

 

[sleepyone]

Glad I'm not the only one to have a brain fart.

 

[wrs840]

I did an eye-dee-ten-tee (ID10T) error like that once with a Mossberg 12 ga pump loaded with 16ga shells. The first round actually chambered and fired!

oops.

Les

 

[Mike J]

I'm glad you're okay.

 

[jr_roosa]

Smaller caliber down a bigger barrel isn't a problem. I'll bet you're rifle is just fine. You could probably shoot it all day with .243 and never have a problem except for a lot of fouling and the worst accuarcy ever.

Bigger caliber down a smaller barrel will make for a very bad day.

Fortunately rifles are designed to blow up and not hurt you too much. The blast goes up and out and maybe out the magazine well. If you have your hands where they belong (not draped over the top or supporting the magwell) the only major damage is to your underwear and your wallet.

I saw a guy take apart a brand new rifle at the range and he did surprisingly well except for the fingers he had under the magwell, he took the tips off of a few of them. From the look of the rifle, you'd think it would have taken his head off.

Glad you're OK.

-J.

 

[McBuck]

Saw a guy do a 16ga on a 12ga once. A little cary, but all turned out ok...He was shooting at a tree rat. That was about 35 years ago.

 

[rangerruck]

stuff like that happens all the time. i wouldn't sweat it; we've all done something like that , i am sure. Fortunately with today's strong actions, you can get away with stuff like that, and I am sure your 270 is no worse for wear.
I woulda like to see you try to take a 270 round, and close the bolt on the 243 rifle!!!! I bet that woulda woke you up.

 

[MetalHead]

Two related adventures, friend of mine scared himself when he realised he had chambered a 9mm in a CZ52 chambered for 7.62x25, yes the slide will go into full battery! He sold off promtly the 2nd CZ52 in 9mm.

A few years later I fired some surplus 303Brit through a SMLE shotgun, cases had the neck and shoulder blown out to cylinder, no harm done but a waste of ammo.

 

[usmc1371]

fired a 25-06 round through my 30-06, no harm but it sounded odd and not much recoil.

stuck a 40cal round in my 1911 mag one day. Thank god it was the last round loaded and when I racked the slide it slid right out of the barrle. Could have ended much worse.

My firend stuck a 223 round in my ar that is chamberd for .204, lucky he noticed the bolt did not go into battery and did not try to fire it. I would be kinda pissed if a 2300$ rifle kaboomed cause of a 12 cent round.

It happens to the best of us and most of the time we get away with it but its a good reminder to double check.

 

[Offfhand]

Sleepy, fret not, you'd be surprised at how often that happens. I have a collection of cases that were fired in wrong chamber.