Picked up my Browning BAR in 30-06 thinking it was the 243. Put 3 rounds in the mag and fired the first, the gun banged and recoiled but did not cycle, pulled back the bolt and did the same, went to unload the the case and notice the damaged case, no damage to the gun.

Why didn't you know?

Lets see some pictures of that brass.....

If I were perfect, I'd say something snarky to highlight my virtue and your carelessness.

But . . . alas . . . I've done some boneheaded things too. Even after having been a reloader and shooter for many decades.

Kudos to you for sharing. It reminds me of my own fallibility and I'll try even harder to avoid avoidable mistakes.

The brass would be interesting. I haven't fired the wrong cartridge in a firearm but I've been around it twice. 7mag in a 300 and a 30-30 in a 30-40 krag. Glad it wasn't worse.

It is not surprising that there was no damage, given the dimensions of the two cartridges. However, I would guess that there might have been blackening of the forward portion of the .243 case where a bit of (relatively low pressure) chamber gas escaped rearward before the case sealed the chamber.

I am a bit surprised that the case head was held firmly enough against the bolt face for the firing pin to ignite the primer.

When I ws about 16, I shot a rabbit with a 20ga shell in my Sears 16ga pump. Killed the rabbit at < 10 yds. The report sounded strange & the shell wouldn't eject when I cycled the action.

When I managed to get as stick & push out the hull, it was split and the brass case head was bulged out to the 16ga chamber diameter.

I own several Browning BAR, all look the same same receivers, std calibers have the 22" barrel and Magnums have the 24. All my BAR have VX3 3.5 -10 scopes [plus synthetic stocks. When I picked up the 30=06 I was sure it was the 243...my mistake, the calibers are stamped in small letters on the right side of the barrel my mistake.
I loaded 3 in the mag and allowed the bolt to close. I t did feed and go into battery. at firing I did not notice and thing out of the ordinary again I was just shooting several big bores. What happened was the gun did not cycle so I pulled and release the bolt and it kicked out the shell onto to the ground. On the second shooting failure to cycle occurred again. Now I slowly pulled back the bolt and inspected the case. I then inspected the barrel for any obstructions
I then chambered a live round and it feed smoothly but the bolt would not extract athe unfired round. Now the base diameter had to be close to the 30-06 to hold it in place since both the 243 and 30-06 are rimless depending on the shoulder to set the proper head space




The bottom is a 338wn that had a neck separation which occurred twice and that has never happened before

Glad you weren't hurt. Thanks for sharing information like this; it can help prevent some other accident. We do it in industry all the time. I've had neck separations like that 338 before. Most recently a 50 BMG case. I think in my cases it has been brittle brass from too much resizing without periodic annealing.

Very glad to hear you're ok. Watched someone try to chamber 12g shells into a 20g shotgun sunday while at the trap field. They were a brand new shooter that didn't know their new shotgun wasn't a 12g.....

That's one reason why I 'highlight' the caliber lettering on the barrel of my firearms with a goldstick. Stands out for identification and actually makes the gun look good. Kills two birds with one stone.

Thank goodness all ended up well. Just wondering how was the grouping

At least you weren't using a chrono at the time. Important lesson for me, do not do load work on your wife's .338WM and your .375 AI at the same time. A .338 down a .375 bore does not travel the intended route. Had to replace a chronograph! memtb

How was the accuracy? ha
Zeke

at 50 yds don't have a clue but it did not hit the baffles at 10 feet.

quote:

Originally posted by ZekeShikar:
How was the accuracy? ha
Zeke

Some years ago I attempted to chrono a 12 gauge sabot, I was at least smart enough to check accuracy before the chrono was put into play however the sabot got the chrono went through the glass digital screen and into the case. Bought a new readout and still am using it

quote:

Originally posted by memtb:
At least you weren't using a chrono at the time. Important lesson for me, do not do load work on your wife's .338WM and your .375 AI at the same time. A .338 down a .375 bore does not travel the intended route. Had to replace a chronograph! memtb

I was shooting my .30-06 and my .25-06 at the rifle range one day. I nearly loaded a round of .25-06 ammo into the .30-06 rifle. Something caught my attention and I caught my error before shooting. The .25-06 is made from the .30-06 cartridge, just necked down. So it would easily and reliably pick-up from the magazine and chamber with my bold action rifle. I now exercise more caution when shooting multiple rifles. It may be I had ammo boxes on the bench for both rifles at the same time. That is one thing I no longer do. One box of ammo on the bench at once.

Yeah, I'd make some snarky remark too, but I'm not qualified to criticize. Glad you weren't hurt.

I'd also love to comment that this is the reason that I don't have two rifles of the same model is so this type of thing never happens, but that's be BS.

I have to be careful, as I load .270 Win, 30-06 and 9.3 x 62. Never mixed them up, loaded, but I have put a 270 case through the full length 0 die. Just once.

Again, really glad you're OK!

Seen it happen before, glad to see that nothing bad happened.

I saw where a guy loaded a 308 Win into his 270 and blew up his gun. The 308's bullet fit into the neck of the 270 chamber and "headspaced" there. It split the barrel like a banana, and tore the front receiver ring in half, destroyed the scope and magazine and messed up the guys weak hand. Squeezing the .308 bullet down to .277 really raised the pressure.

The bullet hit the 100 yard target about 8" low.

I have two identical savage tactical 110s one in 308 one in 223. I grabbed 308 and some 223s ammo and was dropped off about 5 miles from the house for a walk around varmint hunt.

I didn't notice it until the wife had drove off and I tried to load the rifle.

Well it was a nice day for a walk anyway.

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:
I have two identical savage tactical 110s one in 308 one in 223. I grabbed 308 and some 223s ammo and was dropped off about 5 miles from the house for a walk around varmint hunt.

I didn't notice it until the wife had drove off and I tried to load the rifle.

Well it was a nice day for a walk anyway.

I did something like that on a deer hunt. My hunting partner and I'd driven an hour to our location, arriving an hour before dawn. I grabbed my rifle and ammo, and had the wrong caliber ammo.

I spent a lovely few hours sitting on my stand watching the woods come to life, unburdened in the slightest by having to worry about shooting lanes, spotting movement, identifying legal animals, etc.

Not what I'd wanted, but there are worse ways to spend one's time.

It looks like that brand gave poor brass life. What brand was it? I wouldn't use anything again that couldn't even last one load.

when that happens, the first thing to do is look around and see if anyone noticed.

Glad you're ok - and like others, cannot hurl any snark from my corner. I was shooting both a 308 and a 30-06 at Knob Creek one day, and tried to chamber a 30-06 cartridge into the 308 rifle. Obviously the bolt would not close but the round was jammed in the chamber but good. Had to swallow my pride and ask the range personnel to help me get it out, which they did with no fuss or judgement (they'd seen a lot). Great folks there.

It happens to all of us if we shoot enough, I have had it happen and more than a few of the hunters Ive delt with over the years have had mishaps such as you describe ..Only the pious perfect nimrods call you out on such things..Not to worry, they too will have a mishap if they remain shooters..Fortunately, as in your case, its just a fireforming event...Seen 270s shot in 30-06s; 257s shot in 7x57; and 243s in .308s over the years, a 338/06 in a Whelen and probably some I don't recall.

I was present at a "Deer Hunter Sight In Day" at our gun club a few years back when a shooter fired a .270 Win in a 7mm Rem chambered Browning Auto. The results were far less beguine than this case. The rifle was destroyed, it's receiver. bulged about two inches wide. No injury to the shooter

I have never accidentally fired the wrong cartridge in a gun but have done it on purpose.

A 270 Winchester in a 30/06; no problem.

A 454 Casull in a Bond Arms 45 Colt/410 Shotgun Derringer; still no problem.

I'm curious as o why a .277" bullet rattling down a ,284" tube would cause that much damage? Any ideas?

wasbeeman, I'm certainly no expert, but I have a guess on your question. The case,being much smaller in dia. than the 7mm, didn't seal(grip) the chamber walls. Thus, all of the thrust went back against the bolt face. I believe that I've read that the cartridge case needs to be supported by the chamber, or "ugly" things can happen! memtb

Guilty!

Was at the range with my .270 and .30-06 (both the same Pre-64 M70 Featherweight models). Shot a .270 through my .30-06. Sounded/felt just a little different and I luckily noticed the mistake at the fist shot. Thank God it wasn't the other way around (30-06 in a .270). Although, I'm not sure a 30-06 would chamber in a .270