I just got back from my property after shooting my Winchester .375 H&H. I wanted to shoot some 'groups' with Federal Trophy Bonded before I sent the rifle off to Hill Country Rifles for some work. I am having it restocked (it's the stainless rifle with that cheesy POS plastic stock), accurized, barrel cut to 22" and NECG sights installed. I wanted a 'before and after' comparison on how it shoots.

Anyway, I had shot a couple of groups and reached in and grabbed a round to start another group after the rifle cooled. I loaded the round in the mag and pushed the bolt forward.....but the bolt stopped 1/2" shy of closing. Strange.....so I pulled the round out....checked the chamber to make sure there wasn't an obstruction and tried again...same thing! This time I looked at the round and thought "Gee....that bullet looks a little larger than a .375....looks more like a .416". I looked at the case head and sure enough '.416 Rem Mag' was the headstamp! I checked the rest of the box and all were fine.

Now, since I was just at the range 'farting around' so to speak, it was no big deal. But, can you imagine if I was on a DG hunt and that .416 round was the next round up in a hairy situation???!!! I can envision extracting the fired .375 round and trying to shove that .416 round in with adrenalized force in a bad situation and completely rendering the rifle useless! Bad deal. Goes to show that you can't be too damn careful about making sure everything functions smoothly on and in your rifle prior to going afield.....including your factory ammo.

TXPO, this happens on occasion, but I don't believe it is by accident! The two rounds are not loaded on the same line at any factory I know of. The only way a 416 Rem Mag round could get into a box of 375 H&H ammo is, if someone put it there! They're are a lot of idiots out there who think this is fun!

First, I'd go to the store where I bought the ammo, and make someone in charge made aware of this, so they can check all their ammo to see if any others are mixed, maybe by an employee!

This wasn't dangerous in this case, because the round wouldn't chamber in the rifle, but rounds like 338 Win Mag will chamber in a 270 Wby Mag, or 300 Wby Mag, and the result will be something you don't want. This would never happen on a buffalo hunt, with me, as I run every round of, even factory ammo, through my rifles before I leave for hunt, to check for feeding!

If ammo is on a shelf where public can get at it- chances are that was the problem. Someone walks in and says "I want to see that "big" 375 cartridge up close", or "How does that look next to a 416 Remington". They open the boxes and mess it all up. That is why I like to see the ammo sitting behind the counter. A little more of a pain for us honest folk, but well worth the security.

Ken,
The ammo was behind the counter....my guess is that an employee was 'comparing' the two rounds either for himself or a customer and mistakenly switched the rounds. I can see how it can be done.

I'm not upset over the situation but I did learn a valuable lesson for free....if you go after something that can hurt you make sure you stack the deck in your favor!