Boy am I dumb. Fired a .45 in a 45-70......

[Sharptop]

I went out last year to shoot my new Marlin 45-70 stainless gray laminated guide gun with fire sites. I was also shooting a stainless gray laminated Marlin 1894 16 inch carbine with fire sites in .45 Colt earlier.

Well I shot the maiden shot in the 45-70 and then it wouldn't cycle, jammed up. Finally got around to working on it and started getting shells out and found that I'd filled it up with .45 Colt. I don't know for sure if the round I shot was a .45 Colt or a 45-70, it seems that I would have noticed it if it was a .45 Colt but it seems I would have noticed them going in too.

The barrel appears unobstructed. This was a brand new gun. Do you think I could have done harm to it or am I okay to shoot some Black Hills 45-70 cowboy ammo through it?

[Blaine]

Interesting........I'd see if the 45-70 cycles and when it does, blaze away.

[dkmlever]

You are not the only one....I shot a 25-06 round in my 30-06 rifle one time....OOPS!

[2ndovc]

My former Father in Law couldn't figure out why his .30-'06 was shooting so poorly one day.
Even though the box said .30-06 it was filled with .270 Winchesters.

I mentioned that might be the problem. He didn't talk to me for a couple days!

jb

[J Miller]

Clear the gun, give it thorough cleaning and inspection, if there's no damage load it up and shoot it. I doubt the .45 Colt would have done any harm to the chamber or bore.

Joe

[Griff]

No, dumb would be forcing .45-70s into the mag of your 1894!

[Nobody]

[Lastmohecken]

And a .308 win can be chambered in a .270, Lucky for me, I did notice a slight resistance when turning the bolt down. I opened it back up but it would not extract, and being a Remington 700, when I forced it a little bit, the extractor promply slipped off of the rim and I had to get a rod to knock it out. I am glad I didn't fire it.

And my eyesight i guess is not what it used to be, as I accidently chambered a 30-06 in a 25-06, well at least I almost chambered it and of course it stuck in the chamber, but this time, I was shooting a Model 70 Winchester and that big Mauser extractor saved the day, as I was out varmit hunting at the time. This is one reason I have started perferring the Model 70 over the Remington 700 in boltactions.

But thankgoodness I am not blind enough to mix up a 45/70 and a 45 long colt, not yet anyway.

I do know a man who almost lost an eye, when he fired a .270 in a 7mag, because a bunch of gas came back on him. I don't know how he got a belted mag mixed up with a .270, but then again, I don't know how I got a .308 mixed up with a .270 but it might have had somthing to do with 3 beers I had on an empty stomach. I don't do that anymore, not while shooting.

[marlinman93]

I know a guy who fired a .308 in a .25-06! It too was in a Model 70 Win. and unbelieveably after a huge recoil, and boom, the gun held together just fine. The bolt had to be beat open with a piece of wood, and the case separated so all that came out was the head. The rest welded itself to the chamber, and it took a finish reamer to clean it out. Bolt had to be replaced, but the rest the gun was unhurt!
A remarkable testimony to the strength of the Model 70 overall, and a good lesson when shooting similar guns in different calibers! Be very careful loading cartridges, and NEVER have more than one gun and matching cartridges at the loading bench at the same time!

[AJMD429]

No, dumb would be forcing .45-70s into the mag of your 1894!

It's not that hard, you just need to tap them a bit with a mallet...

[Ysabel Kid]

No, dumb would be forcing .45-70s into the mag of your 1894!

[CaptainFinn]

When I was a range officer I saw an ungodly amount of 'mischambered' related accidents. A .270 fired in a 30-06...lotta smoke, funky looking case, but no damage.

Numerous cases of 9mm fired in a .40 gun...again, funky lookin cases but no real damage.

Had a fellow come to the range with a brand-new Sig 1911 he bought at Bass Pro. The gun gave him fits. He apaprently had trouble chambering the first round, had a fail to fire, had trouble with the next round. When it fired, it blew the magazine out of the gun, splintered the grips, and oddly enough, the barrel bulged inside the slide, locking the gun up tight.

The culprit ? The helpful clerk at bassPro had given him two boxes of .45 GAP ammo. The short stubby Glock proprietary cartridge. The first round jumped the extractor when he pulled the trigger (the fail-to-fire). It stayed in the chamber when he racked the slide. The next round came up behind the first round (would not fully chamber). He pounded the rear of the slide (!) with a piece of 2x4(!) to get the slide to close. When he fired the round in the chamber (with a second round pounded into the first inch of barrel ahead of the chamber!) the rear round fired, slamming into the case of the foremost round, firing the primer. The foremost round's projectile exited the barrel and went downrange. The rearmost round went foreward a half-inch or so and bulged the barrel just in fron of the locking lugs. The case blew, which blew the mag out of the gun and shattered the grips.

The gun went back to BassPro. Don't know if the guy got his money back and/or a new gun, or if the hapless clerk was disciplined.

[JReed]

Wow. Well at least it was a round of smaller diameter it shouldn't give ya any long term problems.

[jorgy]

I have both 38-40 & 44-40 Marlins in my collection. I was out at the range several years ago & had both with me. I made the mistake
the mistake of putting a 38-40 round in a 44-40 rifle of course I pulled the trigger. It made a completely different sound & I ejected
the round with no problem. the rim was blown out but other wise Ok.
I checked the bore & it appeared fine. To this day I double check to
make sure I am putting the right into the right gun. That scenario at the range could have been a lot worse!

[Bogie35]

No, dumb would be forcing .45-70s into the mag of your 1894!

Thanks Griff!

bogie

[Rus Ler]

At a CAS shoot, one less than knowledgable shooter loaded a borrowed '73 .45 colt with .357 mag shells. The firing pin had enough force to send the whole round down the barrel and it dribbled out the end. He was onto his third "shot" by the time the R.O. could stop him.
Cheers,
Rus Ler

[Cast Bullet Hunter]

I don't know for sure if the round I shot was a .45 Colt or a 45-70, it seems that I would have noticed it if it was a .45 Colt but it seems I would have noticed them going in too.

Well,

If you were looking for an arguement on the title I won't give you one, but you are far from the only one to have ever done something similar, often with far more dire results.

What I cannot understand is how you could not know if you had fired a .45 Colt in a .45-70. Didn't you look at the case that came out of the gun, or did you eject it into the weeds and couldn't find it?