Telling on myself

[Bill in Oregon]

OK, I am going to share this at my own expense in hopes someone else will avoid duplicating my experience. Keep in mind I have been shooting for more than 50 years, and reloading for more than 40.
Today I took several firearms to the shooting range -- my first such outing in months. I have acquired several new to me long guns since last summer, and put up a sample of handloads for all. I have a Remington Model 8 in .30 Remington that I wanted to test fire before I sell it, so I grabbed the box of reloads for this rifle along with the usual odds and ends, and went to the range. My new XDS .45 shot like a dream. The little .32 Ortgies I am going to sell shot very, nicely as well, as did the Remington 11-48 in .410 and the late 1940s Marlin 39. My wife put in some more range time with her little S&W .38. Then I pulled out the Model 8. First shell in the magazine kind of got stuck. Great, I thought, the magazine spring is weak or broken. After fiddling with it, I thought that maybe chambering a shell by hand and shooting it would get the hitch out of the magazine's gitalong. No soap. The hand chambered shell wouldn't fully chamber. So I very carefully put the rifle back in its case with the mental note to give it immediate attention when I got home.
I was just merging onto the freeway when I realized I had grabbed the box of handloads for my new-to-me Model 64 Winchester in .32 SPECIAL, and not the similar box of .30 Remingtons. Can you imagine my horror and shame? It didn't even register that I was trying to feed a rimmed cartridge into a rifle designed for rimless cases. This is the dumbest and most potentially serious error I have made in a lifetime of shooting and handloading. Thank the Lord that action would never have closed on that case and oversized bullet.
DON'T LET IT HAPPEN TO YOU! Label your handloads, and THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE DOING!
Go ahead and laugh all you want. I deserve it.

[olyinaz]

Well that's embarrassing for sure, but I thought you were going to tell us about a kaaboom! Thank God it didn't come to that, and thank God you're safe to pass on a lesson to us.

[Blaine]

A .444 will chamber in a 45-70 and fire, making a perfectly fire-formed brass...... umm...I...ah..forget where I heard that (When you're on the shooting bench with others, be careful )

That's no harm, no foul, Bill.....I remember my hunting buddy forcefully trying to chamber an '06 into a .270...

[awp101]

Well that's embarrassing for sure, but I thought you were going to tell us about a kaaboom! Thank God it didn't come to that, and thank God you're safe to pass on a lesson to us.

Amen to that! Glad your digits (and other important parts) are still attached and in one piece!

A .444 will chamber in a 45-70 and fire, making a perfectly fire-formed brass...... umm...I...ah..forget where I heard that (When you're on the shooting bench with others, be careful )

9mm will do that in a .40 and I'll fess up to it! I'll even fess up to trying to figure out 3 TIMES why it wouldn't cycle before I looked at the headstamp...

[pwl44m]

Well back in about 1960, maybe a yr or 2 later My Dad already had a Win 30-30. We were in Oklahoma one year and He bought a Rem mod 8 in 30 rem from one of His Family members in Porum Ok. (80 bucks) U already know were this is going. Yep - the 94 wouldn't cycle the 30 Rem rnd. Sure played hob with His follow up shot.
Perry

[Bill in Oregon]

Andrew, I am not so sure all the important parts are attached. I clearly left my brain on my reloading bench today ....

[Blaine]

Andrew, I am not so sure all the important parts are attached. I clearly left my brain on my reloading bench today ....

It's all that worrying about becoming a Rock Star with that new GitTar...

[Old Ironsights]

Wait untill you shoot yourself... THEN you can talk about dumb moves...

And yess... it has healed nicely...

[AJMD429]

A .444 will chamber in a 45-70 and fire, making a perfectly fire-formed brass......

The 444's don't feed through a Guide Gun very well, but if you're an experienced levergunner like me, and you know how to kinda double-hitch the lever, it can be done. . .

[earlmck]

Oooops! I'm glad it was one of those harmless ooopses that just give us that little reminder that "gotta' make extra sure the brain is engaged" when we're dealing with guns and handloads and such stuff. Thanks for the reminder, Bill.

[Mescalero]

.25 .06 in .30-.06

[Bill in Oregon]

Earl, I am truly ashamed of myself.

[shooter]

A .44 magnum will also fire in a .45 Colt cylinder and fire form the brass, or so I've heard.

[earlmck]

Earl, I am truly ashamed of myself.

I can see you have lead waaaay too much the "mistake-free" life, Bill. On a scale of 1 to 10 for shooting deboopses, that doesn't even rate a "2". Well, maybe that part about not noticing the rim on a supposed rimless case might get it up to a 2. But not more!

We could maybe get a little contest going here for "worst shooting situation brain-fanny burp" but I'm afraid those of us best qualified to score high in the rankings don't have the guts to tell about the best ones. Speaking purely for myself, that is.

[flatnose]

I know for a fact that 41 mags go boom in 44mag chambers. Accuracy sucks though.

AJ, you need to anneal your brass more before fireforming. It will help to prevent splits.

[Griff]

Complacency is the by-product of familiarity. And the foundation of a "ooops". As my grandmother used to say, "...those who live in glass houses ought not throw stones!"

On a recent outing with several Levergunners, I took one of my handloads, which while loaded a couple of years ago, showed no signs of an incipient separation. I have never associated a "line" on the outside of a case with a possible separation... I do now. The "line" was clearly the result of the empty case riding around in an MTM plastic box. I'd fired about ½ of this box out of my rifle, chambering all easily with no pressure signs or anything. The round fired, ejected a separated case head. As I was thinking about how to remove the rest of the case, I set the rifle on it's butt, muzzle up... a couple of "tink... tinks" later, the rest of the case was laying on the table. I too, have been reloading for about 40 years, but anyone who's said, "...I've nothing to learn..." is about to get a lesson.

I've got several hundred other .30-30 cases... the 20 or so left in this box will get pulled down and tossed. Glad your incident had no unsavory consequences.

I was running the timer today at a cowboy match... a squib load, and the shooter stopped, thinking he'd had a primer only detonation... but I'd clearly heard the bullet strike steel... I said, "nope, the bullet exited, you can continue." He fired the last round from that revolver, re-holstered and drew the 2nd... fired one round and then, yep! "Pop!" I hollered, "STOP!" He looked over his shoulder and said, "...what?" I told him he had a bullet stuck. There's a definite difference in the sound, and having had a couple myself and quite a few over the past 28 years in cowboy action matches... I'm pretty confident when I hear one. Cleared his pistol the remaining 3 rounds and removed the cylinder. Yep, the base of the bullet was visible just into the forcing cone.

These things can happen to anyone. Just give thanks that it wasn't your time for serious injury or damage. A pay attention better next time!

[Footloose]

If you want a real surprise, leave the loading rod in your Muzzle Loader. I guarantee it will get your attention. A 44-40 will load into a 44 Mag chamber easily. The 44-40 case looks a bit funny with a case mouth that thin and large.

Footloose

[piller]

There is no example so bad that it cannot be used as to teach a lesson. In the Army I found out that an M60 could have a round in the chamber and due to a jam, have another round used to fire the first. I was not injured. It was a night fire exercise at a range, we were not using our own M60s, and there were a bunch of Turtles there. I was right behind a Turtle, and he was apparently one of those unexploded rounds that somehow makes it through. He kept messing with the cover release and trying to work the charging handle. The RO sent him off and had me come up. I started to clear the weapon and reload it properly and the RO screamed at me to just shoot. As I walked off, I was yelling for the primary RO and I told him about it. The RO and I were in the office in 10 minutes. I kept my rank.

[earlmck]

A 44-40 will load into a 44 Mag chamber easily.

You've got a badly oversized 44 mag chamber there, Footloose. That particular "ooops" shouldn't happen easily 'cause the 44-40 should be bigger toward the base and the 44 mag just a scosh bigger toward the neck.

[Chuck 100 yd]

I am glad it did not come to an accident beyond the oops stage.
Good lesson for all.

[Sigmar]

Earl, I am truly ashamed of myself.

I can see you have lead waaaay too much the "mistake-free" life, Bill. On a scale of 1 to 10 for shooting deboopses, that doesn't even rate a "2". Well, maybe that part about not noticing the rim on a supposed rimless case might get it up to a 2. But not more!

We could maybe get a little contest going here for "worst shooting situation brain-fanny burp" but I'm afraid those of us best qualified to score high in the rankings don't have the guts to tell about the best ones. Speaking purely for myself, that is.

Hmmm I'll go 1st then and since I was 12 yrs old kinda sorta gives me an excuse. My uncle gave me my 1st gun, a 16 gauge mossburg bolt goose gun, when I was 12 years old. Mistake was he left it at that, no safety training,nada. Dad knew nothing about guns and this was the 1st one I ever handled. So they cut me loose with it in the woods with a be safe have a good day. I was walking down a pipeline with it across my shoulders, cattle all over the place, clicking the safety off and on mindlessly, with finger on trigger. Yup pulled the trigger, gun whipped around almost tearing my finger off and shot a darn cow in the hind quarter. Lesson was well taken to say the least. Now I'll go hide my head in shame

[Old Savage]

awp - 40s will fire in a 45 ACP - beer glass shaped cases.

44s are not accurate in 45s

410s will fire in 45-70s

444s will fire in 410s.

Any 32 will fire in a 327 Fed Mag.

Shots in the bottom of the orange are 44s, on top are 45s - Heritage Rough Rider 45 Colt. (Pietta)

[piller]

awp - 40s will fire in a 45 ACP - beer glass shaped cases.

44s are not accurate in 45s

410s will fire in 45-70s

444s will fire in 410s.

Any 32 will fire in a 327 Fed Mag.

Shots in the bottom of the orange are 44s, on top are 45s - Heritage Rough Rider 45 Colt. (Pietta)

O S, the 327 is intended to shoot any centerfire straight wall 32, including the 32 long, 32 H&R, and a couple of others. Now, the .45 Colt is not supposed to fire in a .480 chamber, but it does.

[Old Savage]

Moral is that you have to be careful.