Shooting .243 in .308 by accident

[getitdone1]

Been cleaning a lot of my guns recently (ugh!) and did a little trigger pull weight measuring as well. I don't have dummies to protect the firing pin for the 308 so I used the 243 dummy cartridge. Got me to wondering if any of you have accidently shot the 243 in your 308 gun and the results? My guess is it'd split the neck of the case and bullet would wobble down the bore with no harm to anyone.

Well, I just now tried chambering an empty 243 case into my 308 Browning BLR and the bolt won't close all the way on it. I see in my Cartridges of The World book that the 243 is a little longer overall and longer from bottom of cartridge to bottom of neck--i.e., shoulder sets further forward. Maybe the 243 would go in a bolt gun chambered for 308 since I think the bolt-action could put more force on it.

Just wonder'in.

Came back to add: Will the 270 Winchester chamber in the 30-06? Looks like it, like the 243, is a little longer than the parent cartridge.

Don

[Don McDowell]

Nope still wouldn't work, besides the differences you already noted, the shoulders are different angles. Pretty sure they were designed that way.

[jnyork]

A member of this board who shall go nameless in this narrative once took his .30-30 Marlin and his .303 Brit to the range to plink some metallic silhouettes with some cast bullet loads he had made up. Yes, Virginia, you CAN fire a .30-30 cartridge in a .303 Brit, only takes 3 rounds to figure out something is wrong!

[dkmlever]

Also an "unknown" board member took his 25-06 and his 30-06 to the range and some how shoot not one but two 25-06 in the 30-06......nicely fire formed cases and a missed target were the results.

[Ben_Rumson]

Last week I was reading an old American Rifleman Magazine article. It was the introduction of the brand new Winchester 88 in 308... Julian Hatcher range tested it...He wondered if 300 Savage rounds would chamber, they did. He commented that it shot a good 5 shot group with them, actually better than at least one group fired with 308 rounds. But stated he was certainly not recommending the practice. I’m sure nowadays it would never even be mentioned.

[castcat]

yes did that, fired shot no recoil no hole in paper, tried again same result looked at brass and saw problem right away, keep ammo with each gun off of bench until time to shoot now

[AJMD429]

I wondered why my new (used) Guide Gun in .45-70 wouldn't even feed a round without jamming - I thought I'd gotten a raw deal...



...why the chamber must be bulged or cut wrong...!



... er, uh, well. . .

[getitdone1]

AJMD45,

Well....the firing pin sure did it's work on the primer! I always check how the firing pin indents the primer with a new gun. I want it close to center and I want it fairly deep. Like to see more indentation with my new Browning BLR. Don't like a wimpy firing pin. As I've said before: Reliability above all.

I've mentioned it here before but one time I forgot to put powder in a 44 mag case. The primer stuck the bullet in the barrel. Thank goodness I was not shooting fast double-action. Gently beat it out with a steel rod--not wanting to damage the bore.

And...would you believe fast drawing an over/under derringer 22 LR and nearly shooting my foot? Long ago.

I'll bet many here have had their less than brilliant close calls. Thankfully caution usually increases with age as does the realization that it really can happen to ME.

Don

[Retro]

I have some brass here where the guy did exactly that.

Yes, the bullet rattles down the bore and falls on the ground at about 30 feet.

The brass is fireformed to 308 dimensions, and one might even be able to size it back. Or just load it as 308.

I wouldn't want to go the other way though.

[pdawg.shooter]

Before I had a 25.06 I was given 120rds of ammo for one. Fired them all in my 30.06 and had perfect fire formed brass for reloading. Fired them into a dire bank from about 10 feet so I knew where the bullets went.

[pwl44m]

Back in the late 50s MY DAd tried to stuff a 30-30 round into a Rem mod 8 /30 rem. Missed the only Buck We saw.

[BAGTIC]

Back when the .308 was first introduced an unnamed relative bought a new M99 Savage. He brought me a coupled of fired cases insisting there was something wrong with his new gun because the fired cases didn't have a neck. I told him he had the wrong ammo he should be shooting .308 and not .300 Savage. He insisted he had the right ammo because his gun was a 'Savage' and used 'Savage' ammunition.