I follow Mark Novak and his Anvil channel. He talks today about a Ruger M77 that came into the shop. The shooter had fired a .308 Win in a gun chambered for .270 Win. and demolished the rifle. Headspace is out over 16 thousandths. Which means that the over pressure either stretched the receiver or compressed the locking lugs on the bolt, or some combination thereof.
This particular rifle is toast, but it speaks volumes about the ruggedness of the M77 action. The shooter was unharmed. I'm boosting the signal here to remind us all to check that the ammo we use is compatible with the gun we're putting it in.
Let's all be careful out there.
5 comments:
I thought Ruger actions were cast and not milled steel. If so, that receiver did a good job containing the collateral damage to shooter when it occurred.
I had a similar experience many years ago. Several of us shooters were firing off a single bench, and when it was my turn, I was having trouble loading the magazine. It turned out I had picked up a similar Federal plastic bullet belt slide from the previous shooter (remember those ? Held 10 rounds, 2 per box) and that his ammunition was .270 Winchester, not the 6mm Remington my rifle was. That was stupid on my part for not verifying, but major coincidence both of us were shooting Federal ammunition with same shell holder.
Wow... How did he shooter even get it IN the chamber?
I had a time I accidentally fired .308 Win out of a Mosin Nagant. The primers came out of the case and it sounded odd...
Jonathan
.308 Win case is 1/2" shorter than the .270 Win case. The bullet's shape allows it to protrude into the throat of the barrel.
THis is not a new problem. 8mm Mauser can do the same in chambers of cartridges based on 30-06 and cause the same issues
Cast steel does not deserve the bad reputation it gets.
Good foundry practices eliminate the segregation issues and brittleness most people automatically associate with "cast anything".
Cast steel is NOT cast iron. Different chemistry. Different grain structure. Different mechanical properties.
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