Checking the safety of a gun

[eyeballjr]

My girlfriend has a Remington 700 .264 win mag that she inherited from her grandfather. Unbeknownst to her, the gun had some stress put on it in the past. At some point in it's history it had a 7mm mag shot through it. Her Grandfather died suddenly and her grandmother gave her the gun several years ago. She wanted to hunt with me this year, she wanted to take her first deer with her grandpa's gun. She had never shot it. I sighted the gun in for her and she ended up taking a buck with it. When she posted the picture on Social Media, her uncle said something like, "OMG that isn't that .264 is it. You should never shoot that gun, it is like playing russian roulette. He says that a 7mm mag was jammed into it some time ago, and shot. I'm not sure if the bullet exited the barrel or not, but they had some trouble getting the bolt to open. I've looked at it, and visually there is nothing wrong with the gun, it shoot really accurately. She wants to keep shooting it if at all possible. What do I need to do to ensure the gun is safe to shoot? I would hate for such a beautiful gun to be nothing more than a wall hanger. Does it need x rayed for stress fractures or anything? I probably shot half a box of ammo through it before I knew its history.

 

[Roeder]

For your girlfriend's safety and your peace of mind, have a reputable gunsmith look at it and check the headspace. Usually there would be fairly obvious damage to the bolt from a severe overpressure event, but not always. Increased headspace may not be noticeable but could be dangerous. The peace of mind will be worth the trouble. Even if it does have excess headspace it can probably be restored.

 

[eyeballjr]

Thank you for the reply. Hopefully it is okay. The gun mean a lot to her.

 

[LoneTraveler]

I would take the gun to a gunsmith and have it checked out to be safe.
Did you measure any of the cases that have been shot in the rifle?
Something sounds strange. Putting a 7 MM Rem Mag into a 264 WM would take some doing. .020 of case neck and bullet would not go without a lot of force.

I have seen 264 Win. Mag. ammo loaded in cases head stamped 338 Win. Mag. and 7 MM Rem. If the case neck was not turned after being sized to a smaller caliber the case may have fit tight in the neck of the chamber, It would take some force the get the shell chambered and could jump pressure. Good Luck and be Safe.

 

[Danny1788]

I would take the gun to a gunsmith and have it checked out to be safe.
Did you measure any of the cases that have been shot in the rifle?
Something sounds strange. Putting a 7 MM Rem Mag into a 264 WM would take some doing. .020 of case neck and bullet would not go without a lot of force.

I have seen 264 Win. Mag. ammo loaded in cases head stamped 338 Win. Mag. and 7 MM Rem. If the case neck was not turned after being sized to a smaller caliber the case may have fit tight in the neck of the chamber, It would take some force the get the shell chambered and could jump pressure. Good Luck and be Safe.

This is what I'm thinking as well. If a 7mm rem mag case was fired in a .264" bore there would have been some serious pressure and would probably not shoot at all anymore.
You say you shot some factory ammo in it that shot good, that doesn't sound like anything is wrong with it. If a 7mm bullet went through a 6.5mm bore that barrel would be toast and bulged.
I'm thinking its more on the lines that a 7mm rem mag case was necked down to 6.5mm and then loaded and the neck was too thick or the brass had different case capacity and caused some pressure and tough extraction.