First mistake at the range... Very lucky

[Unofficial Gun Addict (UGA)]

Well... made my first error with respect to reloading and rangetime last night in 30 years. Light was getting low and I was trying to double-check loads on both my 7mm IHMSA and 308. Had just finished verifying loads on both the 7mm and 308, and was taking my last shot on the 308 at 200 yrds to confirm my adjustment from a 3 round group I had just shot. Reached over and grabbed a 7mm, inserted, close bolt. Didn't notice. Aimed & Fired.... did notice. Felt like I was shooting a half load.

Pulled the cartridge and that's when I'd realized what I had done. I was very lucky that it was a smaller bullet going through bigger barrel and that the 7mm Ihmsa is formed from a 308 case so it was a close match to the chamber, or I could have ended up destroying a very nice firearm, not to mention myself.

Lesson for me: Don't get over-confident/complacent... Don't rush... keep ammo in separate case... look at it before inserting into rifle!

Feel very fortunate. Here's the result:

 

[Deleted member 46119]

So glad you are ok.

Pleased the firearm is ok.

Event and lesson absorbed..............

I have to remember to be so so cautious with the 300RUM and 330/300RUM on the line at the same time.

 

[Slopeshunter]

Good to hear you're ok!

 

[Unofficial Gun Addict (UGA)]

Thank you. For something like that... And to only lose a nice piece of brass, some powder, and a bullet... Well... It's an inexpensive price to pay compared to a finger/hand, eye, or rifle. Got off lucky.

 

[7magcreedmoor]

Way, way back, a million years ago when dinosaurs roamed the earth.... well it was in about the 7th grade so it was a while back for me, my hunter safety instructor told us he didn't even like to have people using 12 and 20 gauge shotguns hunting in the same group, let alone one guy carrying two types of ammo. ONLY ONE type of ammo on the bench at any one time is a GOOD RULE. Anyone can make the same mistake you did. Not everyone will come away from it just being embarrassed...

 

[Dosh]

Thanks for an important post. Made my son and grandson view it.

 

[Rick Richard]

I did the same thing running a 270 through a Browning 7mag auto. I was lucky that I was wearing glasses since all kinds of stuff peppered my face. The receiver was bulged out like a 9 month pregnancy and the stock (wooden) broke.

 

[marioq]

Had a buddy do that with a 270 is a 7mm mag. Same thing happened. Case exploded
Nobody and nothing hurt. Very important to watch what one is doing. Glad nothing bad happened and thank for sharing. Good learning tool

 

[ShootnMathews]

Glad everything is ok. That is the reason why when I am shooting multiple guns, I only have one gun and ammo on the mat at a time. The others are stored behind me. If I switch guns, the ammo goes with it. As a second measure I also use different colored ammo carriers for the different guns. I have carriers in dark green, red, smoke, clear, blue, and a very light green.

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

I've got a buddy into reloading and he has done the same thing... one color per caliber... I'm a bit late to the party to start as I've got about 5,000 rounds loaded in various cal's and most are in green boxes. Labeling for me is paramount.
Many times firing a smaller cartridge in a larger chamber/bore is not going to do bad things, but when you start trying to shove overbore bullets down the pipe you run into trouble quick. I've seen 7-08's through a 308 without a hiccup and 7rem's down a stw without issues, but the 12-20 burst and the 270/ 7mm-06 issue are downright scary.

 

[Unofficial Gun Addict (UGA)]

Yeah... All my boxes are green... But I'm getting a red one and a blue one for safeties sake. It's not something I ever perceived as an issue, until now. Live and learn is an expression I'm particularly fond of... Especially the "live" potion of that phrase.

 

[Sargesniper]

Thanks for an important post. Made my son and grandson view it.

So glad you and fellow shooters came out ok. I shoot (2) .308's and a .260 most of the time and I make a habit of keeping all ammo on a shelf behind the shooting bench. I only take one of the flip tops marked for specific rifle to the bench and return it and the rifle before I proceed with another rifle. I can see how this happened with your rifle. I am going to double check from now on.
I once made a mistake at the reloading bench and it cost me a fine rifle. I was so lucky to come out of the incident unscathed except for minor powder burns. I now make a habit to stop reloading if there is any kind of distraction present. One moment of inattention can be costly.

Thanks for your post and don't feel like the Lone Ranger. WE ALL MAKE MISTAKES!
Good luck in the future. .......SARGESNIPER ......... SEMPER FI

 

[FEENIX]

So glad you are ok.

Pleased the firearm is ok.

Event and lesson absorbed..............

Same here ... and thanks for sharing!

 

[Unofficial Gun Addict (UGA)]

I appreciate the concern and good fortune you all wished me for coming out unscathed. I also appreciate the advice for avoiding this in the future. I think the color coding is probably the choice that I think will work best for me, so my plan is to buy a different colored case and label it for each of the rounds that I reload. Good input. Always terrific ideas from all of you. Sorry to hear that a couple of guns were lost in similar situations, but glad you are here to post about it.

Thanks all. Will not happen again. Since I did live... I do choose to learn. Hope everyone's hunt(s) this year go safely and with a lot of smiles.