Hornady Mishap?

[volt2amp]

I had purchased some 300WM ammo at a local sporting good store that was on sale. It was Hornady Custom Lite/ Reduced Recoil 150gr SST. Main reason for purchasing was to get the brass for reloading and it was cheap.

I took it to the range yesterday and shot 1 box. On the second shot, I noticed the recoil and rifle report was different. When I ejected the shell I noticed it looked like the neck had came off. I then disassembled and inspected the rifle for the missing piece. I didn't see anything so I tried chambering a new round which did so and I continued on. It wasn't until today that I was cleaning the brass when I noticed the head stamp on the questionable shot says 7mm rem Mag. I also wonder if I actually shot a 7mm rem mag thru the gun or if they somehow loaded a .30cal in a 7mm RMag stamped casing. I feel like I would have noticed the difference as I was loading each shot individually.

Also all the other proper headstamped brass after cleaning and FL resizing is measuring 2.598. My Hornady reloading manual states max case length to be 2.620 and Min case length to to be 2.615. The latter being what I trim all my brass after each firing. So it appears Hornady has loaded this with brass that is shorter than spec. My question is this normal as this is my first time to shoot factory loaded ammo with the intent of reloading it.

Picture is the 7mm headstamped on left compared to the 300 WM on right. The shoulder measures the same on both.
Thanks,

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k262/volt2amp/20161016_190406.jpg

[big honkin jeep]

I'd bet dollars against donuts that some Yahoo in the store switched em up.
They were probably comparing cartridges(7MM and 300) and got them mixed up when they went to put em back in the box.
Wouldn't be the first time. and yeah that different sound was a 7mm going down a .308 bore.

[JASmith]

Do you see the change in color of the 7mm brass near the new shoulder?

One can be reasonably certain that is where the old shoulder was.

The case length for the 7mm Mag is nominally 2.500" per Ammoguide.

You might well have had an actual 7mm Mag in your chamber. The bullet could have easily bumped up to fill the bore so the velocity would not have been appreciably reduced. That would explain why the report and recoil were "different" but not absurdly low.

I once inadvertently used a .270 Win in a 30-06 and that report and recoil were truly different than the '06!

[volt2amp]

The shot at 100 yrds actually hit at the right elevation just about 3" right from the others. I didn't think about other customers mixing them up at the store. This is likely as the ammo where I purchased is out on the shelves.

[darkker]

Don't lose sleep over the brass being "to short", that essentially doesn't exist.
Headspace has nothing to do with the length of the case neck, so unless you can't get a good purchase on the bullet, there isn't too short.

[BillPa]

The shot at 100 yards actually hit at the right elevation just about 3" right from the others. I didn't think about other customers mixing them up at the store. This is likely as the ammo where I purchased is out on the shelves.

Some years ago there were a few instances of mixed CF ammo at one local shop. If it was on purpose( product tapering) or by accident was never established. For awhile every box was checked at checkout time.

BTW, I know of a guy [anonymous] who successfully fired a 308 Win round in a 280 Imp chamber. Windage was perfect, but was about 1" low at 100 as I ..errr....heard.:p

Bill

[Rob01]

I'd bet dollars against donuts that some Yahoo in the store switched em up.
They were probably comparing cartridges(7MM and 300) and got them mixed up when they went to put em back in the box.
Wouldn't be the first time. and yeah that different sound was a 7mm going down a .308 bore.

Yup I bet that was it as well. No way a 7mm would get in with a 300 at the Hornady plant. That definitely sounds like a gun shop mix up. I wouldn;t worry about anything. Toss that brass and load up the rest.

[Anschutz]

Well. What size was the hole in the target? That should let you know immediately.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

[big honkin jeep]

There's probably another guy somewhere wondering why the bolt wont close on his 7 mag.

[RC20]

Like Bill Pa, I got it from a very reliable source (well maybe not so reliable on the following:

Guy has a 45 ACP. Has not shot it in years (story of a good back gone bad and realizing that he can't do what he used to and better to have a gun a lot handier). Said guy buys some 45 ammo, down to the range, fist one fire but does not eject. Hmm, its always been a reliable gun (basically a Colt Commander by Spanish firm). Jacks shell, fires again, ditto. Huh. Starts looking carefully, cases are stamped GAP (what the (*&^% is GAP?, should be ACP, looks at case, seems a bit shorter than an ACP along side, goes home, finds out that in the intervening years some crap outfit called Glock decided they had to have their own caliber because SIG had one, so they reinvented a wheel and came up with GAP. Skuzzy buggers.


And then there was the guy shooting an AK semi auto with his brother doing the shooting. Odd noise, that didn't sound right, hmmm, look at case, well it turns out that an AK will shoot 223 as well. Now there is one for the books, not even close in appearance.

Like I say, from a not so reliable source, things do happen though, you always hope you survive them mostly intact.

[olddav]

FYI, A SKS chambered in 7.62x39 will shoot a .223 round and as RC20 said, they ar not even close.
It sounded like a squib when fired, we checked the barrel and found it to be clear. Started looked on the ground for our spent brass and discovered a .223 casing that was straight walled, (no taper, bottle neck or nothing). No one was hurt and no damage to rifle, all in all a cheap lesson learned. Now it's one rifle and one box of ammo on the table at any one time.

[handirifle]

There's probably another guy somewhere wondering why the bolt wont close on his 7 mag.

Hopefully he didn't fire his to find out.

olddav
So you basically created a LONG version of the Blackout? :(:rofl:

[handirifle]

Some years ago there were a few instances of mixed CF ammo at one local shop. If it was on purpose( product tapering) or by accident was never established. For awhile every box was checked at checkout time.

BTW, I know of a guy [anonymous] who successfully fired a 308 Win round in a 280 Imp chamber. Windage was perfect, but was about 1" low at 100 as I ..errr....heard.:p

Bill

WOW it's a wonder that bullet didn't start to tumble, in that much longer chamber. I guess Barnes isn't the only ones that call for a LONG bullet jump......;)

[justinp61]

WOW it's a wonder that bullet didn't start to tumble, in that much longer chamber. I guess Barnes isn't the only ones that call for a LONG bullet jump......;)

It's a wonder it didn't blow up. A 308" bullet down a barrel designed for a .284" bullet, .024" difference??

[Zero333]

That brass is now garbage because the brass stretched like hell above the belt, now being very thin and on the verge of rupturing if reloaded and shot again.

This is why in the Canadian gun safety class they teach us to make sure we read the headstamp of the brass and the on the barrel to make sure we put the right ammo in the right chamber !