could .308 rounds be fired in a 30-06 rifle?

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I honestly think that the .308 and 30 06 headspace on the neck, If you dont have a claw extractor to hold the case well eneough for the firing pin to strike the primer, I dont believe it would fire, I do however think it would be very dangerous and foolish to attempt to do such an idiotic thing, but thats just my personl opinion. :rolleyes:
 
Well, the Navy Garands were rechambered to fire 7.62 NATO through teh use of a sleeve inserted into the .30-06 chamber. Problem is sometimes they came loose and ejected with the spent brass. The shooter probably wouldn't notice this then the next round would be a 7.62 NATO round fired through a .30-06 chamber and from what I've heard the reults weren't pretty so short of using a chamber adaptor or sleeve of some sort, I would say no, it's not a good idea.
 
No.

As mentioned, it is possible to insert an adapter, but there are plenty of problems with this approach. So for all practical purposes, it's still no.
 
If the claw extractor held the case close enough to the firing pin to get solid hit, quite "possibly." But the longer `06 chamber would give the bullet nearly a 1/2 inch to get canted slightly sideways before fully entering the throat.

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That might not be pretty. :eek:
 
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And what do we suppose would happen "if" the extractor held the case securely enough to detonate the primer- with the .308 case basically just flopping around loose in the chamber nearly a half-inch short of where it should be?

I don't have a degree in internal ballistics, but seems obvious to me that the case would expand beyond it's limits (since the neck is still in the full dia. area of the chamber) and go "boom", no?

The guys on "Guns 'N Ammo" TV do some crazy stuff trying to blow up rifles sometimes...this would be a good write-in candidate :eek:
 
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Several decades ago, I was the range safety officer when someone managed to light off a .308 Win cartridge in a .25-06. The person had identical rifles, except for the caliber. As he later explained, he got distracted talking with the guy next to him and chambered a .308 into the .26-06 rifle. I caught the fireball out of my peripheral vision. The shooter survived, but he got a little bloody when the optic came back into his eye. (one heck of a recoiling rifle it was) The lower portion of the chamber let loose, the stock cracked, etc. Amazingly, the .30 cal bullet actually cleared the entire length of the barrel.
 
I saw a photo in American Rifleman years ago of a 308 fired out of a 30/06. The shoulder was blown out and resembled a straight wall case.
 
SIGSHR said:
I saw a photo in American Rifleman years ago of a 308 fired out of a 30/06. The shoulder was blown out and resembled a straight wall case.

Yeah, I saw that one too. At the time I thought "Man, they're going to have trouble resizing that case."

Yeah, you could possibly shoot a .308 cartridge in a .30-06 chamber, but it's a horribly bad idea to do it purposely.
 
Interesting stories about Garand high power shooters who shot M118SB when they mixed it up for M72 Match ball. The impact is low and left on the target, and the brass looks like rimless 45-70...

So don't do it.

Jimro
 
.308 out of an '06...

At my club, I once found not one but THREE blown-out .308 cases, apparently fired in a .30-'06.

Yes, the cases resemble a straight-wall, except for a very slight hint of the '06's shoulder at the extreme front end of the blown-out .308 case.

Never heard of anyone's rifle going Ka-Boom, no word of an injury at the club, so apparently the--ahem--intelligent human being who tried this, got away with it.

I gave the cases to Hunter Safety instructors to use as examples of what NOT to do.

Doing it once out of confusion I could see, although it'd have to include some bad ammunition and gun handling practices, but then to do it twice more???

Just glad I wasn't there at the time.
 
The above is all true... save for the notes about the so-called "Navy Sleeve'.

I've used them in several Garands and they worked well, they are a steel sleeve that you place on a .308 round, place in the chamber and fire. They are soft steel and expand and adhere to the chamber walls well *if the chamber walls are carefully degreased before the attempt*. From that point on your .30-06 is a .308. They are removed with a broken case extractor. Not reusable...

Might be a good addition to a survival grab bag, dunno where they can be found these days. Used to be pretty common.


Willie

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Interesting stories about Garand high power shooters who shot M118SB when they mixed it up for M72 Match ball. The impact is low and left on the target, and the brass looks like rimless 45-70...
I shot next to a Coast Guard shooter who did exactly that at 600 yards. The rifle was taken off of the line thinking a case separation had occurred. The shooter had been issued the wrong ammo by his team leader.
To dangerous.
So don't do it.
+1
 
DON'T!!!!!!!!!

The extractor might very well hold the cartridge tight enough for the firing pin to detonate the round, as the stories show.

IF the case doesn't hold, that is a bunch of gas loose right there where you don't want it.

You get two eyes and two thumbs and 8 fingers and their supposed to last a lifetime. And one life.

doon't do it.
 
308 in a Garand 06

Years ago I was at a Leg Match and a M1 shooter got 7.62 ammo by mistake. He got through the slowfire Offhand without a hitch,after his 2nd alabi at the Rapidfire sitting someone noticed the problem and got 30 cal for the shooter and everything was fine. I don't think it is a dangerous thing to do, nothing happened to the shooter or the rifle. It rendered the brass unusable.
The 308 adapters were used by the Navy and a lot of other shooters. There is a possibility that it could be extracted with a spent round. However I never heard of it happening. All the stories are," I heard of a guy "or "someone told me about it happening", but never has anyone told me that it happened to them.
For Willie Sutton or anyone else out there , I just happen to have a bushing with the original instruction sheet. Make me an offer.
 
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