my mistake

J

Johnnyshotgun

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i have a 45. new vaquero rugger single action revolver that i accidentally shot 44. mag loads out of. i know it was a rookie mistake and i only shot the six of them out. will this effect the accuracy of my gun? and has anyone else made this kind of mistake?:
 
Happens every once in a while, I saw a friend shoot .44-40 from a .45 Colt and have picked up several very bulged cases from things like 9mm in .40.

Probably did not hurt anything.

But was there nothing odd about the first shot that you kept going?
 
Not necessarily. Visually inspect the bore for a bulge (there probably isn't one). Then run you finger along the outside of the barrel. If it's smooth and there's no visible bulge, it should be OK. Then try one bullet of the correct caliber. See where it strikes. If you're a good shot and it hits the bullseye, then fire off five more. If they're all OK, the barrel is fine.

BTW, someone else loaded 40S&W into my magazine for my 45 cal. Sig P220. I fired one shot, the slide didn't recoil as it normally does. I ceased fire, inspected the gun, and inserted the correct ammo and it shot normally.
 
Johnny, Didn't you notice the change in recoil?

Like they said above, inspect the barrel and also check to make sure everything is tight. Then shoot a cylinder full of rounds to test it out.
 
Did it years ago with my Ruger single action, the case split but if I remember right it sounded funny, remember a 44 mag is .429 dia and 45LC is .451 or so no way you can build enough pressure to hurt anything. The bullet probably rattled down the barrel.
The reloading manuals have a separate page for Ruger & T/C only some pretty stout 45 LC loads in most manuals. I wouldn't worry about it.
 
You won't have a problem. A friend that teachs a "gun" class use 44 mag and 45 Colt Ruger Vaqueros in a portion of his class. He switches the cylinders and fires 45s in the 44 gun and 44s in the 45. 44s in the 45 gun are quite inaccurate. The 45s out of the 44 are very accurate, recoil is a little stiff.
 
You won't have a problem. A friend that teachs a "gun" class use 44 mag and 45 Colt Ruger Vaqueros in a portion of his class. He switches the cylinders and fires 45s in the 44 gun and 44s in the 45. 44s in the 45 gun are quite inaccurate. The 45s out of the 44 are very accurate, recoil is a little stiff
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That's a good way to blow a gun up in your face! :mad:

Most .45's take 0.452" diameter projectiles, .45colt (Long Colt) can take either 0.452" or 0.454" diameter projectiles depending on the rifling groove depth. When you try squeezing a 0.452" or 0.454" bullet through the 0.429" groove diameter of the .44mag bore, you're spiking pressures through the roof! This is extremely dangerous and just because someone doing something utterly stupid has gotten lucky does not make it safe! :mad:

While the 0.429" bullets from the .44mag may have clearance in the 0.452"/0.454" .45 bores, the case is not properly supported by the chamber in the cylinder and the already high pressure .44mag loads can cause the case to rupture resulting in catastrophic failure of the cylinder/gun! Without complete inspection of that gun, there is no way of telling what damage has possibly been done because over pressure stress loading of the steel may not be found without utilization of an NDI testing method such as Eddie Current or Ultrasound. Once the alloy has been over stressed the damage is already done and it can fail catastrophically without warning at any time even when operating at pressure well below "normal".

I would strongly suggest sending that gun back to Ruger with a full explanation of the incident and have the professionals inspect it properly and make a determination as to if it is safe or not. Just ask yourself if it's worth loosing fingers, an eye, your whole hand or injuring/killing someone else.

Here's some visual aids of why SAFETY is of utmost importance ...

Colt1.jpg

54x1doubleball2.jpg

A-overall_damage_jpg.jpg

smokeless-Indiana.jpg
 
You won't have a problem. A friend that teachs a "gun" class use 44 mag and 45 Colt Ruger Vaqueros in a portion of his class. He switches the cylinders and fires 45s in the 44 gun and 44s in the 45. 44s in the 45 gun are quite inaccurate. The 45s out of the 44 are very accurate, recoil is a little stiff.
Click to expand...

:eek:

"He switches the cylinders and fires 45s in the 44 gun and 44s in the 45."

Holy Smoke!

What FL-Flinter said! Especially this part:
Most .45's take 0.452" diameter projectiles, .45colt (Long Colt) can take either 0.452" or 0.454" diameter projectiles depending on the rifling groove depth. When you try squeezing a 0.452" or 0.454" bullet through the 0.429" groove diameter of the .44mag bore, you're spiking pressures through the roof! This is extremely dangerous and just because someone doing something utterly stupid has gotten lucky does not make it safe!
Click to expand...
Although I would replace "utterly stupid" with "utterly ignorant".

Why does he do that, Noz?
 
The only reason that I can think of is that he's trying to illustrate by example an improper & careless loading method. But using live ammo in that way is not a teaching method that I would agree with since loading & firing the wrong ammo sets a bad example and shows that he thinks that it's okay to flaunt safety protocol.
 
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thank you all for the great info and visual responses. i have put one of the split casings from the incident on a chain and i wear it around my neck as a reminder to always be attentive. i also would like you all to know that my pistol shoots accurate. hopefully this will never ever happen to me again and i hope my post has brought awareness to all who have read it.
 
Since you did not read my post I will reiterate. He switches the cylinders so that he is firing a 44 mag bullet out of a 44 mag cylinder down a 45 cal barrel. In the other case he is firing a 45 colt round out of a 45 colt cylinder down a 44 mag barrel. The only thing I did not specify is that he was using lead bullets. The lead swages down and the bullets fire quite well and shoot accurately. Is it recommended as a daily thing ? No.
Is it a good example of what "everyone knows" is not always right.\? Yes.
 
Actually I think we all read your post, and read it accurately. FL-Flinter's post is most appropriate. We understand that your friend shoots .452 diameter lead projectiles driven by smokeless powder from a brass cartridge (in a 45 Colt cylinder) down a .429 bore. We also know that .45 Colt bullets are not pure lead and thus harder than the soft lead used in black powder revolvers.

In my opinion, your friend is a very lucky idiot. And yes, this is a perfect example of someone showing off and a bad example of flaunting safe practices.
 
NOZ, not to beat a dead horse but your friend is lucky he hasn't blown up his 44 mag by shooting 45LC thru it.
I think he is asking for major trouble either to his self or when one of his students decides to try it and tries putting a jacketed 45LC down a 44 mag barrel. I'd like to know just the way he is doing it what the pressures are? All I can say is he's been lucky.
 
I dont want to be sitting left or right in that (gun) class.Friend bought a Colt

New Service out from under me and while at the range shot some .44 special

that was mixed in with the .45 Colt ammo that was included in the deal,other

bulged cases and a crappy group all was well.SOB is still sitting on it.
 
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