Originally Posted by
BP Dave
Years ago as a range safety officer I learned that 7mm Mauser would fire just fine in an 8mm Mauser rifle, although inaccurately. When I tried to point out that not all "Mauser" ammunition was the same, the owner was dubious and informed me that the different "mm"s meant different power.
On another occasion a group of young men were shooting an SKS. I think they had crappy ammo, and it kept jamming. Finally they couldn't get a jam unstuck, so they laid the rifle on the table, packed up, and started heading home without it. I went after them to say they forgot their rifle, and they told me to keep it. I went ahead and cleared the jam, gave it back to them, and suggested they try some different ammo. I remember at the time weighing what to do--maybe they're the types that shouldn't have guns and I would have done society a favor by keeping it. Or maybe I prevented someone from getting soured on shooting his first time out. It's been a quarter century since then, so I guess that question has probably been settled one way or the other.