2 .44 mags touched off in a .454.....

[Good Cheer]

Once knew a fella that shot factory lead .44 mags in his Ruger single action .45 Colt because that's what the guy at the gun store sold him to shoot in it.
Had lots of leading to clean out but didn't hurt anything else.

[Boolseye]

The concept that I learned in this thread was answered in the first couple responses...”probably no real pressure was attained” (due to the reduced size of he projectile). Funny how I need others to clarify things like that for me sometimes. Always learning.


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[Boolseye]

I thought I could never, ever make a mistake like that, until the day I fired a magazine full of .380 acp through a 9mm Makarov.

No harm done, but I sure wondered where my accuracy went!

Partly why the Russians created the round, perhaps-they can shoot our ammo but we can’t shoot theirs!


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[smkummer]

Yep, I never did fire a cylinder load of 44 special in my New Frontier Colt 45. But I recall they sounded funny and those cases sure did swell. It’s now my standing policy that I don’t bring both 44 special and 45 colt to the range at the same time.

[rintinglen]

Math was never my best subject, but here goes.
The difference in diameter between the two projectiles is roughly .023" or 23 thousandths of an inch. If you tried to make a car run with cylinders that fit that loosely in the block, I fear you'd have little success. In our case of a .44 in a .454, most of the energy from the expanding, burning gas would flow around the bullet and thence out the barrel.

Even assuming that the bullet immediately mushroomed to seal the cylinder throats, and disregarding the energy lost in deforming the projectile, the fact remains that the walls of the .454 have over a third greater area than does the .44, so the the energy per square inch is reduced accordingly. Given that the cases split, some of the energy may have flowed back, around the rim and out the sides of the rear of the cylinder, further reducing the stress on the gun. Finally, the Maximum SAAMI average pressure for the .44 is 36,000 PSI, while that of the .454 is 65,000 PSI.

So bottom line, other than the laxative effect of the realization of what just happened, no adverse effects are to be expected from the accidental discharge of a .44 from a .454 magnum revolver.
Now dropping one in a black powder .45 Colt might be a whole different thing, so let's not test that.

[Boolseye]

An excellent synopsis.
Also the phenomenal strength of the Toklat cylinder was
new info. It’s amazing what knowledge a question can elicit on this forum.


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[nicholst55]

Yup, only one flavor of ammo on the bench at a time. I did have a crew of "professional" Gunners try their best to fire a round of 7.62X54R ammo in a .308 Win M70 at Yuma Proving Ground. They succeeded in forcing it into the chamber, but were, however, unable to get the bolt to close. Probably a good thing. In their defense, they were also firing a Romanian PSL rifle that day.

[Norske]

I actually know a fellow who as a teenager put the wrong ammo into a Savage 99. He killed the deer with a 250 Savage round shot through a 99 chambered for 243. The rifle didn't blow up, but the receiver was stretched so the rifle was scrap. When he had sons, none of their ammo looked at all like any other ammo in the house.

[P Flados]

I might be forced to admit how well that 38 Special round did out of a T/C 30 Herrett.

Sizing a cast boolit from 35 to 30 in one pass on the press would be tough. Confusion at the range (3 revolvers, two T/Cs, two shooters, lots of containers of ammo) found a fast (but not advisable) "quick swage". No gun damage and one bullseye.

[skrapyard628]

Never loaded the wrong cartridge into my own firearms. But I did have to confiscate a rifle from a doofus cousin.

He told me his Enfield rifle had an OOB detonation while trying to chamber a round and I asked him to bring the gun by and I would take a look at it. The guy showed up with a full bubba Mosin 91/30 and a bag of corroded 270 Win ammo. Apparently he was trying to ram the bolt closed on the 270 cartridge and lit one off trying to force it. No clue why the idiot thought that rifle was an Enfield let alone why he was trying to fire 270win out of it.

I told him the rifle was broken and shouldnt be fired and gave him $20 to take it off his hands. I did a full inspection on it and everything was OK, so I fired a few rounds of the correct ammo through it and then stuffed it in the back corner of the safe.

[sundog]

Several years ago after a military bolt match, I was switching out equipment on the bench to sight in a 35 Whelen. Discussion ensued and one of the guys wanted to shoot it. 'Okay,' says I, 'but let me get the rest of my gear first.' I lean in the truck to get more stuff to switch out, and Bang! He shoots one of my 30-06 cast match loads for O3A3 in the 35 Whelen. Needless to say I was a bit steamed. No damage done, but he was not listening. And I got an extra fire formed 35 Whelen case.

[Boolseye]

Never loaded the wrong cartridge into my own firearms. But I did have to confiscate a rifle from a doofus cousin.

He told me his Enfield rifle had an OOB detonation while trying to chamber a round and I asked him to bring the gun by and I would take a look at it. The guy showed up with a full bubba Mosin 91/30 and a bag of corroded 270 Win ammo. Apparently he was trying to ram the bolt closed on the 270 cartridge and lit one off trying to force it. No clue why the idiot thought that rifle was an Enfield let alone why he was trying to fire 270win out of it.

I told him the rifle was broken and shouldnt be fired and gave him $20 to take it off his hands. I did a full inspection on it and everything was OK, so I fired a few rounds of the correct ammo through it and then stuffed it in the back corner of the safe.

Priceless. A little knowledge...


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