Why would you do this?

[baldeagle]

I'm working on the spreadsheet for the Mass Shooting Tracker, and I've been reading about criminal activity for two days now. Just about to go crazy reading about all these animals. Anyway, I came across this in a news article

a 9mm semiautomatic firearm loaded with .380 ammunition

I know that .380 Auto is the same diameter as a 9mm bullet, but why would you shoot it in a 9mm? It's not going to be as powerful.

[The Annoyed Man]

I'm working on the spreadsheet for the Mass Shooting Tracker, and I've been reading about criminal activity for two days now. Just about to go crazy reading about all these animals. Anyway, I came across this in a news article

a 9mm semiautomatic firearm loaded with .380 ammunition

I know that .380 Auto is the same diameter as a 9mm bullet, but why would you shoot it in a 9mm? It's not going to be as powerful.

It also may not fire. Semiauto caliber bullets usually headspace on the case mouth, which means that a .380 case is likely to feed far enough forward into a 9mm chamber as to prevent the firing pin from contacting the primer.

.380 cartridge dimensions:


9mm cartridge dimensions:


Unless the extractor keeps the case from dropping too far into the chamber, the firing pin won't reach the primer. AND, if the case isn't seated agains the case mouth, there may not be a good enough seal around the case to keep hot gases from blowing back into the shooter's face. That doesn't sound like a safe combination to me. Another problem.... If you seat the .380 cartridge too far into the 9mm chamber, you might smash the end of the extractor into the back of the case rim, bending/breaking it. Lastly, even if it does fire, it may not have enough grunt to cycle the action.

[bortaz]

I accidentally bought a box of .380 rounds at the range, that had been erroneously put into a box marked 9mm. I loaded a magazine, fired off one, and thought my gun had malfunctioned because the casing didn't eject and the next round wouldn't feed. Did this 2-3 times before I realized the issue.

[tk1700]

Had situation similar to boratz. Was at range with dad and one of the guns we were shooting was his Glock 17. We also had a couple of .380s and revolvers. We had been shooting for probably 30 minutes and he called me over because the Glock wasn't cycling the slide. It would fire then he had to manually work the slide to fire the next round. I ejected the magazine and cleared the chamber to take a look. When I looked at the rounds in the magazine they were all .380.

No harm done to the Glock, but in my opinion, not a smart thing to do. He now keeps only 1 caliber of ammo open at a time and double checks before loading.

On same subject of wrong ammo in gun, I picked up a piece of .40S&W brass that appeared to have been fired in a .45. The top half of the case was expanded to .45 size and had a large crack.

[The Annoyed Man]

Had situation similar to boratz. Was at range with dad and one of the guns we were shooting was his Glock 17. We also had a couple of .380s and revolvers. We had been shooting for probably 30 minutes and he called me over because the Glock wasn't cycling the slide. It would fire then he had to manually work the slide to fire the next round. I ejected the magazine and cleared the chamber to take a look. When I looked at the rounds in the magazine they were all .380.

No harm done to the Glock, but in my opinion, not a smart thing to do. He now keeps only 1 caliber of ammo open at a time and double checks before loading.

On same subject of wrong ammo in gun, I picked up a piece of .40S&W brass that appeared to have been fired in a .45. The top half of the case was expanded to .45 size and had a large crack.

Not long after getting my CHL, I was at the Bass Pro indoor range, and there was an incident there where a customer had bought and paid for a 9mm Glock and a box of ammo. His sales receipt said 9mm and the serial number and paperwork (4473, etc.) was for a 9mm Glock. But when it came time to leave the counter with the gun and walk over to the range, the sales person inexplicably handed him a gun case with a .40 cal gun, clearly marked on the outside as a .40 cal gun with a different serial#, and neither the customer nor the sales clerk bothered to check it (heck, why would they?). I was standing at the range's cash register paying for my range time, when the customer came out of the range's shooting area with a worried look on his face, and several spent cases in his hand that were all belled out, saying that the gun sounded funny, and this is what the cases looked like.

At first, the sales clerk who sold the gun was summoned, and his response was along the lines of "sorry, all sales are final, and you've fired the gun, so we can't take it back anyway." Then the word "lawyer" came out of the customer's mouth. After that, there was a lot of obsequious apologizing and bowing and scraping on the part of the gun-department's manager, and they handed him a brand new 9mm Glock with the correct serial number as on the 4473.

The motto is, don't trust the sales person's competence, and make sure you are being handed the ACTUAL gun you purchased, and not one that looks just like it and is the same size.