Confessions of a bone head mistake and a question!

I built a .308 Remington SPS Tactical, tricked it out, aftermarket this and that.....and its a stone cold shooter, deadly accurate! However, while at the gun range with my BIL, he was shooting his .260, I accidentally grabbed his box of ammo! While inhale several excuses as to why it took my about 6rounds to figure out I was NOT shooting .308 bullets, none are good....so I am expecting to get piled on for the mistake, I'll accept that. Once I finally did realize the mistake, I didn't shoot again, took it to the local gunsmith, he scoped the barrel and said it was destroyed and wanted obviously to rebarrel it. I haven't shot it since and am trying to figure out what to do from here. I am a little skeptical of the report. I could replace with another factory Remington barrel for 240.00 (plus the Remington authorized repair shops labor cost).....I am still so mad at myself for allegedly destroying a perfectly good, and deadly accurate, rifle, the thought of spending any money in it just reminds me of the stupidity that could have been avoided that day! Thoughts?

Does a .264" bullet bounce its way down the barrel of a .308 bore?

Do you trust your smith? If mine told me the barrel was scrap metal I would belive him.

About the only free advice would be to just go shoot it and find out.

I'd clean it REALLY good and shoot it.

This....

Second opinion perhaps?

That sucks. Glad nothing worse happened.

We have people at the range occasionally shoot 380 in 9, or 9 in 40. Had someone try to shoot 9mm in a 357 mag a month or two ago. Have not seen anyone do the 260 in a 308 yet.

If I chose to pull the trigger without replacing the barrel, I'd be a good bit nervous on the first trigger pull. I'd take my Gunsmith's word for it, but I'm confident in his knowledge. Your smith experience might be different.

Cannot hurt!

I've seen folks do this on purpose on youtube videos. Does this ruin the pistol/barrel?

For sure it does....

But for a couple of reasons, yes, I do have some doubts/concerns about the opinion I got.

To the guy that said he would be nervous to pull the trigger, I am curious what he is suggestion the harm could be...besides loss of accuracy?

Fractures in the steel? Fracture leads to catastrophic failure of the barrel? A round tube is steel is awfully strong and I wouldn't bet much that there could be a failure.

I'm only speculating here.

That's basically what I was speculating as well. And it was just speculation I admit, but I'd be nervous. I know steel is strong, but heck, who knows, you just bounced 6 bullets off the sides all along the barrel.

I guess the question is, just how much, and what kind of, damage is there? Can you see damage if you look down the bore?

I don't know if it ruins them. None I have seen have developed any bulges or anything like that. But it certainly can't be good for them.

I can't offer anymore than what was said above. I'm definitely with FiremanJG...if my smith said to rebarrel I don't ask questions, I get my checkbook out. A good cut 308 barrel should be easy to find for $350 and a smith should be able to chamber for around that price.

Sorry man, that sux!

Yes, that's a bad mistake to make. Please pay more attention!!!

But, I've had customers do this already. They didn't put 6 rounds down range, but 1 or 2. The 260 is a .264" bullet, so it's .044" smaller than a .308", so it will bounce around in the barrel some. But, most of your powder gases will blow past the bullet reducing the pressures, while pushing the bullet out the barrel. The damage would be from the bullet hitting the rifling, not an over pressure issue.

Like stated, I would clean it heavily with a pointed jag with a cotton patch soaked in your preferred cleaning solution. As you run the tight patch through the barrel, I'd feel for any resistance or bumps in the rifling. I'd still shoot it to see if it shoots still. I'm betting it would be fine.

Thanks All!

I'd shoot it but I've got the luck of a dead frog so don't listen to me. Lol

I would listen to your gunsmith - just my 2 cents

Keep us updated

If you take it to another gunsmith to look over don't tell him what you did, just ask him what condition the bore is in.

Here's another situation that may make you think twice:

Maybe the first .260 bullet made a gouge along the barrel, and the second one enlarged it and so on all the way to the sixth...now you shoot your .308 and it hits that gouge and maybe continues through or maybe gets jammed. Maybe you look at the target and don't see a bullet hit, and think the accuracy is off and shoot another, and bam...there goes your barrel, your neighbor at the range gets metal shrapnel in his body, and you become liable for any and all damages you inflict.

Is it worth it to try out? not to me. Spend the money and re-barrel, and take your licks while you can. Expensive mistake but we all make expensive mistakes at times and we learn and go from there...just make sure you learn form your mistake and don't cause more!

This is my


I would do this. ^ if it were mine.

Would it be possible that the pressure cause the bullet to expand and fill the bore instead of say bouncing down the barrel like a basketball?

Tie gun to a tree, load it up, and get a looong string to pull the trigger with and have at it....to satisfy your curiosity...or find a 'smith with a Bore Scope....but then YOU ARE depending on Remington Proof Cert's and Quality of Workmanship so that's another ?? I might have concerns with.

If the barrels toast then it won't hurt it no more, just make sure you are out of the shrapnel zone.

Long Time ago ...BB aka Before Baretta ... One of my SAKO customers ran a 7Express (280Rem) round thru a 7RMg....we ate the Warranty a scootch as a gesture of Good Will( and got a signed Warranty Release too) and replaced the shattered stock, opened the bolt with a 5lb hammer, checked the head space that was GTG...all at No Charge....but would not pay his minor hospital bills or small partial permanent loss of vision since he was responsible creating for the accident and was not wearing Shooting Safety Glass'es as Recc'd either.
Ron

This is what I'd do too. It's what I was thinking and Chad and Derrick confirmed it!

And by the way...since we are confessing...I put two or three rounds of .270 ammo down the barrel of a .280. Cleaned the barrel up and it'd still shoot MOA.

not 260 to 308

Takes a real man to admit when he F's up. Glad you are OK, hope the patient survives and continues to shoot bug-holes.

If you decide to clean and shoot please let us know who it turns out.

shoot it !! it cant be bouncing around in there

I not only would shoot it I bet it shoots great and I would find a new gunsmith! just my thoughts

make sure you clean it and just feel if there are any snags or issues before you shoot it...

The cost of a new barrel is well worth the safety and sanity that comes along with it. Just do it and be done.

Er maybe that does not make sense in which case the rifle is totally trashed; I'll take it to the junk yard for you.

Good idea. Have that barrel removed since it's junk. I'll give you $30 for it.

I would for sure get a second opinion. Former co-worker fired a couple 243 rounds in a 308 with no long lasting ill effects, barrel had plenty of powder/copper fouling but accuracy did not suffer according to him.

Clean it up good... Take it to a smith and ask to have the barrel examined with a bore-scope. Say it's your brother-in-law's gun and he is curious as to it's condition, like he's worried about copper build-up or something. Look at the images, see what the smith says.

I'm guessing that your present smith is wanting business and that your barrel is actually just fine.

Never hurts to get a second opinion, especially one backed up by images.

I used to own an 8mm-06... How did I get brass? - By shooting 30-06 through it.

I have heard of many cases of shooting a sub bore round, this is the first time
I have of possible damage.

Mo

I would not spend $240 on a Remington 308 barrel, I'd spend about $350
on a match 260 barrel:

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/763249/...stainless-steel

or maybe a 6.5x47mm Lapua:

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/148197/...stainless-steel

or $260 on a .308 match barrel
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/1554642...r-1-in-10-twist

We all have brain farts. It's one of the many things that make us human.

A close friend ran I think about a half of a box of 270 through his son's 30-06 before he realized it. The 30-06 was unhurt, and still accurate afterwards.

That could have been a very long funny story, but I cut to the chase. (He bought my 270 sight unseen and took his son's 30-06 out to sight in his new 270). It didn't group very well.

Hmmm...I don't believe you can sight in a .270 by shooting a .30-06, but I've been taught a thing or two. More than thrice.

I'd shoot it and see if it will still shoot. You won't really know til you try. I'm the "runs with scissors" type so take anything I say with a wide margin of safety.


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The smith was looking for extra work. That barrel's fine.

I wouldn't pay $240 for a factory Remington barrel--you can find factory takeoff barrels for around $100 and even custom barrels for a good deal if you look hard enough. I'd clean it and shoot it first, but for sure wouldn't pay that money for a Remington barrel when there are deals for others out there.

If it were mine ^ This

I am not going tell on myself