Just curious...

[coltle6920]

It's not like I'll lose any sleep not knowing.

38spl can be shot in a 357...223 can be shot in a 5.56...except for 22mag a lot of rimfire firearms will fire 22short,long and LR.

Are there more examples like this? Was it by design or was it two guys at the range and one says "Hold my beer".

Just curious...

 

[IronSkillet]

Isn't a 40 S&W just a 10mm short?

 

[tlawler]

.32 S&W, .32 S&W Long, .32 H&R Mag, and .327 Fed Mag can all be shot from a .327 Fed Mag chamber. Sometimes .32 ACP will work, but not dependably.

 

[llowry61]

Good question, and I don't have an answer. I understand the how but don't know if it was intentional or just a happy accident.

Many shotguns can fire 2 3/4, 3 and 3.5-inch shells. Someone here will know the facts.

 

[sigp220.45]

Apparently you can shoot almost anything out of a Brazilian full choke (.387) .410, including .454 Casull. (And 30/30, .45 Colt, .444 Marlin, and .44 Magnum)

[ame]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TwX9mJvss1k[/ame]

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

I don't really see they accomplished anything.......Neither one had the guts to hold it and shoot it.

 

[junglefighter]

44 Special and 44 Russian can be fired from a 44 Magnum.

 

[sigp220.45]

I don't really see they accomplished anything.......Neither one had the guts to hold it and shoot it.

That’s the point - they expected it to blow up. It didn’t.

Steel is hard, lead is soft, bullets squoosh down. There is a lot of steel around a .410 single shot chamber.

Springfield Armory once fired a .45 ACP round through an unmodified 03A3. All they got was a long skinny bullet and a .30 hole in the target.

 

[375hh1973]

.458win mag in a .458 Lott

 

[Goblin]

In the case of 357 Magnum and 44 Magnum, the magnum cartridges were developed from the shorter “Special” cartridges (which were lengthened versions of earlier cartridges). The magnum versions were lengthened to prevent them from being fired in the older revolvers that weren’t designed for those high pressures. The earlier, shorter cartridges can be safely fired in the Magnum revolvers.

 

[BloodyThumb]

Obsolete and very rare, but fits into your question none the less.

.41 Special (.41 Police originally for a minute) and .41 mag.

 

[Goblin]

In the case of 10mm, a lighter loading was introduced for the FBI because the 10mm was uncomfortable or uncontrollable for some shooters. The 40 S&W was a shortened version that gave the same ballistics as the light 10mm, but could be chambered in 9mm-sized guns. The 10mm needed a 45 ACP-sized frame. The 40 S&W can’t reliably be fired in a semi-automatic gun because the cartridges headspace on the mouth of the case. A 40 S&W might fire, but it might move enough to keep the primer from igniting. The 40 S&W can be fired in a 10mm revolver with moon clips, which serve to headspace the cartridges.

 

[DWalt]

Note that .38 Short Colt and .38 Long Colt cartridges can be fired in any .38 Special or .357 revolver. But the .38 Short Colt is the oldest. There are many different 9mm cartridges that can be fired in .38 Super pistols.

 

[sigp220.45]

In the case of 10mm, a lighter loading was introduced for the FBI because the 10mm was uncomfortable or uncontrollable for some shooters. The 40 S&W was a shortened version that gave the same ballistics as the light 10mm, but could be chambered in 9mm-sized guns. The 10mm needed a 45 ACP-sized frame. The 40 S&W can’t reliably be fired in a semi-automatic gun because the cartridges headspace on the mouth of the case. A 40 S&W might fire, but it might move enough to keep the primer from igniting. The 40 S&W can be fired in a 10mm revolver with moon clips, which serve to headspace the cartridges.

I used to shoot .40 S&W out of an FBI 1076 all the time. Never had a failure to fire. The extractor holds the cartridge in place.

 

[DWalt]

I used to shoot .40 S&W out of an FBI 1076 all the time. Never had a failure to fire. The extractor holds the cartridge in place.

That is possible, but it does put stress on the extractor and it can break. Somewhat like firing 9x19 in a .38 Super M1911, but eventually the extractor claw will fracture. I once had it happen to me. The extractor was not designed for that purpose.

 

[sigp220.45]

That is possible, but it does put stress on the extractor and it can break. Somewhat like firing 9x19 in a .38 Super M1911, but eventually the extractor claw will fracture. I once had it happen to me. The extractor was not designed for that purpose.

You broke an extractor shooting .40 out of a 10mm, or 9mm in a .38 Super?

Because .40 in a 10mm works fine.

 

[HankB]

An awful lot of "standard" cartridges can be fired in "improved" chambers - in fact, firing a standard round in an "improved" chamber is often the normal way of fire forming the brass to the "improved" chamber dimensions.

Of course, things like case length need to be considered - I've lost count of the number of .300 Win Mag cases I've seen left on the range that were obviously fired out of .300 Weatherby Mag chambers - what little was left of the neck was comically short. But it would seem that no harm was done.

As far as additional handgun rounds . . . can't you in principle fire .45 Colt out of .454 Casull chambers? And both of these out of .460 S&W? (I vaguely recall reading that Freedom Arms' .454 chambers were held to closer tolerances and that "some" .45 Colt ammo might be on the tight side.)

 

[Bald1]

45 long colt through .410

 

[LoboGunLeather]

Many of the older firearms were designed to accept ammunition of varying power levels. Some examples would include:

-.32 Smith & Wesson, .32 S&W Long, etc.
-.38 Colt, .38 Colt Long (morphing into .38 S&W Special, .357 magnum).
-.44 S&W Russian, .44 Special (morphing into .44 magnum).
-.45 S&W Schofield, .45 Colt (and a bunch of "improved" varieties).

Lots of other examples. Also, many calibers were offered in "gallery loads", typically a simple lightweight bullet (or round ball) with little or no powder charge (relying on primer energy), for use in informal target shooting at short ranges (typically in bars and private clubs, popular with upper class folks).

Several popular cartridges were loaded to different performance levels, usually identified by labeling on the factory boxes. An example would be .44-40 (offered for Colt revolvers, Winchester or Marlin rifles). Another example would be .32 WCF (.32-20), loaded for handgun and rifles of various manufacturers. Differences in power levels, bullet weights and diameters, etc.

Probably the most enduring examples would be .22 rimfire ammo. BB Caps, CB Caps, Shorts, Longs, Long Rifles, various others. Prior to WW2 there were dozens and dozens of variants, every manufacturer offering their own proprietary designs, some of which were interchangeable but many were not.

Most firearms makers concentrated their offerings on proprietary cartridges (securing future sales of ammunition). Colt resisted chambering their revolvers for S&W or other cartridges for decades, unless required for a large contract or foreign sales. S&W co-opted the .38 Long Colt as the basis for the new .38 S&W Special, rather than starting with their own (quite similar) .38 S&W, but the target market was military contracts that already included thousands of Colt revolvers with chambers bored straight-through, capable of accepting the longer cartridges at increased power levels (although still loaded with black powder charges).

Prior to the 1960s there was no SAAMI, no standards of any kind. Brand recognition and marketing efforts were the only considerations for most firearms and ammunition.

 

[cgt4570]

While not recommended, I've shot light .410 shotshells out of a .45-70 rifle with decent results and zero harm. It was so my elderly mom could blow up some apples I put on a post, while feeling ZERO recoil.
You can shoot .32 S&W, .32 S&W Long and .32 H&R Mag through a 7.62 Nagant revolver all day long, but the brass will balloon just a little bit.
.30 Mauser., .30 Luger and 7.62 Tokarev are often interchangeable, but don't run the hot Rusky stuff in the early Lugers and Broomhandles.
Then there are all the Marble's chamber adapters from the '20s and '30s that let you shoot various pistol cartridges out of full sized rifles...The good ole' days. .32ACP in .30-06 was probably the most common.