5.45 fired in a 7.62 rifle.

[guhuna]

So, very long story short I went shooting with the whole family this weekend. My pops and sister were tasked with loading magazines, who have done this countless times before. All was well when I got a poof out of my SAM7SF, dropped mag and inspected. Noticed spent cartridge was funny and on closer inspection noticed it was a 5.45x39mm round. Not putting blame on anyone, if anything it was my fault. I was shooting golden tiger 545 and 762 and to them it looked all the same.
Question is, should I be worried? I've inspected the rifle bore with a crappy android snake camera and all looks fine. I did notice unburned powder everywhere and cleaned it promptly.

[GW]

I'd say you got away with it. I had a pal fire off a .223 in a 7.62x39 Draco
The case was blown but no damage to the gun at all.

[jmpgnr24k]

Rifle is fine. As long as the bore is clear and everything looks good. You should be ok. The real damage could’ve been to you.

[tuolumnejim]

Demetri say all is good, it AK after all.

[hellayella]

Sweet, two calibers

[tnlrat37]

[AGGRO]

Blow by on blown case heads = bad juju. Same with split necks. Glad you didn't lose an eye.

[highpower]

Heck, the rifle is most likely going to be just fine. Now if you had dropped it on the carpet.......

[Beetle Bailey]

Glad to hear you are okay.

I have been present while someone fired a .223 rem cartridge out of a SKS (chambered in 7.62x39 for those who don't know). I saw the blown out case on the ground and along with others at the range, figured out whose it was. Shooter and gun were both fine, luckily.

Another time, someone brought a rookie shooter and left him alone shooting a .30-06 bolt action rifle. The unsupervised rookie ran out of .30-06 and grabbed a .308 cartridge and fired it, not knowing what he was doing or that there was even a difference between the cartridges. Fired case was almost straight walled, but shooter and gun were fine. The guy who brought the rookie was informed that he needs to watch what his inexperienced guest was doing.

And finally, I saw a guy shooting a 1911 (later confirmed to be chambered in .45 ACP) and an entire 9x19mm cartridge exited the barrel, like a car going off a cliff! It was almost comical. It must have landed only a few feet from the muzzle. I remembered it as "he dropped the hammer and a 9mm (bullet, case, and all) came out of the muzzle!" But thinking back, it could have happened when he racked the slide. Either way, it was a screw-up.

For the future, I recommend keeping the 5.45 and 7.62 separate. Take out one (or more) 5.45 gun(s) and ammo and shoot it. Then put it and the ammo away when you break out the 7.62 stuff, especially if others are handling your ammo.

[guhuna]

Glad to hear you are okay.
For the future, I recommend keeping the 5.45 and 7.62 separate. Take out one (or more) 5.45 gun(s) and ammo and shoot it. Then put it and the ammo away when you break out the 7.62 stuff, especially if others are handling your ammo.

Thank you everyone! Guess its better to be safe than sorry. Definitely learned my lesson with this, that's for sure.
Crazy to see what people have accidentally shot, next time I'm loading magazines.

[alpha_romeo_XV]

After seeing what inexperienced shooters can do, I have a rule now, one experienced shooter per one novice, no exceptions. Experienced shooter is either demonstrating or watching, none of this - just go over there and shoot while I do my own thing.

On a public range with ROs and other shooters, someone else maybe keeping their eye on your novice, but on BLM open range type shooting and worse if any alcohol or dope is consumed there is trouble waiting to happen with unsupervised novices.

[beanz2]

Now try shooting .300 BO out of your .223...

[19K]

if there is a lot of room there isnt as much pressure being built up, your rifle is fine.