Accidental Loading of .222 into .223 Chamber: A Brief but Scary Experience

Recently, while at the shooting range with a few friends, I experienced a rather unsettling incident involving ammunition. We had just returned from a local store, where we purchased a few boxes of 5.56/.223 ammunition. We were short on supply, and only had a limited selection of four boxes. Three of these were identical, and one was a light blue color that we had never seen before. Since the store handed us the light blue box, we did not question it further.

The Incident

One of my buddies was loading a fresh magazine with rounds from the light blue box while we chatted. Without much attention paid to the accuracy of the loading process, the magazine was filled, and the round was chambered. Initially, everything seemed fine. I fired off five shots in quick succession, but the sixth attempt was met with silence. The magazine was ejected, and after clearing the chamber, I reinserted the magazine and tried again—no success. Confused, we repeated the process a few more times, consistently achieving the same results. It was at this point that one of my buddies opened a different box and loaded a magazine with that ammo. This worked perfectly, leading us to believe the issue lay with the first magazine.

To our surprise, when we removed the rounds from the "faulty" magazine and loaded them into a new one, they still refused to fire. It was only after the realization that the problem lay with the ammunition that we underwent an investigation. Upon inspecting one of the spent rounds, the base read .222 Remington. The clerk at the store must have mistakenly handed us a box of .222, and we never even noticed given our lack of verification.

The Intrigue: Why the Five Rounds?

The most fascinating aspect of this incident was the fact that the five rounds managed to chamber and fire, while the remaining rounds in the box would not. I am unsure of the technical reasons behind this, but it has left me wondering why the first five rounds chambered while the rest did not. For safety reasons, we did not attempt to recreate the incident to understand better.

Lessons Learned and Precautions

This incident highlights the dangers of relying solely on the store's packaging and the importance of inspecting ammunition before using it. It is crucial to ensure that the correct caliber is being used, as chambering the wrong round can result in serious malfunctions or even safety risks. Always verify the caliber and manufacturer of the ammunition to avoid such incidents.

Now, whenever I go to the range or handle ammunition, I take time to carefully inspect each box before using it. It is essential to maintain a healthy respect for firearms and take all necessary safety precautions to prevent such potentially hazardous situations. If you are a shooter, always double-check your ammunition to avoid similar experiences.