6.5x55 round in 6.5 creedmoor purchase

[saltbait]

Hey guys,

I don't know if I should make a big deal about this, but I've started digging into it a bit today.
I recently purchased a box of 20 Hornady SST 129gr in 6.5 creedmoor from a store in Nova Scotia. Upon opening the box once back at the homestead I noticed that "one of these things is not like the other". I checked out the case head for the caliber stamp and sure enough it was 6.5x55....looked to be same bullet, definitely same brand, but not the same caliber.
I sent the store an email explaining my findings, explaining that things could have gone a smidgen worse...
They quickly replied with an email explaining that it could not have been their doings as they do not open boxes of ammo once on the shelves. They told me to contact Hornady and see what they had to say about it.
Hornday, as usual, was a pleasure to deal with. The gentleman on the phone explained, in as much detail as possible, their boxing and production process explaining that they do not box similar calibers of ammo at the same time (he gladly took my shipping details and I have new hat on the way).

I'm just looking for some advice as to whether I should leave this issue as is or pursue it. I only recently started shooting 6.5 creedmoor ammo and it has taken me sometime to find a local source for ammo since I do not reload. My main concern is that there may be more boxes of ammo on their shelves with similar problems as mine.

Ben

 

[bsand]

I could see a store employee showing the different cartridges to a customer. Then putting the wrong one back in the wrong spot. Luckily you noticed before anything happened.

 

[saltbait]

That's what the Hornady Rep suggested as well....I can definitely see that happening. I just want to be comfortable purchasing ammo from them again which is the reason I want to dig into it a bit.

 

[SMOKESKULL]

Love the finger pointing by the retail store. If the box was not tamper proof then it must have happened in the store. Just one bullet but now you know what kind of retailer your dealing with.

 

[kamlooky]

Make a habit of opening the box at the store and check the head stamps.
Only 20 in most boxes and shouldn't be hard to check.
If it was the store mixing ammo, you can be sure there is another box in
their inventory with an incorrect round in it.
If it ain't sold already.

 

[guess_kto]

Mixing 6.5 Creedmoor with 6.5 Swedish is like mixing up 30-06 with 308. Surprising!

PS. Nothing bad would happen as 6.5x55 would probably not even fit the chamber.

Below the first one is 6.5 and the next one is Creemoor followed by Rem 7-08:

 

[bearhunter]

Mixing 6.5 Creedmoor with 6.5 Swedish is like mixing up 30-06 with 308. Surprising!

PS. Nothing bad would happen as 6.5x55 would probably not even fit the chamber.

Below the first one is 6.5 and the next one is Creemoor followed by Rem 7-08:

Is it just the camera angle or do you have a bulged shoulder on the creedmore?

 

[skneub]

Mixing 6.5 Creedmoor with 6.5 Swedish is like mixing up 30-06 with 308. Surprising!

PS. Nothing bad would happen as 6.5x55 would probably not even fit the chamber.

Below the first one is 6.5 and the next one is Creemoor followed by Rem 7-08:

Looking at that I sure wouldn't want to chamber that 7-08 by accident ......
I bet it would chamber and go boom....


Same reason I will never own a 270...since we shoot 30/06

 

[Ganderite]

Somewhere there is a customer with a box of 6.5x55 wondering why one of the rounds is short. Happened at the store when someone compared the two.

The 6.5x55 wont chamber in the creedmore.

A 30-06 won't chamber in a 270. neck is too fat.

But a 308 will chamber in a 270.

 

[skneub]

Good to know
I made an assumption.

Still no 270 lol...

Like the 06 and 308

Somewhere there is a customer with a box of 6.5x55 wondering why one of the rounds is short. Happened at the store when someone compared the two.

The 6.5x55 wont chamber in the creedmore.

A 30-06 won't chamber in a 270. neck is too fat.

But a 308 will chamber in a 270.

 

[nowarningshot]

I had a box of 6.5x55 ammo from Reliable in Vancouver. One of the rounds was a 6.5x55, but marked 308 Win.

They just handed me a new box.

 

[bearhunter]

Somewhere there is a customer with a box of 6.5x55 wondering why one of the rounds is short. Happened at the store when someone compared the two.

The 6.5x55 wont chamber in the creedmore.

A 30-06 won't chamber in a 270. neck is too fat.

But a 308 will chamber in a 270.

And it can be fired.

I watched a rifle undergoing such a stress test. I assume it was unplanned. The shooter may have been 12 years old or slightly more.

His father and brother were "coaching" him on how to handle recoil and told him not to worry about hitting the target. The youngster did everything perfectly other than look at the cartridge that he was handed. He loaded it into a very nice but well worn Mod 70 Winchester and set himself up behind it like a pro. I was a bit to long in the butt for him but he still seemed relatively comfortable.

When he pulled the trigger all of us got a bit of a shock. Smoke and flame erupted from the vent hole on the right and around the bolt. The young fellow shooting it dropped the rifle onto the shooting bench and jumped out of his chair all in one very fast movement. I think he may have gotten away before the rifle hit the bench. That was it though. The rifle looked ok and the bolt opened with extra effort but that was it. The bullet must have entered the leade close to center because it had gone down and out of the bore. The forces in there must have been pretty outrageous. The case itself had expanded to form to the chamber but hadn't split and didn't weld itself to the bolt. I suspect the extra forces were generated when the bullet was being swaged to fit the bore.

No real damage other than to the pride of the brother that gave him the youngster the cartridge.

PO Ackley did some tests on mid war Arisaka rifles. He rechambered them to accept 30-06 cartridges he was handloading for it. Now get this. Ackley didn't change out the 6.5mm bbl. He just put in a 30-06 chamber. He started off with a 150gn bullet and the standard M2 load equivalent. This generates about 47,000 psi in a proper 30-06 rifle with a 308 diameter bore. Again, nothing happened other than the bolt was a bit difficult to lift. He shot it several more times hoping to destroy it. He couldn't even get it to become inoperable until he filled the case with 2400 behind a 150 gn bullet. Even then all that happened was the case went slightly liquid for an instant and flowed all around the bolt head making it necessary to remove the barrel to clean it up enough to get the bolt out. The receiver/bolt were later turned into a sporter.

An old mentor of mine, Tom Swift, and I decided to repeat that experiment with a badly worn, early Type 38 carbine. We had identical results. Tom was so impressed that he also built up the receiver on that rifle into a sporter. He did replace the bolt though because the original was rust pitted. One other thing, there were no signs of set back on the lugs or recesses. Magnafluxing turned up nothing on the receiver or the bolt lugs either.

I can understand why the Arisaka withstood those phenomenal pressures. The chamber was tight and the bullet was very close to the leade. It had nowhere to go but out.

In the case of the 270 the bullet jump was nothing short of amazing. How the bullet stayed true to the bore and then was swaged well enough to go down the bore is a mystery. I honestly would have expected it to #### to one side or mushroom at the base and jam. It didn't though which leads me to believe it was a flat based bullet with an unexposed lead core.

I have seen 308Win bullets fired in 30-06 chambers and even knew of one old fellow that had bought a case of surplus 8x57 to shoot out of his P17 sporter. He used to shoot White Tails in his garden out of his bedroom window. The furthest shot may have been 30 yards. He could have cared less that they were the wrong cartridges. They were cheap, they went bang every time and they killed all of the deer he and his wife wanted. When he passed away his widow gave me what was left of the case of ammo and the rifle. There were over 900 rounds in that case and the P17 still shot 30-06 ammo well.

I would not suggest that anyone try any of the above but I would suggest that in well made, strong rifles there is not a big chance of catastrophic failure. I'm not saying it won't happen either.