I finally located a few boxes of 7mm-08 tonight at Wal Mart. I don't know why - force of habit due to some previous deformed Remington .40 cal rounds I guess - but I always open every box and check the rounds before buying.

Glad I did tonight. I was checking the rounds in the box (Winchester Power Point), and my eyes caught the writing on one round - .243. HUH???

I pulled it out and put it side by side with the 7mm-08. They looked identical. The cases looked the exact same size, and the bullets looked identical too. Same OAL when I stood them up side by side. I showed the counter guy, and he set it aside and called his manager while getting me a fresh box. This time HE opened the box before handing it to me - he knew I was going to check every box closely after that.

How often does something like this happen? I don't own a .243, so I don't know what that round should look like. I didn't think about it at the time, but I wish I had asked him to get a box of .243 so I could compare that round side by side to see what the differences were.

All the best,
Glenn

Glenn: the 243 and the 7-08 share the same case. The only difference is the diameter of the bullet. One is 6mm, the other is 7mm in diameter.

I am curious as to whether the bullets were actually the same diameter, meaning they mixed some 243 brass into a batch of 708 a the factory during the loading process. Or whether the bullets were truly 243/6mm, meaning they just got packaged wrong. Could even be that some customer slid them back in the wrong box if they'd been comparing the two rounds side by side.

Any way it happened, it was good you caught it. I could see nothing good coming from firing a 243 thru a 708.


Jay

There is a pretty significant difference in the appearance between the 243 and the 7-08. The bullet diameter is different enough that it is VERY obvious if you hold them next to each other. And if you have seen each of them before, it is obvious which one you are looking at, even without having the other to compare it to.

Take a look:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7mm-08_Remington

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.243_Winchester

JJH,
Actually, those pictures don't really do a comparison justice, as one is laying down and the other is standing up. A better comparison would be the two side by side.

Regardless - I put the one marked .243 looked identical when put side by side with the other 7mm-08. Same height when stood on the counter. The rounds looked identical in every way. I kinda wish I had bought the box so that I could take pictures.

All the best,
Glenn

Sorry...perhaps you could consider rotating your monitor 90 degrees.

Wouldn't be too surprised if they got mixed up by a customer.....happens every now and then in our store! At least your box was full.....we often find a few bullets missing from a box!

Could have been a mixup from the factory since those two rounds are manufactured from the same base metal case and are only separated after they are headstamped. Hope no one tries to stick that round in a .243 and shoot it.

OUCH......7mm no fit through 6mm barrel

He was buying 7mm-08, so the 243 round would fit and fire thru a rifle. Only problem would be the 243 (6mm) projectile would not engage the rifling & be very inaccurate.

Looking at the two rounds that night, they looked identical in every way. The OAL and width of the bullet / neck of the case was identical to my eyes. I seriously think that a piece of .243 headstamped brass was dropped into a 7mm-08 bin and the neck was sized appropriately to fit a 140 grain 7mm bullet into it.

Wish I had either took a picture of it side by side with another round from that box, or bought the box to have it for measurement.

Either way - glad I caught it, just in case.

Thanks for the responses.

All the best,
Glenn

Yet another reason I check my ammo boxes - to make sure they are full! Sorry to hear that you guys find some rounds missing often. I hate thieves.

All the best,
Glenn

Always check my ammo. One I shoot too many that are very simular and have a little collection going of screwed up factory rounds. 264 Win Mag that has shoulder set back by an incorrect crimping die, a 45-75 and a 25-20 with folded creases in the case to name a few.

the 243 and 7mm-08 are the same except for bullet diameter adn I have used 243 cases to "Make" 7mm-08 cases when the 7mm-08 was a new factory round and hard to find. Works great jsut run a 243 case through a 7mm08 die with a tapered expander pulg.

the SAAMI specs for COL are the same for both rounds also, From your description I bet the round in question was infact a 7mm-08 round loaded in a 243 case.