Two hangfires last night any suggestions?

Cyres

Well-Known Member
Help/suggestions please.

We were out foxing last night with a Remmington .17 Fireball using factory ammo. Remmington loaded with 20grn V max. My shooting partner suffered 2 hangfires. The first was an audible click as the firing pin struck the primer and the round went of what seemed ages later, probably a second.

The second occured in a similar fashion but with less delay. After that we tried a third round which fired correctly. We decided to call it a night. Two now potentially v lamp shy foxes but at least the shots were from elevated positions so the bullets on both occassions went into a safe backstop.

Custom built rifle which has always performed faultlesly but new batch of factory ammo.

What causes the hangfire and what should we do?

In both cases the primer had been clearly struck and looked no different from a normal fired case.

Thanks

D
 
Take the remaining ammunition back to the shop & let them send it back, money back or replacement with different batch numbers, primer issue probably.
 
Had a similar thing last night with Remmy amo in a .17hmr. Now have a bullet up the barrel that needs removing. Extremely annoying.
 
Take the remaining ammunition back to the shop & let them send it back, money back or replacement with different batch numbers, primer issue probably.

:thumb:

This is not the first time I have heard of duffy 1.7ammo. There were some big problems I believe with Federal ammo a short while back. I have a good friend who is lucky to have his face intact after a round stuck up the barrel, after which he loaded another and the rifle exploded causing burns and cuts to his face and hand.

Take the ammo back and make a complaint.
 
Hi,

slightly different and I hope the OP doesn't mind. Last Friday night when testing loads I had a round that failed to fire. I followed procedure, I.e kept it pointing to a safe backstop and waited.
nothing happened and I carefully extracted the round, primer had been struck firmly and I re-chambered the round and tried again. Again no detonation and again I waited for a few minutes and then extracted the round. On both firings I positively heard the firing pin strike.

At the end of the session I removed the bullet to examine inside the case, all the powder had burnt and sealed the case below the bullet. The bullet had not moved at all in the case and their was no noise from the primer/powder.
It was loaded at the same time as the other 29 rounds I fired that evening. Any ideas?? It looked like the powder had just gently smouldered inside the case.



Regards
Tim
 
It is very worrying when you pull the trigger and nothing happens, then the round goes off, for it to happen twice on successive foxes is a bit annoying esp as the one has given us the run around for ages.

Safety aspect is very worrying I suspect we may have a batch with defective primers but it would be nice to know how a hangfire occurs.

I am well aware of the issue with .17HMR which at present seems all too common, but for it to happen on a centre fire with factory ammo is I would have though to bevery rare.

D
 
Hangfires are just that, a fire waiting to flare up properly, primers that are not properly filled/mixed/ formed, correctly, and or powder that has deteriorated / got damp or oiled, oil/grease/lube on the case, contaminating component parts, rainwater getting in past the primer, or through a poor crimp.
 
Had a similar thing last night with Remmy amo in a .17hmr. Now have a bullet up the barrel that needs removing. Extremely annoying.

if we knew where you lived there is most likely someone out there that can help.

i have the right tools (know how to get this sorted) for this kind of task BUT, i have no idea where you are.

bob.
 
Howa i have had it happen to me with Hornaday ammo the way i got around it was to push a cleaning rod down the muzzle end without any attachments and push it out that way but mine had only lodged just past the throat lucky as i only found out by trying to load another round which would not load also i use a one piece cleaning rod take it with me every time noew just in case

Paul D
 
Howa i have had it happen to me with Hornaday ammo the way i got around it was to push a cleaning rod down the muzzle end without any attachments and push it out that way but mine had only lodged just past the throat lucky as i only found out by trying to load another round which would not load also i use a one piece cleaning rod take it with me every time noew just in case

Paul D

If your going to do it this way, and there is nothing wrong with it, please only do it with a rod that has the female thread.
That way the rod will centre on the bullet tip, and not try and wedge down the side, which will mark the bore.

Neil. :)
 
Cyres reference the hangfires with the fireball ammunition, take the rest of it back to your supplier as clearly it is defective and needs to be replaced with that of another batch. Your particular batch is suspect - most likely powder or primer contamination.
 
How do you clean your cases as i had someone bring me two cases which he had fired (because i have bullet puller) i took the heads out of and found that the powder came out to a point and then the rest was wet in the two cases and as he cleans with water and pins, cases still wet inside down near primer.
 
Hi,
Last Friday night when testing loads I had a round that failed to fire. I followed procedure, I.e kept it pointing to a safe backstop and waited.
nothing happened and I carefully extracted the round, primer had been struck firmly
[snip]
At the end of the session I removed the bullet to examine inside the case, all the powder had burnt and sealed the case below the bullet. The bullet had not moved at all in the case and their was no noise from the primer/powder.
It was loaded at the same time as the other 29 rounds I fired that evening. Any ideas?? It looked like the powder had just gently smouldered inside the case.

I'll tell you what happened. There was no powder in that case. That's why it went phutt rather than BANG!

The effects you saw were from the primer, it was primer residues. Look at the primer cap. It will have a deeper than normal crater from the firing pin, and no flattening from being pressed (under high presure) against the breech face, it's circumferce will be rounded not flattened.

It pays to inspect each and every cartridge for the powder charge, just before you seat the bullet. We learn from our experiences. I once had a handload of mine go phutt.

-JMS906
 
How do you clean your cases as i had someone bring me two cases which he had fired (because i have bullet puller) i took the heads out of and found that the powder came out to a point and then the rest was wet in the two cases and as he cleans with water and pins, cases still wet inside down near primer.

If he is going to use a water based cleaning technique, then he should dry his bras in the oven afterwards. Set the oven to 100 degrees and spread the cases out on a clean baking tray. The smell of hot brass pleases the Chief of Staff (Domestic) no end.

-JMS906
 
I'll tell you what happened. There was no powder in that case. That's why it went phutt rather than BANG!

The effects you saw were from the primer, it was primer residues. Look at the primer cap. It will have a deeper than normal crater from the firing pin, and no flattening from being pressed (under high presure) against the breech face, it's circumferce will be rounded not flattened.

It pays to inspect each and every cartridge for the powder charge, just before you seat the bullet. We learn from our experiences. I once had a handload of mine go phutt.

-JMS906

hi thanks for the reply, I visually inspect each case for powder before seating the bullet and they all had powder in. The only noise upon pulling the trigger was the noise of the firing pin hitting the primer no sound of detonation. The case on the removal of the bullet had powder grains underneath where the bullet sat. And a lot of residue.


regards
tim
 
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