Another .17 HMR incident : HSE Informed

[wildfowler.250]

some guys I crossed path with yesterday were having a session on the range at ivythorne. I think they said they had between 3 of them experienced 5 incidents of misfires/hangfires with their .17s that day!

I don't know any more than that but if that is true that is shocking!

Guesstimating I've put 1000 rounds through my gun. Maybe less. But that's the first problem I've had. I've seen split cases but it's not been a problem. However if I had several incidents in a day, I'd be sending the ammo back

 

[Colesco]

I use hornady ammo in mine and no problems as yet, definitely going to check the rounds that have been sitting around for a while before shooting tho! As far as the misfires are occuring surely when the spent case comes out with no bullet but not much a bang first port of call would be bolt out and check the barrel?

 

[JMS906]

Clearly this is an ongoing and serious problem which is not being resolved so I have written to the HSE and asked them to investigate.

Ammunition can sits around for a long time, on the dealer's shelves and in our cabinets. Your friend should take the batch number from the box and contact Hornady direct to establish whether this is old stock or recently produced. If it is recent;y procuded your assertion (a problem which is not being resolved) would be correct. But if it's old ammunition then it should have been resolved by a recall notice. In either case, you were aware of the probelm: was you friend?

More to the point, if your friend had a misfire, why did he not inspect the bore before firing a second round? It's a basic safety rule: if you fire a shot and anything appears unusual STOP! Pause. Think.

-JMS

 

[Mr. Gain]

More to the point, if your friend had a misfire, why did he not inspect the bore before firing a second round? It's a basic safety rule: if you fire a shot and anything appears unusual STOP! Pause. Think.

As far as the misfires are occurring: surely when the spent case comes out with no bullet but not much a bang, the first port of call would be bolt out and check the barrel?

All of the above, but when you're not even aware that such flaws exist; when you're focussed on the target; when you're got a decent moderator fitted and the engine and heater are humming away; when (often) it's dark; and when you're running on coffee and hunting instinct, with a brain that's more lizard than Einstein... it is all too easy to ignore a diminished report and attribute a "miss" to a pulled shot rather than a defective round. After all, the .17HMR is a modern, super-accurate cartridge, and they produce billions of them, and if there was a problem with the ammo it would be all over the comics and t'internet, wouldn't it...

All I can say, is that like many things, it's never clearer what you should do than after you've done the opposite.

That's the great thing about these threads - you get to learn from other people's mistakes.

If you do have problems with HMR ammo, please do make a note of the brand and batch number and pass the info on to Crosshair243 by PM.

 

[243 fallow]

I agree with the points you have made, i spoke with the people in the gunshop the weekend and they said they have had no hmr bullets come back or people complaining about hangfires and misfires, i also think if the problem is as bad as some are saying a company as big as Hornady would have this resolved as it could impact on people buying their other products .

 

[Mr. Gain]

I spoke with the people in the gunshop at the weekend and they said they have had no HMR bullets come back or people complaining about hangfires and misfires, I also think if the problem is as bad as some are saying a company as big as Hornady would have this resolved as it could impact on people buying their other products.

Maybe. But I've had several boxes of HMR ammo containing defective rounds, over several years. I can't say how many because I didn't log them. I certainly didn't take them back to the shop, because by the time I found out I no longer had the receipt. My response was to carry a cleaning rod to push out any bullets stuck in the barrel and keep an ear open for squibs that might leave one there; then when I'd used up all my HMR ammo I sold the rifle and moved to a .17 Centrefire. I assume many others have done much the same.

As for Hornady. They may well have sought a solution to the problem, but they don't make the ammo: CCI do, and the last thing CCI want is a reliability scare. In fact, it's the last thing anyone in the gun trade wants. Does this mean everyone is keeping the problem under their hats in a grand conspiracy? I don't know. But I do think it's very easy for concerns and complaints to run out of steam or get diverted before they gain any momentum, or bring about any positive change.

If I were still shooting an HMR I'd certainly be keeping receipts, logging batch numbers, returning defective rounds to the retailer, and keeping Crosshair243 informed... but I took a path of less resistance instead.

 

[bewsher500]

bit out of date but started as a good idea:

Meet Google Drive – One place for all your files

 

[243 fallow]

I been told not sure how true that all 17 hmr ammo is made by cci , if this is the case then do other makes of ammo suffer the same problem ? Apart from what ive seen on this forum i dont know of any one who has had problems. Over the years ive had several misfires with 12 bore cartridges from various manufacturers but never felt the need to change calibers.

 

[exmarksman9870]

Im doing a 1 for 1 on my 17 hmr....im not sure what calibre ...but something for long range varmint fun...any thoughts .222 ? ... I never had any problems with ammo with my one though...

 

[camo304]

Im doing a 1 for 1 on my 17 hmr....im not sure what calibre ...but something for long range varmint fun...any thoughts .222 ? ... I never had any problems with ammo with my one though...

Doing the same but gonna go for .243 for foxing in high winds, when the .204 don't like it.

 

[Danny rem mag]

Out lamping the other night, all going great, loads of bunnies, shot 2 in very quick succession, 3rd one in the headlights...click. Idiot the safety! Try again, nothing so I think I can't have ejected after the last shot so eject and reload. Bolt felt a little stiff closing (Cz 452 American 16 1/2" heavy barrel) so I held the rifle off to the side and fired into the bank. KERFEFFING BOOM! Massive flash bits of magazine stuck in my left hand and deaf in my left ear for an hour, lucky I turned my head to the side. I'm guessing the primer (as such) went off and just pushed the round out, which is why the bolt felt stiff as the next round went in behind it. Lesson learnt. Guns been sent to Edgar bros to see if they can unblock it and save the barrel (how much is a new barrel?) and remove the base of the cartridge that's stuck in the bolt face. I was using CCI 17g TNT. How very apt! We should be able to sue these people surely? !!!!

 

[Brithunter]

I have to ask was the "Bunny" actually worth risking injury? and why after a mis-fire then noticing a stiff bolt did you not check that everything was OK with the rifle. This surely is pretty basic stuff and should really be second nature to a shooter let alone just plain old common sense!

After a miss-fire one should follow the miss-fire drill. If you have to ask what this is then perhaps you need to learn some basics.

 

[feaks]

I've had about 4 different incidents with hmr ammo over the years , I do wonder sometimes

about an alternative calibre.

 

[Mr. Gain]

Out lamping the other night, all going great, loads of bunnies, shot 2 in very quick succession, 3rd one in the headlights...click. Idiot the safety! Try again, nothing so I think I can't have ejected after the last shot so eject and reload. Bolt felt a little stiff closing (Cz 452 American 16 1/2" heavy barrel) so I held the rifle off to the side and fired into the bank. KERFEFFING BOOM! Massive flash bits of magazine stuck in my left hand and deaf in my left ear for an hour, lucky I turned my head to the side. I'm guessing the primer (as such) went off and just pushed the round out, which is why the bolt felt stiff as the next round went in behind it. Lesson learnt.

This should be printed as a label and stuck to every block of HMR sold, IMO.

Defective ammunition was clearly a factor, but, as BH points out in his usual gentle manner, it wouldn't have led to damage and possible injury without a good dollop of operator error.

The trouble is (1) that we have come to take it for granted that ammunition is reliable, but HMR ammo isn't (2) that HMRs are often used in states of excitement in which a speedy shot is given unreasonable priority, and (3) that basic drills are all too often ignored -perhaps through lack of training, perhaps through complacency-, even though they should never be.

 

[The deer man]

I been told not sure how true that all 17 hmr ammo is made by cci , if this is the case then do other makes of ammo suffer the same problem ? Apart from what ive seen on this forum i dont know of any one who has had problems. Over the years ive had several misfires with 12 bore cartridges from various manufacturers but never felt the need to change calibers.

Does anyone read posts on here!

Winchester make their own 17HMR ammo and as far as I am concerned they have never misfired with me unlike the others. I believe Winchester is not made by CCI like all the other brands produced under CCI.

So hello, knock knock everyone don't use the other brands and then just maybe CCi, Hornady, Remington, Federal etc. will get the message! Vote the crap off with your wallets and stop bloody complaining about the 17HMR. As a calibre it's a good round.

 

[bewsher500]

Does anyone read posts on here!

Winchester make their own 17HMR ammo and as far as I am concerned they have never misfired with me unlike the others. I believe Winchester is not made by CCI like all the other brands produced under CCI.

So hello, knock knock everyone don't use the other brands and then just maybe CCi, Hornady, Remington, Federal etc. will get the message! Vote the crap off with your wallets and stop bloody complaining about the 17HMR. As a calibre it's a good round.

Winchester misfire and produce squibs just like the others:

Google Sheets - create and edit spreadsheets online, for free.


I agree it is a great round
shame the ammo is so bad

 

[Heym SR20]

Is this making the case for the 17 Hornet?

I like the idea of a .17 - always have (and started when as a teenager we moved house and in the new house was a complete collection of Gun and Ammo from the 1960's and lots of articles about the new .17 in cartridges such as .17 Javalena - they got thrown out when I went off to University) - and have been thinking about getting a .17 rimfire for a while. But these ammo issues do put me off.

 

[Mr. Gain]

Over the years I've had several misfires with 12 bore cartridges from various manufacturers but never felt the need to change calibres.

Ah, but what kind of misfires? and in what kind of gun?

The greater size and therefore visibility of cartridge and bore, the greater auditory and tactile impression produced by the recoil from a correctly-functioning cartridge, the greater likelihood that a defective cartridge will be extracted directly by hand or fail to cycle an semi-automatic mechanism, and the higher probability that the gun will be being used in daylight, all reduce the odds of unwittingly firing a second cartridge down a blocked barrel with a 12g as compared to a .17 HMR.

So, regardless of the ammunition choices available, any issues with cartridges are likely to be less detrimental to the calibre's acceptability and reputation in the case of the 12g than in that of the .17 HMR. (Of course the immensely versatile and effective 12g is also the very last cartridge anyone with a love of shooting or an instinct for survival would give up.)

 

[Whitebeard]

I have to agree with Brithunter on this, if something does not feel right or sound right, for safeties sake you must go through a missfire drill.
We have had plenty of missfires with HMR but 100% no incidents because proper precautions are in place.
I no longer have a HMR the $hit ammo was to much for me, now shooting a 17 Fireball but my mate still has his and the latest experiences are delayed firing just like a flintlock, click fizz bang!!!

Ian.

 

[The deer man]

Winchester misfire and produce squibs just like the others:

Google Sheets - create and edit spreadsheets online, for free.


I agree it is a great round
shame the ammo is so bad

Yes agreed, Winchester did have a problem and had a major recall as advertised on their website, the first in 2009. The following was posted by Muir yesterday. . .

"Winchester does make their own 17HMR. I think this is the result of being saddled with some crap ammo from CCI/Hornady that cause the first recall of 17HMR about 5-6 years ago. It all had the Winchester label on the box and Winchester bore the brunt of the recall cost and resulting sales decline.~Muir"

I read your spreadsheet and the dates of the Winchester failures were two years ago plus. I would imagine this was original faulty ammunition that never got returned. I have been using the Winchester ammo now for just over a year and had no problems at all. Interestingly we have collected and saved a load of cases off our range and found plenty of split Remington and Hornady cases but no split Winchester cases going back over the last year.

It would be interesting to hear peoples experiences of the solely made by Winchester ammo (Olin Corp) because at the moment after a couple of thousand rounds I'm happy with it.