.17 hmr bullet stuck in barrel

[Webb1401]

I had to use a different gun hop the other day and they didn’t have my normal Hornaday V max 17 gr so I picked up some Remington 17 gr Accutip-V boat tails.
Went down to check zero and they were spot on. No adjustments needed.
Sent down 6 shots and on the seventh there was a misfire. Not uncommon for a rimfire.
I pulled the bolt back and only the case came out. At first I questioned whether I had loaded a full round but then thought I’d better just check the barrel.
Removed the bolt and could see the brass projectile in the barrel. As this was game over I headed home and got a cleaning rod up the barrel. It won’t shift and I had to resort to a tap with a hammer to pop the round back out into the chamber!
Just gone through the box of 50 and found 3 rounds where the brass neck of the casing is actually split! Never had this problem with Hornaday V-Max.
Anyone else seen this? I’ll be taking the 4 boxes straight back for a refund.

Was taking to a friend where something similar happened but he didn’t check the barrel. Next shot blew the barrel apart and shattered the stock.

 

[finnbear270]

Rubbish stuff, got shot (Pun intended) of my .17HMR back in the stone age.

 

[Andyquadra]

I had a box of Remington hmr, the second one got stuck in the barrel! On further inspection, about 50% of the cases were split before being fired, meaning the powder got damp

 

[mealiejimmy]

Typical HMR problem
So disappointing because with good ammo, it's a brilliant little cartridge

Cheers

Bruce

 

[Smellydog]

I have some old remington and cci ammo that came from the period they were having this issue.
I just yesterday went through a box and destroyed the rounds with a split neck.
Current Hornady seems fine. A friend of mine got some federal hmr with the same issue but I don't know how old it is.
A magnifying glass is your friend.

 

[Webb1401]

Thanks guys.
Just phoned the shop and they said just bring them back.
They said the box was only just in and thought the problem had been sorted out.
I’ll stick to the Hornaday V-Max. I’ve put thousands of them through with no issue apart from the odd misfired round.
Just thankful this one didn’t fire and get stuck down the barrel. If I’d just chambered another round without thinking I’d have been in big trouble

 

[Namman]

Thanks guys.
Just phoned the shop and they said just bring them back.
They said the box was only just in and thought the problem had been sorted out.
I’ll stick to the Hornaday V-Max. I’ve put thousands of them through with no issue apart from the odd misfired round.
Just thankful this one didn’t fire and get stuck down the barrel. If I’d just chambered another round without thinking I’d have been in big trouble

Well spotted.
We have seen a couple of rifles destroyed by shooters not noticing a bullet stuck in the barrel.
We have had several other shooters notice and thankfully stopped shooting until the bullet was removed.

 

[ashray]

its why a LOT of people who had them now DONT

 

[FISH BOY]

Thank you for sharing - glad you recognised the misfire.

Having put well over 1,000 through my HMR using CCI without issue, this is a timely reminder for me, especially when potentially out in the dark.

Hope you don’t lose faith in it, as it is a cracking little round.

 

[Liveonce]

All .17hmr is made by the same manufacture, is it not? Got shot of mine and got a .17hornet, problem solved.

 

[Smellydog]

All .17hmr is made by the same manufacture, is it not? Got shot of mine and got a .17hornet, problem solved.

Winchester and cci make it.

 

[Muir]

I had to use a different gun hop the other day and they didn’t have my normal Hornaday V max 17 gr so I picked up some Remington 17 gr Accutip-V boat tails.
Went down to check zero and they were spot on. No adjustments needed.
Sent down 6 shots and on the seventh there was a misfire. Not uncommon for a rimfire.
I pulled the bolt back and only the case came out. At first I questioned whether I had loaded a full round but then thought I’d better just check the barrel.
Removed the bolt and could see the brass projectile in the barrel. As this was game over I headed home and got a cleaning rod up the barrel. It won’t shift and I had to resort to a tap with a hammer to pop the round back out into the chamber!
Just gone through the box of 50 and found 3 rounds where the brass neck of the casing is actually split! Never had this problem with Hornaday V-Max.
Anyone else seen this? I’ll be taking the 4 boxes straight back for a refund.

Was taking to a friend where something similar happened but he didn’t check the barrel. Next shot blew the barrel apart and shattered the stock.

This split neck issue has been around for years. I have several HMRs and not fired a one of them in the last decade. ~Muir

 

[njc110381]

It's a HMR thing generally unfortunately. I think all the makers have had this issue at some point.

I believe it's because of the way the case is manufactured. Being a rimfire, the priming compound needs to be injected into the rim of the case. Most cartridge cases are annealed when they're made but the tooling to prime the case won't fit after the necking down process. At the same time annealing isn't an option after the case is primed, so a combination of those issues means that the case necks aren't stress relieved after forming and can crack over time.

Well done for being on the ball. We all make mistakes, as silly as they may be. I'm glad you spotted it and dealt with the problem accordingly

 

[Foxyboy43]

Thanks guys.
Just phoned the shop and they said just bring them back.
They said the box was only just in and thought the problem had been sorted out.
I’ll stick to the Hornaday V-Max. I’ve put thousands of them through with no issue apart from the odd misfired round.
Just thankful this one didn’t fire and get stuck down the barrel. If I’d just chambered another round without thinking I’d have been in big trouble

Hmmm. I wouldn’t get too relaxed about Vmax which incidentally are a super round. I have a box full of neck split Hornady vmax found both before and after shooting sooo my advice is to examine every case before you load them up. I have seen three .17 hmr guns which sustained significant damage but this was because the shooter ignored the “dreaded click” (so familiar to semi-auto pistol shooters) and fired a round up the now blocked barrel - a very fast but highly inefficient way to remove the magazine, at least some of the stock and possibly a finger or two!
As said above they are a phenomenal round which I shoot regularly but I scrupulously check every round in every box before decanting to my pocket bag.

 

[Smellydog]

Whilst there is admittedly a design flaw built in hmr from work hardening primed brass the manufacturers can overcome it. Unfortunately that will incur an extra cost, somewhere.
That said, problems with brass can and do exist in any calibre or cartridge. I have had30/30 brass split, 308 lapua brass split and even 22lr split. Just not as often.
To be fair cci could just be a victim of their brass sheet supplier! Copper being very expensive and zinc cheaper it would very tempting to fiddle the alloy!!

 

[Puds]

I check every box of Hornady before use and have only ever found 1 split neck, which led to me taking the box back to the shop & getting a replacement. I put hundreds through it each year & love the performance of it, but am cautious.

 

[One on top of two]

Still sends a shiver down my spine.

 

[kimh]

that's a SQUIB load

 

[Alantoo]

To be fair cci could just be a victim of their brass sheet supplier! Copper being very expensive and zinc cheaper it would very tempting to fiddle the alloy!!

I really doubt that would be the case ('scuse the pun) 70/30 Cu/Zn is the usual mix for cartridge brass...it has the required properties for deep drawing...the alloy percentages are too easily checked, and if you were a supplier would you risk your future business by supplying what must be a major customer with out of spec products?

Alan

 

[Bez4390]

I had to use a different gun hop the other day and they didn’t have my normal Hornaday V max 17 gr so I picked up some Remington 17 gr Accutip-V boat tails.
Went down to check zero and they were spot on. No adjustments needed.
Sent down 6 shots and on the seventh there was a misfire. Not uncommon for a rimfire.
I pulled the bolt back and only the case came out. At first I questioned whether I had loaded a full round but then thought I’d better just check the barrel.
Removed the bolt and could see the brass projectile in the barrel. As this was game over I headed home and got a cleaning rod up the barrel. It won’t shift and I had to resort to a tap with a hammer to pop the round back out into the chamber!
Just gone through the box of 50 and found 3 rounds where the brass neck of the casing is actually split! Never had this problem with Hornaday V-Max.
Anyone else seen this? I’ll be taking the 4 boxes straight back for a refund.

Was taking to a friend where something similar happened but he didn’t check the barrel. Next shot blew the barrel apart and shattered the stock.

Been out with a very experienced shooter today for tuition, took my .22 and .17 pulled out my remi ammo and he said not on my watch My friend put them away here's a box of H Vmax, too many misfires and they they tend to get stuck in the barrel. So no buying anymore Remi.