The current situation on 17HMR ammunition

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old keeper

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I just wondered what the latest situation is regarding HMR ammo. I recently got hold of some CCI A17 varmint tip ammunition with a claimed mv of 2650fps (100fps faster than standard). Examining the rounds the necks appeared to be thicker than in older rounds. Also, there were no split necks! At the same time, I went through a new (old) box of Hornady ammo and found fifteen out of fifty had split necks!
The furore regarding 17HMR ammo seems to have calmed down, could it be that as old stocks are used up the latest offerings are much better?
 
Hmmmm. I use Hornady .17 bullets and they are super accurate and a highly effective round on rabbits out to 200 yds or so. That said I regularly find split necks both before and after firing and have done since I first bought the rifle - Cogswell and Harrison (CZ). The problem of course is the necessarily very thin brass but according to Steve Hornady himself it is your rifle that is at fault not his ammunition.
Funny that you like me have found so many split cases still in the unfired box!
🦊🦊
 
Current stuff I am using has been good for the last few months. All bought from the same place at different times. It all looks the same (Hornady Vmax 17g) is very shiny, no split neck out the pack and they shoot bang on.

My guess is that it is relatively new ammunition in terms of date of manufacture.
 
I been doing a few rabbits lately with the .17hmr.instead of the .22lr ..

It's weird, go back a year or so I couldn't get the dam thing to be consistent, whether it was CCi 20gr or Hornady 17gr it was just flyer after flyer. Recently however I have been doing hard paddock work and that was the main reason I got the .17hmr barrel in the first place and I my rifle has been producing stunning groups and accuracy is improved tenfold, yes you still get the odd flyer and the odd confusing misses but it has been a much better experience lately, cases are still splitting on occasion but not as often and I had a "flare" from one round lol but it's been a lot more fun lately..

So you might be right .
 
old keeper said:
I just wondered what the latest situation is regarding HMR ammo. I recently got hold of some CCI A17 varmint tip ammunition with a claimed mv of 2650fps (100fps faster than standard). Examining the rounds the necks appeared to be thicker than in older rounds. Also, there were no split necks! At the same time, I went through a new (old) box of Hornady ammo and found fifteen out of fifty had split necks!
The furore regarding 17HMR ammo seems to have calmed down, could it be that as old stocks are used up the latest offerings are much better?
Click to expand...
old keeper,
I don’t think the necks will be thicker than previously.
If they were, the bullets would either have to be smaller :-|, or the case would be a tighter fit in the chamber.
Ken.
 
kenbro said:
old keeper,
I don’t think the necks will be thicker than previously.
If they were, the bullets would either have to be smaller :-|, or the case would be a tighter fit in the chamber.
Ken.
Click to expand...
You're right, I've just checked the measurements and Hornady and CCI have identical neck measurements, under a microscope, they just look very slightly different! Being a sad person I've just checked three boxes of CCI ammo, not a single split neck, yet both Winchester and Hornady have some split necks.

Tullock mentions cases splitting on some occasions, I'm referring to new, unused ammo with split necks. Am I correct in saying CCI make most of the 17HMR ammo under other brand names and to their specification?
 
old keeper said:
You're right, I've just checked the measurements and Hornady and CCI have identical neck measurements, under a microscope, they just look very slightly different! Being a sad person I've just checked three boxes of CCI ammo, not a single split neck, yet both Winchester and Hornady have some split necks.

Tullock mentions cases splitting on some occasions, I'm referring to new, unused ammo with split necks. Am I correct in saying CCI make most of the 17HMR ammo under other brand names and to their specification?
Click to expand...
I often get split necks after firing
 
old keeper said:
You're right, I've just checked the measurements and Hornady and CCI have identical neck measurements, under a microscope, they just look very slightly different! Being a sad person I've just checked three boxes of CCI ammo, not a single split neck, yet both Winchester and Hornady have some split necks.

Tullock mentions cases splitting on some occasions, I'm referring to new, unused ammo with split necks. Am I correct in saying CCI make most of the 17HMR ammo under other brand names and to their specification?
Click to expand...
Unless something has changed, that is the case apart from Winchester who I believe now have their own line (and in my view have always produced the worst HMR ammunition)

Before I was shooting the current batch of Hornady, i was shooting some Norma HMR. All the labels on the Norma are the same as you get on CCI TNT, Hornady Vmax, Federal V Shok, etc etc. All the same stuff made on same machines with just different coloured bullet tips as far as I can tell.
 
Hmmm. The 17 is a great round but is pretty dirty iytn barrel fouling so just make sure you clean it after use. A pull-through does the job but I do have a wee concern about the cord as it is so thin!
🦊🦊
 
Hi. I find current hmr ammo is very good.
I also bought some ammo cheap from the troubled period and yes there are issue with that old stuff.
I understood it to be a work hardening issue of the primed brass during necking down.
I don't know what they did to fix it or indeed did they fix it or just returned to the original brass that did work?
Anyway. The current Hornady is excellent I'm my two cz's.
 
Tulloch said:
I often get split necks after firing
Click to expand...
This. I don't shoot mine all that much and I'm still making my way through a supply of the same batch of 17gr Hornady, but it's very good. I've seen plenty of small splits post-firing but fortunately never anything on unfired brass (and I do look, thanks to all the horror stories). Perhaps lucky or a more recent batch 🤷‍♂️
 
I use my 17 hmr a fair bit and have done for the past 2 years now, I regularly use Hornady 17gn vmax and CCI 20gn gamepoint ammo with zero issues, I haven’t bought a box of either in the past 2 years that have had a split neck Before firing, I do get about 40% of them split after firing but I’m really not concerned about that. I have bought federal, norma and winchester ammo and found around 10 rounds that were split before firing and the rounds that were ok grouped like ****. From my experience MODERN ammo from hornady and CCI is spot on.
 
Smellydog said:
Hi. I find current hmr ammo is very good.
I also bought some ammo cheap from the troubled period and yes there are issue with that old stuff.
I understood it to be a work hardening issue of the primed brass during necking down.
I don't know what they did to fix it or indeed did they fix it or just returned to the original brass that did work?
Anyway. The current Hornady is excellent I'm my two cz's.
Click to expand...
Welcome back 😁
 
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