What the ? 17hmr rifle malfunction

[bigrich]

Hey fellas, I was at the range yesterday, tuning my reload recipe for new brass , and the fella next to me had his ruger 17 hmr have a major malfunction. A case split at the base ( head space issues? ) and cracked the stock. He was using Hornady ammo which is usually pretty good. I’ve seen Winchester 17hmr split necks on every second firing, but this is a whole different level. I researched this model ruger when I was thinking about a hornet rifle, but decided against it cause I’d heard on yank forums of head space issues cause of the design of the two piece bolt . This particular rifle had only shot a couple of hundred rounds, the owner had bought it new . Bit of a worry

edit , it blew the mag clean out of it too

[Stix]

A 17hmr cartridge blew out & damaged a magazine & cracked the timber stock...

I know nothing about the rifles, & barely more than that about the cartridge so i cant help you Rich, sorry...just sounds excessive for a zippy little cartridge...

Hope you get it sorted...

[SCJ429]

Barrel obstruction?

[Stix]

Hmmm...is there some crap under the stock with the action screws done up too tight...?

A timber stock thats cracked there has me puzzled...from a 17 hmr...?

[Bill]

bummer result, did you grab any of the other fired cases bigrich ?

[AZZA'S HJ47]

Seems odd headspace perhaps although unlikely winchester rounds?

[bigrich]

Hmmm...is there some crap under the stock with the action screws done up too tight...?

A timber stock thats cracked there has me puzzled...from a 17 hmr...?

the stock was cracked from all the gasses escaping from the ruptured case . most rimfire bolts don't enclose the case like a centrefire , so when the case ruptured the gas vented into the mag well and stock inletting under the receiver would be my guess .even in a hmr there would be enough preasure to cause damage. i was next to a guy on the benches at ripley about a year ago when he fired a 308 round in a 270 tikka . that blew the bolt to peices , that fella is lucky to be alive . this 17hmr rifle belonged to a fellow shooter at the range . never met the man before . i thought i would post this as a heads up to fellow shooters and gun nuts

the ammo was hornady , normally very good ammo

[bigrich]

Barrel obstruction?

i thought that too, got the owner to check and it was clear. i had a look and there was no bulge in the barrel either

[bigrich]

Seems odd headspace perhaps although unlikely winchester rounds?

only thing i could think of , as it checked out negative for any evidence of barrel obstruction . i had researched this model ruger as a possible purchase in 22 hornet about 2 years ago. going on american forums i read stories of issues resulting from the two peice bolt . apparently this model file is converted from a 22lr to 22 hornet /17hmr by using the two peice bolt. headspace and accuracy issues relating to lack of qaulity control were reported . other peoples words , not mine . the fix was to get a gunsmith to shim the bolt to tighten them up

i do like a good mystery

[AZZA'S HJ47]

Ive had a heap of case failures with hornady 17hmr typically down the side of the case. Winchester stuff I found that they'd spit and have to be removed with a cleaning rod. Since made the move to the cci a17 and no longer have any issues

[bigrich]

Ive had a heap of case failures with hornady 17hmr typically down the side of the case. Winchester stuff I found that they'd spit and have to be removed with a cleaning rod. Since made the move to the cci a17 and no longer have any issues

i had a mate who had a sako 17 hmr , split cases that had to be removed were very common . i know their a good thing and the distant accuracy their capable of , but i've not been a fan of the caliber i'm afraid

[AZZA'S HJ47]

Not going to lie Bigrich seening these issues is never going to be something to make a calibre more attractive. Ive had my 17hmr for 4 or so years and have used it for a number of ferals the accuracy of the round is great and being considerably quieter than the 223 or 222 doesnt scare anything off.

Im not going to lie i am considering selling it to get a 17 remington just to help get me some more range. If my mate wants to buy it off me thats what I'll be doing however if he doesnt want it i wont be advertising it or trading it.

Personally I have found that the main problems with the 17 hmr is the brass some makes are better than others hornady will split often and the Winchester stuff was even worse. Ever since using the cci a17 i havent looked back the occasional split neck but thats a rarity with the cci stuff.

[bigrich]

Not going to lie Bigrich seening these issues is never going to be something to make a calibre more attractive. Ive had my 17hmr for 4 or so years and have used it for a number of ferals the accuracy of the round is great and being considerably quieter than the 223 or 222 doesnt scare anything off.

Im not going to lie i am considering selling it to get a 17 remington just to help get me some more range. If my mate wants to buy it off me thats what I'll be doing however if he doesnt want it i wont be advertising it or trading it.

Personally I have found that the main problems with the 17 hmr is the brass some makes are better than others hornady will split often and the Winchester stuff was even worse. Ever since using the cci a17 i havent looked back the occasional split neck but thats a rarity with the cci stuff.

have you looked at 17 hornet azza ? ballistically very impressive . i've seen stuff on youtube where accuracy over 300 yards is very good . necking the hornet case down to 17 would really improve case life as well . and it's not loud . unfortunately , as much as i love guns and the ballistic side of things, i don't have much use for the smaller stuff with regards to hunting . my trusty 222 is a good do-all that covers more uses . the 17 rem is a true classic from days when people made a living out of foxes . i've seen some come up recently second hand, but it's a given they would need a rebarrel . good reason to go pay the swan fellas a visit hey

[Bill]

I don't see that the Ruger has malfunction, if anything the dual lugs looked to have performed perfectly. What would the result have been with an inferior CZ action

I have a couple of 77s and the gas can only get vented to the right and downwards hence a popped mag and cracked stock.

I'm guessing you mate had a squid load prior to get that amount of pressure. Also in my mind the 17hmr split case issue show that the 17wsm is a much superior round with thicker brass.

[bigrich]

I don't see that the Ruger has malfunction, if anything the dual lugs looked to have performed perfectly. What would the result have been with an inferior CZ action

I have a couple of 77s and the gas can only get vented to the right and downwards hence a popped mag and cracked stock.

I'm guessing you mate had a squid load prior to get that amount of pressure. Also in my mind the 17hmr split case issue show that the 17wsm is a much superior round with thicker brass.

the 17 wsm is a interesting one , the cases are designed from a industrial nail gun case apparently . cz's have a one piece bolt and two locking lugs, dunno how that's inferior

[Bill]

Just saying lucky it wasn't a 452 457 17hnr with just the bolt handle as the recoil lug....

[bigrich]

Just saying lucky it wasn't a 452 457 17hnr with just the bolt handle as the recoil lug....

my CZ 452 22lr american uses the bolt handle as one locking lug, there is another lug on the opposite side of the bolt. same as weihrauch and anshutz , and they use the same style rear locking actions for 222 . just saying .........

[bigrich]

i ran this story of what happened to this ruger by my local gunshop , and one of the fellas said they had the same issue with a marlin 17hmr . he witnessed it and said the cause was a squib load . winchester ammo was to blame with this case .mystery solved i don't think i'll be buying a 17hmr in the near future but .......

[Oldbloke]

A 17hmr cartridge blew out & damaged a magazine & cracked the timber stock...

I know nothing about the rifles, & barely more than that about the cartridge so i cant help you Rich, sorry...just sounds excessive for a zippy little cartridge...

Hope you get it sorted...

Agree here. Not a lot of pressure or volume of gas in one of those. I think the squib load theory is a good one. Only way to tell would be to have a good look down the barrel. Opportunity lost now.