Word of Warning for HMR Users

[Deeredriver]

I know most people are aware of this and it has been covered many times, but if you get a miss fire, hang fire, click of the firing pin or anything that is unusual, wait 60 sec's keeping the rifle pointing a safe direction, then.

 

REMOVE THE BOLT AND CHECK THE BARREL FOR OBSTRUCTION.

 

This was highlighted to me last night again when lamping.

 

Shot one rabbit, cycled the bolt for the next, then 'click', there was no noise except the firing pin BUT the primer/powder had produced enough power to lodge the bullet in the rifling.

 

Obviously if I hadn't checked the barrel and fired another round the results would have been severe.

 

As usual this was cause by a split in the case neck causing moisture ingress.

 

After checking 300 rounds this morning over 30 had split necks!

 

Please be careful...

[rimmie]

I had the exact same thing happen to me today !!!!! Bullet stuck up the barrel, Remington ammo, will be speaking to sports marketing Monday !!!!

[Big Al]

I dumped my HMR a while back, its not a good enough caliber to put up with this kind of hassle in my opinion.

[David Hancock]

I did the same as Big Al.

 

Lost trust in the calibre and easy to recycle another round when lamping, not being fully aware there is a bullet partially up the tube !!

 

I know of an incident where this happened. The bolt held but the moderator was a bit shagged.

 

I had fizzes, no split necks.

 

My current understanding is the performance issues regarding (a particular brand) had now been resolved - two years since this issue came to light.

[drum]

Happened to me too,luckily bullet in the barrel prevented me from chambering another.That was with Hornady 17 grain v-max.I have also had lots of split necks in Hornady 33 grain in 22wmr,in the last brick i bought there was an average of 2 bullets in each box with split necks.Shocking quality control.I was hoping these issues were behind us.I now check every bullet before it goes in the magazine.

Drum.

[benny243]

I got rid of my hmr after it twice got a round stuck up the barrel and a mate had one blow the mag out and snap the stock.

I cant believe its not a bigger thing in the shooting press

[jay666d]

I've had two rounds stuck too... Only ever while target shooting though.

 

My brother did have the misfortune to get one stuck whilst lamping and sent one up the back end of the stuck bullet!

 

I pleased to say that he wasn't hurt and that the rifle suffered no damage that we can see and its performance since has not been compromised. However the next round in the magazine did suffer the shock wave and was crushed out of shape under the pressure!

[wabbit evaporator]

Absolutely extraordinary that this is still an ongoing issue. I find it very hard to believe that in a nation as litigous as the US someone hasn't had a serious pop at Hornady over this.

[dylan5588]

I also find it hard to believe that so many people have had "accidents" from using this or any other round, Why would anyone after experiencing any kind of missfire, just chamber another round and take a shot without first checking if the bullet from the first round had left the barrel? It beggars belief actually.

Adrian

[radd]

I have just had several hang fires, with split necks, out of a box of Federal V-Shok..

The hang fires were just click..bangs, bunny runs away, rather than a bullet stuck up the spout.

 

E

[AnthonyR]

I have had two rounds stuck in the barrel but have always noticed and never shoved another one in there, also had countless misfires with my HMR, I now carry a cleaning rod with me whenever I go out with it.

 

I thought about changing to another calibre but there is nothing out there that will do the same job, 22LR doesn't have enough performance for me and last time I was out with mine I shot 85 rounds in one night, no way am I either going to reload or buy that many CF rounds. HM2 is the closest IMO and I may try this if HMR rounds don't improve as I will just be able to get a new barrel for my Quad.

 

I too can't believe that this issue has not been addressed in the US, is somebody going to have to get seriously hurt before something is done.

[gaz6br]

The same happened to a mate of mine last week, unless this is you Rob?

 

Gaz

[radd]

I've just checked the rounds left in the box... out of 25 left 11 have split necks..

 

Who is the importer for Federal..??

 

E...

[Laurie]

I don't know if it's changed recently, but all 17HMR ammo was manufactured by CCI in the cartridge's early days irrespective of the name on the box, so it's apparently more an issue of CCI quality control and manufacturing lot rather one 'maker' being better or worse than the others.

 

The American forums are full of horror stories, and it seems the place to get some insight is Rimfire Central. From what I gather, the ammunition manufacturer blames the rifle manufacturers for exceeding SAAMI chamber tolerances and the over-slack chambers causing splits, whilst the rifle manufacturers say the brass is too brittle in some lots. This is in respect to case-splits which appear during firing. If there is a problem with splits appearing pre-firing, that has to be brass that's not ductile enough to take the case-forming, bullet crimp and/or neck tension on the bullet and is a straight material specification issue. Or maybe not, if the HMR requires a combination of hard brass to withstand the cartridge's considerable pressures, but also able to accept the necking-down needed to go from a .22 case to .17 - in which case it's also a design issue.

 

There is a historical precedent to this. Assuming that HMR cases cannot be annealed as they'll have the priming compound in the rim from an early stage and heat and priming compound don't mix well, it's akin to .303 and other classic British cartridges that used cordite strand propellants which saw bottlenecked cases formed in all respects bar the shoulder / neck when the charge was inserted as a bundle of cords. The final forming was done with the charge in situ and therefore couldn't have the neck / shoulder annealed. It's very common for old surplus 303 ammo to have maybe one in three case-necks split when the sealed tins are opened despite the case-brass looking otherwise bright and perfect so storage wasn't an issue. The relatively brittle unannealed necks couldn't stand the pressures from tight tensions and a crimp on the bullet. But, such cartridges are normally a lot older than you'd ever expect HMR to be before splits appear.

 

US HMR users say that brass splits during firing don't occur in rifles with match chambers, so there's likely a third element. Whatever the cause, or more likely combination of causes, there appear to be intrinsic and worrying issues with this cartridge and its firearms.

[radd]

I have just received a reply from GMK, the importers of Federal ammunition...

 

 

Hi E.........
I am very sorry to hear of your problems with Federal .17HMR ammunition.

The case neck splits are a "feature" of all .17 HMR ammunition, due to their unique method of manufacture. As the .17 neck aperture is too small to insert the priming compound, it is inserted into the case, when it is still .22 diameter and the case is then "Cold Necked-down" to .17 afterwards, due to the danger of heating the neck, with the priming compound is in-situ. Unfortunately, this makes the case neck brittle, hence the splits. Federal tell us that the case usually splits after the bullet has left the case mouth and the cases are not reloadable, so this is not an important issue.

However, the hang-fires and misfires are a different matter. I agree that this is dangerous, please do not fire any more ammunition from this batch and please return these to the dealer where you purchased it. Due to supply issues, we have not had any of this product in stock for over a year. Bearing this in mind, the ammunition may be a few years old and storage issues may be at fault.

I look forward to receiving the ammunition from your dealer.
Best regards
Steve Way

Stephen R Way

 

 

 

I have to be honest.. I didn't expect a reply quite as quickly..

 

E...

[Laurie]

The speed of the reply suggests you're not the first to complain!

[skull hooker]

The speed of the reply suggests you're not the first to complain!

Sounds like a 'cut and paste' reply so you're probably right

[Bushdog]

I had similar problems 3 years ago with Remington branded ammo. I had a number of unfired rounds which left bullets in the breach when ejected as a result of split necks before firing. Remington replaced it no problem for me.

 

The simple answer is to check for split necks when you load your magazine, but this is easier said than done if out lamping.

 

I really like the little cartridge -it ticks lots of boxes for me, but I check them in the box before I go out with it now. I do sometimes wonder if a light-loaded .22 Hornet would be a better bet, though.

[Tubs]

[Tubs]

Had this happen to me today had a miss fire waited a good minute cycled the bolt back and had all the powder flick back in my face,took the bolt out and could just see the ass end of the bullet,This also happened on saturday evening just walked across the valley settled down to ambush some bunnies, first shot and click bullet stuck and had to call it a night well pissed,checked one box of 50 earlier found 3 with split necks.

[David Hancock]

It's been going on for three years - at least - and no-one admitted there was a problem until it was reported in Gun Trade News.

 

If the same thing happened with car tyres or brakes or contaminated vodka there would be an outcry and a worldwide recall.

 

I sold mine and received compensation for loss !!

[1in9]

I have experienced this first hand with Remington ammo, with a split neck round depositing a HMR bullet a short distance into the barrel. End of days shooting. I did look to take the head off another and use the charge to fire it through but that's not easy in the field. It was a pig to get out using a rod as well. Quite a few of the others had cracked necks on inspection.

 

Question for the pressure experts then.. would a short 22LR blank be a practical way to fire the bullet through if this happened again?

 

With my reloading hat on the 'under pressure charge' and 'unknown powders' lights are flashing so I wasn't planning on it. However, it would be a convenient solution if the exact same thing happened again, easy to keep a couple in a pocket. The alternative is rods and a hammer!

[AnthonyR]

I put a cleaning rod in the slip every time I take the HMR out now, not ideal but it saves a ruined night

[1in9]

I put a cleaning rod in the slip every time I take the HMR out now, not ideal but it saves a ruined night

 

You could still be frustrated as having it is far from easy to simply push through.

 

I ended up knocking it backwards using rod and a hammer rather than have to wallop it the full length. The V-max round wasn't looking happy when it came out.

 

Thus a blank would be nice and easy assuming it was safe to use. Stripping a head off another HMR to use the charge without mangling the case is very difficult in the field e.g. with a leatherman.

[AnthonyR]

 

You could still be frustrated as having tried it it is very difficult to simply push through.

 

I ended up knocking it backwards using rod and a small hammer rather than have to wallop it the full length. The V-max round wasn't looking happy when it came out.

 

Thus a blank would be nice and easy if safe to use. Stripping a round of another HMR without mangling the case is very difficult in the field.

 

 

I have had to do it several times already, no problem with a cleaning rod pushed in from the muzzle end.