i pull out my old Marlin bolt action yesterday and shot it few times to see where it was hitting at 75 yds. I’ve had the gun since maybe 2000. I bought it for prairie dogs and took it to Montana and quickly learned a 223 at the ranges we had to shoot was better. It only has maybe 100 rounds thru it. The ammo is probably the same age. (20 years +). I noticed the brass had spilt at the shoulder. Should this be a concern? Or just keep shooting? Thanks
Marlin 17 HMR brass spiliting
- Thread starter markT
- Start date
I have also had that happen in a bolt action savage and a semi auto volquartsen with hornady, Winchester and cci ammo. I have heard it all when it comes to what causes it. Dirty chamber, bad batch of brass, 17 hmr not designed to shoot in semi auto’s, bad batch of powder, powder measurements to high, dirty bore causing excessive pressures ect. I have called savage, volquartsen, cci hornady and other manufactures and they all have different answers. I had it happen in the past more so and I attribute it to bad brass/powder and or my lack of cleaning between long strings of shoots.
Now I only have it happen once in a while(when I actually look through my spent cases) so I figure not a big deal.
Now I only have it happen once in a while(when I actually look through my spent cases) so I figure not a big deal.
Last edited:
1raggedhole
Silver $$ Contributor
I would guess it’s old ammo and cases are a bit too hard. I’ve seen it happen with numerous brands and in numerous rifles. CCI used to make all 17hmr ammo and private label for everyone, but not sure if that’s still the case or not.
Never had that happen but I’ve read several accounts of brass splitting with old 17 HMR and 17 MK2 ammunition. Another issue reported with old 17 rimfire ammo is loose bullets. Again, never witnessed this either. Supposedly the thin rimfire brass doesn’t like the necking-down process.
FWIW
FWIW
I've had it happen and what I attribute it to was the 17HMR Hornady I was using was very old. Some of this stuff even split around the middle of the case.
Was kind of scary for sure. Glad I don't have that old stuff any more. I bought some new 17HMR ammo and have not had any problems so far.
Was kind of scary for sure. Glad I don't have that old stuff any more. I bought some new 17HMR ammo and have not had any problems so far.
If you're getting split cases on every shot, I would junk it, but if it's just the occasional case splitting, it is probably ok to shoot, but it's your gun.
I've had Winchester 17hmr split at the neck, not the shoulder on numerous cases in my Savage 17hmr bolt rifle. Hornady ammo is the most accurate ammo in this gun. Check RFC for some additional info on the ammo issues.
I've had Winchester 17hmr split at the neck, not the shoulder on numerous cases in my Savage 17hmr bolt rifle. Hornady ammo is the most accurate ammo in this gun. Check RFC for some additional info on the ammo issues.
Interesting....
Took my grandson shooting yesterday. CZ-453 / 17HMR Bolt Action
Haven't shot this rifle in close to ten years
Grabbed a few boxes of ammo from my ammo locker and had at it.
Had a Remington cartridge not fire.....perfect rim hit with the firing pin.
Bullet was still in the case upon ejecting. So no bullet lodged in barrel.
Next cartridge blew, sent pressure down the magazine and actually caused the next cartridge in the magazine to exit the case and spill unburnt power in the magazine! Thanksfully it did not ignite.
The pressure expanded the magazine to the point that I had to drive it out from the top. The sides were expanded so I disassembled it and using a small hammer, knocked it back into shape.
This ammo must be 10 years old.
Shot another 50 rounds of same vintage ammo but different manufacture with zero issues.
I did a search to see if there was a recall and all I can find is recalls on the Remington 527 SemiAuto in 17HMR.....and in some cases they are saying to return the ammo too.
Here are a few pictures of the case.
Sent pictures and info to Remington. Have not heard anything in over a week....
Took my grandson shooting yesterday. CZ-453 / 17HMR Bolt Action
Haven't shot this rifle in close to ten years
Grabbed a few boxes of ammo from my ammo locker and had at it.
Had a Remington cartridge not fire.....perfect rim hit with the firing pin.
Bullet was still in the case upon ejecting. So no bullet lodged in barrel.
Next cartridge blew, sent pressure down the magazine and actually caused the next cartridge in the magazine to exit the case and spill unburnt power in the magazine! Thanksfully it did not ignite.
The pressure expanded the magazine to the point that I had to drive it out from the top. The sides were expanded so I disassembled it and using a small hammer, knocked it back into shape.
This ammo must be 10 years old.
Shot another 50 rounds of same vintage ammo but different manufacture with zero issues.
I did a search to see if there was a recall and all I can find is recalls on the Remington 527 SemiAuto in 17HMR.....and in some cases they are saying to return the ammo too.
Here are a few pictures of the case.
Sent pictures and info to Remington. Have not heard anything in over a week....
Had this happen in my Savage bolt .17HMR. CCI and Hornady ammo. Contacted both companies, sent the fired and unfired ammo to them, both claimed the cause was old ammo. Ammo may have been 5 to 8 years old.
Now the interesting part. Hornady, with out me asking, wanted to make it right. They could not ship ammo to me. They wanted to know if I wanted a check for a new box of ammo. I said I'll take a box of 6mm 108gr ELD's if you have them. Thats what they were happy to send me. CCI on the other hand was resistant to compensate me in amy way, only after pouring on the charm* was I able to get them to send me a $9 check for a box of ammo.
Now I store all .17HMR ammo in the freezer, near the ice cream.
* me being a complete asshole
Now the interesting part. Hornady, with out me asking, wanted to make it right. They could not ship ammo to me. They wanted to know if I wanted a check for a new box of ammo. I said I'll take a box of 6mm 108gr ELD's if you have them. Thats what they were happy to send me. CCI on the other hand was resistant to compensate me in amy way, only after pouring on the charm* was I able to get them to send me a $9 check for a box of ammo.
Now I store all .17HMR ammo in the freezer, near the ice cream.
* me being a complete asshole
Remington sent me a shipping label to send the case to them. Mailed it out yesterday. Stay tuned
searcher
Gold $$ Contributor
I have two .17 HMR's (Savage bolt and a Volquartson semi-auto). I know I have used lots of Winchester and huge amounts of Hornady, along with some Remington, CCI and Federal. No problems except expanded bases using the Hornady lead-free in the Volquartson only. I suspect the lighter bullet allowed the bolt to open just a bit prematurely, so I'd not think ammo was a problem. If I had a case open up like in the preceding photos - I'd scrap the entire lot! I use ammo all the time that is 7 or 8 years old - but was stored in air-tight container with silica pack for moisture. Never a problem.
sqrlgtr
Gold $$ Contributor
Check and see if you can find any splits in necks thats still loaded ammo ,Ive found alot of old 17m2 ammo like that
.I was told it had sumin to do with the annealing case forming process when 17hmr and17hm2 started out don't know if they have completely solved the problems are not
.This came directly from hornady or cci cant remember which at the moment.I check all of my 17hm2 and 17 hmr ammo for split necks under magnifying desk lamp if its old lot ###'s.I just trash the split necks and try to shoot the old stuff up pretty quickly!Quite a bit of info on the subject over on rimfire centrel at one time.BTW have not found any on the newer ammo lots just the older stuff ,YMMV.
.I was told it had sumin to do with the annealing case forming process when 17hmr and17hm2 started out don't know if they have completely solved the problems are not.This came directly from hornady or cci cant remember which at the moment.I check all of my 17hm2 and 17 hmr ammo for split necks under magnifying desk lamp if its old lot ###'s.I just trash the split necks and try to shoot the old stuff up pretty quickly!Quite a bit of info on the subject over on rimfire centrel at one time.BTW have not found any on the newer ammo lots just the older stuff ,YMMV.
shoot4fun
Gold $$ Contributor
I have owned a CZ451 Varmint since around 2002. It splits necks and has off and on since new.
I bought quite a good bit of Hornady ammo for it way back when and, while I have shot up a lot of it, that ammo is aging. Also, at one point, I acquired about 5,000 more rounds from a friend. Now I have no idea which is newer and which is original so I don't know if it is becoming brittle with age or splitting for some other reason. To compound the problem (if you can call it that) I had a 17 Ackley Hornet built on a CZ457 about 10 years and have enjoyed it on my (sadly now) infrequent trips to the PD towns of the West.
So, I'm thinking splitting necks is almost a "normal" occurrence with 17HMR. BTW, my son has them in his Savage as well.
Now, that picture of the case being blown out at the base is not a normal ting at all.
I bought quite a good bit of Hornady ammo for it way back when and, while I have shot up a lot of it, that ammo is aging. Also, at one point, I acquired about 5,000 more rounds from a friend. Now I have no idea which is newer and which is original so I don't know if it is becoming brittle with age or splitting for some other reason. To compound the problem (if you can call it that) I had a 17 Ackley Hornet built on a CZ457 about 10 years and have enjoyed it on my (sadly now) infrequent trips to the PD towns of the West.
So, I'm thinking splitting necks is almost a "normal" occurrence with 17HMR. BTW, my son has them in his Savage as well.
Now, that picture of the case being blown out at the base is not a normal ting at all.
Upgrades & Donations
This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.
Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.
You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.
To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.
Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.
You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.
To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.