multiple shell casing splits

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  • rmbstyle17

    Active Member
    Dec 31, 2008
    170
    Millersville
    I was shooting my Savage 17 hmr at the range today and noticed that 1 out of every 4 rounds that I shot had a split in the shell casing around the neck. I was shooting Remington Premier .17 HMR Magnum ammo, and shot about 150 rounds, and about 40 had splits in them. So would this be bad ammo, or what?

    P1000636.jpg
     

    SOMDSHOOT

    Banned
    BANNED!!!
    Nov 18, 2009
    5,601
    Indian Head
    Now that is quite interesting. I read that warning not long after it was posted from Remington due to the fact that I shoot the .17HMR myself, however, it was for semi-auto and I use it in my revolver. My question is, I'd be really interested to see you mail that picture to Remington and tell them you'd like to know what the actual cause is for this. They tell you not to use it, but, the purpose of my post is what is the reason this happens.

    Now, I'm going to check my cases after I shoot, about 20-30 shots, I get this odd sounding "pop", so, now I wonder if I have been missing something. I keep all of my .17HMR brass after I shoot, so, I'll have to go dig through the can and see what I can find.

    side note: My reason for keeping 17HMR brass. I send them to a guy who makes custom drum cymbals. He makes something called a "sizzle" crash where he drills holes in the cymbals and it produces a "sizzle" or "rain" sound.
     

    leroygibbs

    Ultimate Member
    Jan 2, 2008
    3,285
    side note: My reason for keeping 17HMR brass. I send them to a guy who makes custom drum cymbals. He makes something called a "sizzle" crash where he drills holes in the cymbals and it produces a "sizzle" or "rain" sound.


    More details? That sounds cool! And why only .17?
     

    rmbstyle17

    Active Member
    Dec 31, 2008
    170
    Millersville
    Now that is quite interesting. I read that warning not long after it was posted from Remington due to the fact that I shoot the .17HMR myself, however, it was for semi-auto and I use it in my revolver. My question is, I'd be really interested to see you mail that picture to Remington and tell them you'd like to know what the actual cause is for this. They tell you not to use it, but, the purpose of my post is what is the reason this happens.

    Now, I'm going to check my cases after I shoot, about 20-30 shots, I get this odd sounding "pop", so, now I wonder if I have been missing something. I keep all of my .17HMR brass after I shoot, so, I'll have to go dig through the can and see what I can find.

    side note: My reason for keeping 17HMR brass. I send them to a guy who makes custom drum cymbals. He makes something called a "sizzle" crash where he drills holes in the cymbals and it produces a "sizzle" or "rain" sound.
    I will send a email to remington. I could tell everytime this happened, because the "pop" sounded different. I just hope this was not severe enough to cause damage to my rifle...
     

    boatbod

    Ultimate Member
    Nov 30, 2007
    3,827
    Talbot Co
    For the brass to crack like that, there must be room for expansion at the neck, which either means the chamber is cut wrong, or the cartridge isn't fully seated.

    I think you should check your headspace and make sure the barrel hasn't somehow moved forward in the action. [Can't see how it could - Savage rimfire barrels are usually pinned to the receiver]
     

    SOMDSHOOT

    Banned
    BANNED!!!
    Nov 18, 2009
    5,601
    Indian Head
    I will send a email to remington. I could tell everytime this happened, because the "pop" sounded different. I just hope this was not severe enough to cause damage to my rifle...

    exactly. And the "pop" was odd enough to catch my attention. When it happed, I took the rest of the rounds out of the revolver and inspected everything closely to see if maybe the lead got hung up in the barrel, but nothing, I never thought to check the brass casings, but, you bet I will now.
     

    SOMDSHOOT

    Banned
    BANNED!!!
    Nov 18, 2009
    5,601
    Indian Head
    For the brass to crack like that, there must be room for expansion at the neck, which either means the chamber is cut wrong, or the cartridge isn't fully seated.

    I think you should check your headspace and make sure the barrel hasn't somehow moved forward in the action. [Can't see how it could - Savage rimfire barrels are usually pinned to the receiver]

    I noticed the 3rd case was split at the neck, so, I wonder if it is a flaw in the transition from the .22 to the .17 Poor case design ? I have no problems with the Federals or the CCI .17 ammo at all.
     

    Ab_Normal

    Ab_member
    Feb 2, 2010
    8,613
    Carroll County
    Have you isolated it to any particular chamber in the cylinder?

    Also try comparing different brands side by side and see if the neck is in the same place.
     

    SOMDSHOOT

    Banned
    BANNED!!!
    Nov 18, 2009
    5,601
    Indian Head
    Have you isolated it to any particular chamber in the cylinder?

    Also try comparing different brands side by side and see if the neck is in the same place.

    It didn't seem to be an issue with the cylinder I took the time to make a small dot on the chambers that this happened in and after a few weeks I have dots on all 7 (Taurus Tracker 17SS6). And as I mentioned previously, I have had not a single issue when using the Federal or CCI ammo.
     

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    Ab_Normal

    Ab_member
    Feb 2, 2010
    8,613
    Carroll County
    It didn't seem to be an issue with the cylinder I took the time to make a small dot on the chambers that this happened in and after a few weeks I have dots on all 7 (Taurus Tracker 17SS6). And as I mentioned previously, I have had not a single issue when using the Federal or CCI ammo.

    I meant to stand two cartridges up side by side and look or maybe take some measurements with a caliper.
     

    Joseph

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Oct 13, 2009
    2,759
    Clinton MD
    rmbstyle17, Those cracks look like classic stress corrosion cracking (SCC) to me. Brass is susceptible to SCC providing there is a corrosive which attacks brass, and the brass is under stress. The stress would be the hoop stress caused by the bullet pressed into the neck of the case.

    Look up SCC or "seasonal cracking"

    If you really want to know what the cause was PM me and send me one of them.
     

    fogman

    Active Member
    There was a long discussion about cracked case necks on the 17HMR on Rimfirecentral.com. Cracked case necks are inherent with the 17HMR. Has to do with not being able to anneal the necks after sizing them down to .17. The cases start out as .22 magnum cases and the priming compound is put in the rim. The necks are then sized down to .17. Because the priming compound is in the rim, the cases cannot be heated to anneal the brass leaving them brittle from the sizing operation. I've had cracked case necks in all brands of 17HMR ammo that I have tried, that's why I would never own a semiauto .17HMR.
     

    jjbduke2004

    Ultimate Member
    Oct 19, 2008
    1,764
    Morris Oblast, NJ SSR
    It didn't seem to be an issue with the cylinder I took the time to make a small dot on the chambers that this happened in and after a few weeks I have dots on all 7 (Taurus Tracker 17SS6). And as I mentioned previously, I have had not a single issue when using the Federal or CCI ammo.

    Odd, I thought I remembered hearing that CCI loaded all .17 rimfire ammo in the country as they're the only manufacturer of primed cases. Even if it says Remington, it's just Remington telling CCI what bullet to put in it and what the velocity desired is. Maybe a bad lot?

    There was a long discussion about cracked case necks on the 17HMR on Rimfirecentral.com. Cracked case necks are inherent with the 17HMR. Has to do with not being able to anneal the necks after sizing them down to .17. The cases start out as .22 magnum cases and the priming compound is put in the rim. The necks are then sized down to .17. Because the priming compound is in the rim, the cases cannot be heated to anneal the brass leaving them brittle from the sizing operation. I've had cracked case necks in all brands of 17HMR ammo that I have tried, that's why I would never own a semiauto .17HMR.

    Pretty much every semi-auto .17 was recalled by the manufacturers.
     

    Idempotent

    Zombies' Worst Nightmare
    Apr 12, 2010
    1,623
    So there's nothing inherently wrong with using .17 HMR in a semi-auto, it's just that the ammunition is so craptastic that it can't handle it? As in theoretically if you made your own .17 HMR somehow, and did it properly, it would work fine in a semi-auto?
     

    jjbduke2004

    Ultimate Member
    Oct 19, 2008
    1,764
    Morris Oblast, NJ SSR
    So there's nothing inherently wrong with using .17 HMR in a semi-auto, it's just that the ammunition is so craptastic that it can't handle it? As in theoretically if you made your own .17 HMR somehow, and did it properly, it would work fine in a semi-auto?

    I thought there was something about blowback actions and bottleneck cartridges not working very well.
     

    boatbod

    Ultimate Member
    Nov 30, 2007
    3,827
    Talbot Co
    I thought there was something about blowback actions and bottleneck cartridges not working very well.

    Exactly.

    Dirty chamber + bottleneck cartridge + blowback action = OOB waiting to happen.

    With the higher pressure of the .17HMR, an OOB might well be a lot more dangerous than your typical .22LR event.
     

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