17 HMR ammo
05-11-2016, 03:49 PM
#1
Boone & Crockett
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Eastern PA
Posts: 12,746
17 HMR ammo
I guess this is as good a place as any to put this. I went out shooting my new Taurus M-17 17 HMR last week. I took some Remington Premier and some Hornady ammo out.
I loaded the cylinder (7 rounds) first with the Remington ammo. The 3rd shot didn't sound right so I swung open the cylinder and sure enough the bullet was lodged in the barrel. I tapped it out with the cleaning rod and two more shots same thing. Now this ammo I bought a couple years ago and was stored in my loading room with a dehumidifier on all the time and temp between 65-75 degrees. So not taking any chances I put the Remington ammo away and proceeded to shoot the Hornady ammo. First cylinder full no problem. I loaded up again and got a delayed fire. Like the priming compound ignited and then the main charge. This happened a few more times.
Just to be sure it wasn't the revolver I purchased a new box of Hornady ammo and it worked flawlessly. I also fired the Remington and Hornady ammo out of my Savage rifle and got the same results. One stuck bullet in the barrel with the Rem and two delays with the Hornady.
I contacted both companys with the lot numbers and Remington asked for my mailing address (hopefully to send me a refund check for the 3 boxes I have left) and hornady asked me to send them the empty cases for the delayed firing rounds!! I told them I would have to go back out as I am sure there will be more in that lot. Hornady also told me that their 17 HMR ammo has a shelf life of 10 years if properly stored?!?! That sounds odd to me. I have rifle and pistol ammo for longer than that and if performs just fine.
I loaded the cylinder (7 rounds) first with the Remington ammo. The 3rd shot didn't sound right so I swung open the cylinder and sure enough the bullet was lodged in the barrel. I tapped it out with the cleaning rod and two more shots same thing. Now this ammo I bought a couple years ago and was stored in my loading room with a dehumidifier on all the time and temp between 65-75 degrees. So not taking any chances I put the Remington ammo away and proceeded to shoot the Hornady ammo. First cylinder full no problem. I loaded up again and got a delayed fire. Like the priming compound ignited and then the main charge. This happened a few more times.
Just to be sure it wasn't the revolver I purchased a new box of Hornady ammo and it worked flawlessly. I also fired the Remington and Hornady ammo out of my Savage rifle and got the same results. One stuck bullet in the barrel with the Rem and two delays with the Hornady.
I contacted both companys with the lot numbers and Remington asked for my mailing address (hopefully to send me a refund check for the 3 boxes I have left) and hornady asked me to send them the empty cases for the delayed firing rounds!! I told them I would have to go back out as I am sure there will be more in that lot. Hornady also told me that their 17 HMR ammo has a shelf life of 10 years if properly stored?!?! That sounds odd to me. I have rifle and pistol ammo for longer than that and if performs just fine.
05-12-2016, 07:20 PM
#3
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Illinois
Posts: 3,695
Bronko, most all ammo manufacturers hold to that 10 year shelf life if properly stored. Some, though very few that I am aware of, keep to a 5 year shelf life. Hell I have probably 200-300 rounds of CCI's that are 20+ years old.
As far as the different compounds in the primer of a rimfire vs a CF, they use the same stuff in both nowadays. Except that minute amounts of crushed glass is sometimes put in the rimfire cartridges to accelerate the energy of the firing pin. Back many years ago they would use Mercury Fulminate in CF's and Potassium Chlorate in Rimfires. And that was based on availability of Mercury which could get somewhat iffy.
As far as the different compounds in the primer of a rimfire vs a CF, they use the same stuff in both nowadays. Except that minute amounts of crushed glass is sometimes put in the rimfire cartridges to accelerate the energy of the firing pin. Back many years ago they would use Mercury Fulminate in CF's and Potassium Chlorate in Rimfires. And that was based on availability of Mercury which could get somewhat iffy.
05-14-2016, 07:14 AM
#4
Spike
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 29
Could it be that there are minor differences in the thickness/ harness of the brass at the rim? Revolver hammers generally don't have the force of a rifle striker. I had a 22 WRF (same basic case) Taurus revolver that had misfires with Aguila ammo until it had 200 rounds run through it, It works fine now. Could be part-gun, part-ammo issue.
Ammo age is an unlikely factor with any kind of reasonable storage for Post WW2 ammo. I have some GI ( probably Winchester production)22 LR ammo from 1952 that fires to exact specified velocity.
The general rule is that commercial ammo stopped using Mercuric primers about 1940 and U.S.military centerfire ammo stopped in 1952 with two exceptions: 30 Carbine never had mercuric primers and 30-06 match ammo used mercuric primers into the late 1960's. Really old mercuric primed ammo should not be fired because the mercury can make the brass brittle over time which could result in a case head rupture. ( had this happen with a round of GI 30-06 dated 1923)
Ammo age is an unlikely factor with any kind of reasonable storage for Post WW2 ammo. I have some GI ( probably Winchester production)22 LR ammo from 1952 that fires to exact specified velocity.
The general rule is that commercial ammo stopped using Mercuric primers about 1940 and U.S.military centerfire ammo stopped in 1952 with two exceptions: 30 Carbine never had mercuric primers and 30-06 match ammo used mercuric primers into the late 1960's. Really old mercuric primed ammo should not be fired because the mercury can make the brass brittle over time which could result in a case head rupture. ( had this happen with a round of GI 30-06 dated 1923)
