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Hornady 17gr case deformation

3K views 14 replies 11 participants last post by  wonderdog1 
#1 ·
Hi All,

Long time lurker on this website, but only recently registered. I'm new to 17HMR and thus am looking for some expert advice and guidance as to what happened...

Background
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Rifle: Savage B17 FVSS
Ammunition: Hornady 17gr V-MAX
Ammunition date code: F05Y301

What happened
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Over the weekend I sighted into my brand new Savage B17 rifle. Twelve rounds were fired, all ammunition was the same type, from the same box (details above).

There were no issues with feeding, firing or extraction of any of the twelve rounds. No funny noises and all sounded 'the same' when discharged.

Upon finishing, I picked up the spent brass and noticed one of the cases had severe deformation around the mouth at one particular location (see pictures). All other spent brass was perfect - no splits, crack or deformation of any sort.

Conclusion
I did check all of the rounds in this box before I went to use them (I'm aware of the split case issue with 17HMR). Nothing was noted, although a few of the bullet tips appeared a fraction off dead center (canted) but only by the absolute slightest relative to other rounds in the box -- if anything at all.

So...the question is: Could a canted bullet combined with a weak case mouth that the 17HMR is known for, be the cause of the case mouth deformation that was experienced?

If not - what could have caused it?
 

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#2 ·
Odd....I've never had that happen, at least that I'm aware of, but would be inclined to check the rifle. I've owned 3 HMRs and have fired 100s of rounds through each of them. While I certainly haven't check the all empties, the appearance of that round would suggest to me a rifle issue.
 
#3 ·
Shoot rifle some more. Inspect casing before and after firing. It if you see anything wrong (check after firing each one) STOP firing. And also pay attention to see if extracting seems uniform pressure wise when extracting spent casings.

Might look through bore and make sure there are no obstructions.
 
#4 ·
From the looks of the brass , the mouth hooked on something and got pushed back into that deformation. Perhaps an uneven case mouth or small deformation hung up on the chamber mouth or the leade . The split cases I have encountered have had a smudged powder burnt look to an actual crack .
 
#8 ·
Hi All,

Many thanks for the responses - it is greatly appreciated. I have shot 1000's of rimfire rounds and never had anything like this. This was my first rifle chambered for .17HMR and as this happened within the first 10 shots it took me by surprise.

Just some further points, to clarify some of the feedback:

- Rifle was cleaned to ensure no factory grease or residue and checked before use.

- All ammunition was inspected before I took the rifle to sight in. Apart from noticing a couple of perhaps very slightly canted bullet tips, no obvious damage or splitting was noted.

- The scope bases on the rifle were factory fitted. I did not check for unexpected protrusions from the bases, as they were factory fitted. But I will check.
 
#10 ·
I need to complete the sighting in process next weekend.

As part of doing this, I will try your suggestion alongside those posted by others and see if the same thing occurs. I've also got other ammunition to run through the rifle so I will monitor these other types of rounds too for the same (or similar) issue(s).

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I will respond here and advise how it all goes - once I have had a chance to complete sighting it in and putting a good number of bullets downrange.
 
#12 ·
Silver1e6: I think 1longshot's got your explanation....

I have done it myself with .380 cases. Should have thought of this sooner...
Tough to get that little bullet centered in the die and every now and then, if the bullet is cocked a bit it will not always straighten out as the bullet on top of the case is pushed up into the die to be seated...purely operator error (mine).
The case gets crunched at the top rim by the bottom edge by the bullet, in a curved style exactly like your pictures.

Terrific job on those by the way, really help to understand the issue.

Could be that simple...not your rifle's fault, just 1:1,000,000 factory ammo defect that missed the quality check before packaging. I could see where it just slipped through the cracks while loading a magazine. I don't look at every round that closely although your story has me thinking I will in the future. Getting a deformed case stuck in a chamber is not a fun event.

If you slowly examine 20 rounds of that same brand and bullet next time at the range...shoot them as a group...and no new deformed cases appear upon ejection I think your concerns are over. If it was the rifle it should happen with each shell. If that is the case I'd suggest you stop shooting and make a call to Savage.
 
#13 · (Edited)
How did it happen?

There's y'er answer:



That on the side of the box is the CCI date code.
Doesn't matter if the label reads Federal, Hornady, Remington or Norma,
if it has that date code format on the box, it's CCI.
Not unusual to find cartridge defects on any of the CCI rimfire production. :(

Worse with Winchester rimfire.

This past year I've taken to carefully inspecting the cartridges while the barrel cools off between groups.
All the magnum rimfire I've tried shows visible problems with many of the cartridges.
 
#14 ·
Hi All,

Some feedback as promised.

I've put another 60 rounds through the rifle - no issues at all - all cases were 'perfect' with no deformation or splits. Three different ammo types run through the rifle (although all made by CCI) - 17gr Hornady, 17gr CCI and 20gr Hornady.

So, I think we just had a dud!

Next mission, properly sight the rifle in on a not-so-windy day.

Cheers all and thanks for the replies and feedback.
 
#15 ·
Late seeing this thread.:( l also think 1longshot called it. A year or two ago found an unfired one that looked very similar while l was loading a mag. and disposed of it. I have also ran across an unfired centerfire cartridge that appeared the same way.

Enjoy your 17 hmr.

Wonderdog1 :bthumb:
 
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