The chamber is dirty? I ran a bore snake thru it prior to shooting and only shot 10 or so rounds.... however I will clean the chamber and slide and try agin :bthumb:

 

Sadly this is why the mach 2 will probably not make it past being a fringe cartridge. I have a Ruger 77/17VBZ I love to shoot. For a short time I had a Marlin 717 I purchased new and kept new due to the reports of kabooms. I sold it for a tidy profit while in new condition and didn't look back. I have a Green Mountain 96/17 barrel I can use on a 10/22 with a heavy bolt handle and haven't had any kabooms but it was never all the accurate. Currently that gun is a 22LR but I can swap it back any time. If you do keep shooting that gun, get a heavier spring and figure out of your bolt handle is the correct weight. The cartridge is best in a nice accurate bolt gun for hunting and there are quite a few orphan rifles showing up from time to time so you can migrate away from the semi auto and to a real tack driving verminator. rc

 

Hate to agree with you on it being a fringe round, but the OP's pictures are the classic semi auto, Mach2 blowout.

I have shot a couple thousand rounds of Mach2 the past 3 years, as the availability has gotten much better. All but a couple of rounds out of my 452 American, have been flawless and I check every expired shell. Two cracked necks is all I have seen.

 

I've played with 17hm2 for many years and best I can say is get a VQ heavy bolt, make a Charger type or go non semi-auto. I do have a charger and a 10/22VQ barrel/bolt setup. Both run flawless with Hornady and the Charger even runs Eley. I run a boresnake 5 times after 100rnds. Also have found the they can be magazine picky. Mine like stock 10rnd or Tandomkross doublecross. Never could get bx15 or bx25 to be reliable. The bullet design prevents that. Also, I run a suppressor on mine almost 100% of the time. Not sure it makes a difference.

I would start with a deep clean on barrel and action. Any leftover lube in chamber is real bad thing.
Good luck and keep you hands in a safe spot.

 

Back in 2009ish there were ammo and rifle recalls.. at that juncture the ammo mfg's were washing their hands of semi-auto platform liabilities... here is just a sampling... https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog...g.com/blog/2009/08/19/remington-17-hmr-recall-buyback-ammunition-and-model-597/

There were and still are some conversions out there, this one photo'd below got dis-assembled and parts sold off with dis-claimer... it's not IF they will OOB KABOOM it's WHEN. If you are going to continue shooting that rifle a CLEAN arss chamber is the ONLY way to go.. every 50-75 rounds.. and a BoreSnake won't do it...
This brush and some Hoppes#9 is your friend... http://www.gunsmithertools.com/brush-n-mop-chamber-tool/index.html

Ask me how I know...

 

I've fired 100s of rounds of every stripe through my Anschutz 1502. Had a few misfires, but rare. Otherwise mostly flawless. Do have to clean regularly to maintain accuracy.

 

That's a very nice rifle. I didn't know they made them in hm2. I have a 917m2 and just love it. I had a 717m2 and luckily didn't have any bad experiences with it, though it was always on my mind. I only shot about 100 rds with it and probably checked to make sure the bolt was seated before each shot. I traded the 717m2 for my 917m2. I prefer bolt action anyway. It is a tach driver.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

I've shot quite a bit of ammo through my EA Brown & Co heavy bolt conversion. I clean the chamber thoroughly every 100 rounds, or so and I never had any issues. Now, the Whistle Pig lined barrel I bought way back when, was a completely different situation...

 

A round that just doesn't play well in most semi-autos just as described here but a great small game round in lever, bolt action and single shots. I have a 717 that does good clean and with Eley but with all the others I have (thought I had 7 now but a recheck says its actually eight) why bother. If you just have to have that Ruger rotary magazine make one of these.

Ruger 96/22 converted with a Clark 77/.17m2 barrel.

 

I sold my Marlin 717 because of the possible blow out. I shoot left hand and I was afraid of what it might do to my face and eyes. I still have a Kimber PV,a Ruger 77/17, a CZ 452 and a Browning BL17. I feel a bolt or lever action might be somewhat safer.

 

I love the 17hm2. I don't have a semi-auto for this but have several bolt action rifles that I use for ground squirrels. They don't get up after being hit with the 17hm2. If someone could finally come up with a semi-auto that was reliable in not having this round go off out of battery I'd be all over it. I've been pleasantly surprised that the ammo is available again and the prices are going down.

Hopefully it will get a better following. Lot's of naysayers keep putting this little round down though.

 

Look here Pretty much same issue

www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8606474&highlight=blow#post8606474
Jim

 

I once owned a Thompson Center R55 semi-auto in .17M2 cartridge and it was wonderfully accurate and I religiously kept the chamber squeaky clean with a bore-snake and never had a kaboom with it. However, the possibility of having one was always in the back of my mind so I sold it while it was like new and still had decent value. I now have only bolt action rifles in this caliber.

 

My experience with the .17 HM2 is limited. I have a 10/22 (10/17??) rifle built with the Volquartsen bolt and barrel, but it has almost no rounds through it. No local stores stock ammo, so I need to wait for a free shipping offer so I can buy ammo without buying a case. Would hate to buy a case of ammo that the rifle does not "like".

 

HM2 semi-autos

Ruger couldn't figure out how to make the 10/17HMR run so thinking they will ever make a HM2 version is dreaming. They were so close to releasing the HMR that they included it in owner's manuals. I have one of those manuals.

Thoughts on the kabooms: While they are rare, there have been kabooms in .22lr version of the Ruger 10/22. The real culprit is that the 10/22 is a blow-back action which means there is a lot of ignition debris released into the action and chamber with every shot. A straight-wall cartridge is not affected as much as a tapered cartridge. Ignition debris will accumulate and it can become critical in the area of the cartridge shoulder. Buildup there can/will prevent the round from chambering fully but it will chanber far enough for the rifle to fire the round. The result is known as KABOOM, AKA out-of-battery ignition. I do not believe this is an ammo problem but rather a failure to keep the chamber cleaned. This level of cleaning is beyond expectation for most 10/22 owners. I'm sure Ruger was aware of this and killed production of the 10/17 because of it.

 

Ask me how I know...

[/QUOTE]

Wow Chaser, that was a serious KABOOM! Looks like you had some firecrackers packed inside the magazine. Ouch. Glad you were'nt hurt.

 

Since we seem to be revisiting the subject of semi autos in .17 Mach 2 and KaBooms.........

I have a Ruger 10/22 that was converted to .17 Mach 2. Mine was purchased from a guy that used parts from.....

http://eabco.com/102201.html

Note: E. A. Brown Co. is no longer selling conversion parts for the Ruger 10/22 conversion. In fact.....if you look hard enough, he explains why.

Anyway.....I have had my share of problems with my Ruger 10/22 to .17 Mach 2 rifle conversion. I actually had two KaBooms. Below are pictures of my KaBoom which occurred when I used some old ammo. Later, I changed to some new ammo (different lot number) and the problem seemed to fix itself.






Remember what E.A. Brown's web site said about ammo?

https://eabco.com/17HM2Testing.htm

OK, Ok, ok.......I wouldn't say: "Problem Solved." Though I did buy a bolt action Marlin 917 in .17 Mach 2 to help use up the ammo.

Aloha, Mark

PS....the flattened bullet/projectile tip (in the photo) is a the result of the removal process. The bullet had been stuck in the bore, as a result of the firing/KaBoom.

 

I don't know why I kept this photo. Humm......it might be the seller's original photograph of the Ruger that I currently own. IF NOT.....well, it certainly looks like it.

Aloha, Mark

 

So then......

Today, 9-9-2018, I took the Ruger 10/22 that was converted to .17 Mach 2 out for a spin. OMG! it was awful.......though educational.

I had several KaBooms.





What's happening?

Well, I suspect that the ammo isn't well crimped.



Maybe that is whats causing overpressure and the KaBooms?

BTW....this is the ammo with the black tips.



So, I switched ammo to this stuff. Note: First Production Run



And, the problems continued......






The score so far? Two magazines destroyed and the day is NOT going well.

So, I change ammo again. This time it's......



So then, my problems seems to have gone away with this newer ammo.

Aloha, Mark

 

So then......

Today, 9-9-2018, I took the Ruger 10/22 that was converted to .17 Mach 2 out for a spin. OMG! it was awful.......though educational.

I had several KaBooms.





What's happening?

Well, I suspect that the ammo isn't well crimped.



Maybe that is whats causing overpressure and the KaBooms?

BTW....this is the ammo with the black tips.



So, I switched ammo to this stuff. Note: First Production Run



And, the problems continued......






The score so far? Two magazines destroyed and the day is NOT going well.

So, I change ammo again. This time it's......



So thien, my problems seems to have gone away with this newer ammo.

Aloha, Mark

Looks to ammo related, but you didnt need me for that observation.

I have seen a couple of sleeves of the New HORNADY ammo, here on RFC. That came with some pills that were unusable. Facrory fresh stuff, that had been unopened.
Personally, I dont think the round is meant for autoloaders...just my opinion.

 

My VQ conversion does not like my stash of Eley but loves the new Hornady stuff like yours. Now my Charger with the 10" barrel eats anything.

 

That picture of the box of Hornady (priced at $8.99) was my last one from that batch.

I currently have these left.......



I'm planning to use my newest ammo, purchased in 2018 (top brick in the picture) for my Ruger 10/22 conversion. I haven't tried it yet. So, wish me luck with that.

As for the Hornady "First Production Run" ammo. I'll use that for shooting out of my Marlin 917 (bolt gun) in .17 Mach 2. And, I also have two bricks of .17 Aguila that works well out of that bolt gun.

Aloha, Mark

 

This sounds like minor league spin that revolver cylinder with one in the chamber and putting the barrel on your temple and pulling the trigger. Whats that called?

 

I think the new ammo is the way to go. I haven’t had any real issues. Do have that Gunsmither tool though. I am pretty unlucky too. When I buy scratch lotto tickets they usually say “You still owe us $20!”

 

For those of us with 10/22 conversions, does it make sense to turn the rifle into a manually-operated repeater like some people do to eliminate action noise on a suppressed 10/22?

I am considering holding the bolt closed after loading as shown in the below (not mine) picture, so that any ammo issue causing a case failure forces the gases and debris to be directed out the bottom of the gun via the magazine and magazine well. Stuff ejected from the bolt opening in the receiver is a special concern to me as I shoot off my left shoulder, so the bolt opening is close to my face. I do understand that not allowing the bolt to cycle increases the velocity of any gas and debris vented through the magazine well. The other issue is my support (right) arm is pretty close to the magazine well.

 

My best idea here is if the kaboom is still your concern I'd either find a good used bolt gun , a new Savage or buy a Summit action. They all cost more but frustration /anxiety level will plummet.

 

Yes, I hear you. That is one of the reason(s) why I bought that used Marlin 917 in .17 Mach2.

That aside.....
Today (09-16-18) I took my Ruger 10/22 that was converted to .17 Mach2 out and shot the new batch of Hornady ammo.



YES, my anxiety level was up there until the first box was done. That being said, I was able to finish 100 rounds without a KaBoom. What a relief. But, I had several incidents where a primer strike failed to set off the cartridge. In each case, it appeared as though the firing pin wasn't making contact at all. Hopefully, it's just a cleaning issue.

Anyway.....
I was thinking of converting my Ruger back to 22LR. However, after today, I'll probably keep it as a .17 Mach2.

Aloha, Mark

 

Mark.. those Light Strikes are due to a dirty chamber/carbon ring.. scrub with bent brush and Solvent... you got lucky.