.17HM2 Kaboom - Please read!

[shaneman153D]

Well I knew it ha to be too good to be true.....

I recently picked up a conversion barrel for my Ruger 10/22 that allowed it to shoot .17HM2 ammo.  I posted a rave review here about 3 weeks ago, and today it KB'd on me.  Didn't get injured, but it did ring my ears pretty good.  I just wanted to post this in case anyone was thinking of getting one.

Haven't figured out what caused it yet, but the shell is still in the chamber and it looks similar to a case head separation.  The ejector was ripped from the bolt and the magazine broke and flew out the bottom.  I did shove a cleaning rod down to see if the bullet was lodged in the barrel, but it wasn't.  This rules out the prior round squibbing.

I'm going to take it as-is to a gunsmith and see if he can tell me if it was ammo, bolt, or barrel that caused it.  I'm not gonna slam the manufacturer, because in a blowback rimfire, anything could have caused this.  I'm not ruling anything out at this point.  I've shot it a lot, it could have just been really dirty.

I knew that this was a possibility when I converted this gun, but figured my eyes would be okay based on the closed-receiver design and relatively low power of the gun/ammo.  (Luckily I was right, this time)

Magnum research used to make complete rifles in this config. and had some troubles, so they discontinued and recalled them. 

I will update this thread when I know more.

Shane

[carpsniperg2]

intresting read

[FC]

Sounds like it fired out of battery, glad you're all right!

[demontang]

Yea Id never own a 17 they have problems. We had a lot of 17 hmrs blow up and thats enough to steer me clear.

[shaneman153D]

From the barrel mfr:

Good morning
     There appears to be a major issue recently with the 17 Mach II and the 17 HMR ammo by all of the manufactures. The ammo seems to be being made to a higher velocity and pressure and the heavy bolt handle kit used for the Mach II bolts does not slow down the bolt movement. What is happening is the bolt opens before the bullet leaves the muzzle. This causes the case to become unsupported by the chamber and the cases rupture in front of the rim. This seems to be happening more with the CCI/Federal/Hornady ammo more than the Remington and the Eley but I have also had reports of case failure with those as well. The issue is with the ammo and if it does not change I believe you will see an end to the .17 bore rim-fire offerings for the semi rifles
Let me know what your gunsmith comes up with
Thanks
Chris Murray

[GoldTip]

I've got an H&R single shot bull barrel in 17hmr and my buddy has a Savage in 17hmr, we've had nothing but excellent results with them.  Sounds like it's a problem with the autoloaders.

[demontang]

Yea most of the explosions have been semiauto but Ive seen a bolt gun blown up too. They have to had a major recall on ammo and it still is happening then I wouldnt trust it still. The risk of bad ammo is way to high and I wouldnt chance an injury to me or anyone around me.

[FC]

The only guns that I have seen have issues in either the 17 hmr or 17 hm2 were with the autoloaders firing out of battery.  It also appears that very few autoloaders are available (new) anymore.

[Bscman]

Bad deal! Glad no one was hurt!
I wouldn't want an HMR autoloader, but I've had good luck with the HM2's as long as the chamber is kept clean.

You said you had a conversion barrel...did you have a heavy bolt, heavy bolt handle, or heavier spring? The HM2 has a lot more umphhh than the 22lr so work is required to get the timing right. I've had best luck with the rimfiretechnologies mid-weight bolt handle and their progressive spring.

[actionshooter]

Most of the barrel manufactures have stopped making the .17 barrels for the 10/22. This was a serious problem a couple of years ago. There was also a major recall on .17hmr barrels for the discontinued 10/22 magnum.

[shaneman153D]

Bad deal! Glad no one was hurt!
I wouldn't want an HMR autoloader, but I've had good luck with the HM2's as long as the chamber is kept clean.

You said you had a conversion barrel...did you have a heavy bolt, heavy bolt handle, or heavier spring? The HM2 has a lot more umphhh than the 22lr so work is required to get the timing right. I've had best luck with the rimfiretechnologies mid-weight bolt handle and their progressive spring.

Yeah I bought it as a kit, it came with a magnum research bolt handle and heavier spring.  Magnum research has discontinued their line of "10/17s"

[MikeWalking]

Do you suppose this has anything to do with Remingtons Recall of .17HMR Autoloaders? They are saying not to use 17hmr in Autoloaders.

I'l have to go back to their website and read about the 2 recalls again.


http://www.remington.com/pages/news-and-resources/safety-center.aspx

[Mookie]

The Magnum Research bolt handle is not a very good handle. Some have had good results but most do not, me included. The barrels are awesome though.
CCI and Hornady have a reputation for kabooms, Remington and Eley rarely have problems. GM barrels had a problem with a run of their barrels, all rimfire calibers, having blowouts.

When it comes to conversions, mine is a total Rimfire tech conversion, I would stick with the Volquartsen, Connecticut Precision (CPC), or Rimfire Tech. They have the best results when it comes to the HM2 conversions. And make SURE you don't use the steel bolt buffer. Keep the chamber clean.

[WonkyWapiti]

I was shooting my buddies semi-auto Volquartsen 17HMR last month in Montana while eradicating gophers.  That was one sweet rifle with the Zeiss scope.  I checked their website and other info on the web and it appears they have beefed up their customs guns to deal with this issue.

[thinkingman]

I think VQ uses a full stainless steel receiver on their guns.  Never been a fan of the aluminum receiver on the 10/22.
Do you have a bolt buffer or use the original pin?
Glad you weren't hurt.