17 HMR ammo has gone bad

[Mobuck]

Several years ago(actually over a decade ago), I had plans for a prairie dogging vacation in Colorado. With that in mind, I bought 20-30 boxes of Hornady 17HMR ammo but the PD part of the trip got bumped. I've noticed reduced accuracy from this ammo over the last few years and it has also developed "hang fires". I'm at a fork in the road so to speak as to what to do with the ammo. For the last couple of years, I'd open a box and shoot from it until I got a hang fire then try another box. The other issue is necks splitting when fired. Not sure how much of this it takes to damage the chamber.
I can live with a hang fire now and then while shooting from the bench and even consider them to be "pop quizzes" for shooters. If you're developing bad habits, having a delay will show that mistake. What concerns me is the possibility/probability of a squib. I'd most likely notice but Grandkids probably would just load another round and BOOM.
I guess I have 8-10 partial boxes that have shown hang fires and at least 12-15 boxes of the same lot (or at least similar production period). I don't want to run this "stuff" through my 77/17 but the RAR 17 is more expendable. Haven't tried contacting Hornady due to the age of the ammo but maybe should try that before wanking up a rifle?

 

[rugerguy]

Key thing to remember with ANY "rimfire" ammo is the handling over a period of time , also shipping, moving it around...if they come in a plastic ( hard) container, they can bang all around the rim surface, and the primer material used,(fulminate?) can actually "crack" INSIDE the rim,,,Remington ran into this many years ago with their 22 rimfire went bad in shipping case lots if "mishandled: dropped??? whatever..... found if you turn the case 180 degrees in the chamber, it just may fire.........
also must remember, the outside of the case if subjected to dampness?? yes even mold, you may see a film or build up on the case, and this can cause the bullet to NOT seat entirely, so when fired, the firing pin can just simply push the bullet in the rest of the way, thus "misfire"...nature of the beast with rimfires,,,as ALL good gunsmiths will tell you "cleanliness" is very important, as well as proper ammo storage......Yeah I knew of a few "gunsmiths" that was a good "money maker" simply take the gun in give it a GOOD cleaning and charge the customer FULL service charge,give BS story of all they "had to do"..............
yes like gasoline in your car, some guns like certain ammo, just "works better" and we all have our favorites............. 8) :roll: :wink:

 

[Shotter11]

I had the majority of approximately 500 rounds 17 HMR go bad as I used to stock pile it whenever it went on sale. I never did contact Hornady, but after a little searching around on the web I found out this is a thing. Some of my ammo may be as old as ten years.
I discovered this after loading my Henry lever action to do some shooting. The result was bullets separating from the case and spilling powder everywhere in my action. More severely, I also fired an over pressure round and luckily I was wearing glasses as I am sure it would have caused eye damage. I surmise this occurred because a bullet was pushed into the case and then fired. This maybe less likely for you with a bolt action, but for me personally it would not be worth it.
I later inspected all my ammunition and found many split cases at the neck and also some rounds that visually appeared fine but I could pull/push the bullet in the case because of poor neck tension.
I would be interested to hear any feedback if you call to discuss with Hornady.

 

[Mobuck]

I'll keep that in mind. I know for fact that quite a bit of my ammo was purchased in 2009-2010 and even though most was stored in airtight containers in stable temps, the necks are splitting. Must be something about the necking down process causing brittleness.

 

[Hondo44]

I'd be surprised if Hornady didn't make it right for you if you call them. Have the containers in hand when you call, they'll probably ask for the Lot #s.

 

[xtratoy]

I took my 17HMR rifle out today and shot some Hornady 17 gr V-max. Almost 80% of the brass split and some I could see were split in the neck right out of the box. I have 18 boxes of this stuff and went online to send them pictures and get their response. They have no way on their website to contact by way of an email or web site message process.so I have to wait until Monday to try and get an answer. Looks like calling them on the phone is the only option.

 

[langenc]

That ios not from being 10 yo... Ammo should be good for 20++ years assuming anywhere reasonable storage.

If not stored maybe will not fire but splitting necks are an all together different bird.
Id blame the gun before the ammo.

 

[Mobuck]

"Id blame the gun before the ammo."
Maybe so IF this wasn't consistent for 4 barrels from 3 different models(3 Ruger barrels and a CZ).

 

[xtratoy]

"Id blame the gun before the ammo." In my gun all other brands have functioned fine with no splits. I called Hornady this morning but no one was available to answer the phone but they did give an email for contact that doesn't appear on their website. [email protected] sent them info and some pics, waiting for a reply.

 

[xtratoy]

Been a week , still no response from Hornady.