Ruger 77/17 explodes

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WMB30

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A blow out took place this past month in local area with a new Ruger American in 22mag. Destroyed the magazine and stock. Cause said to be headspace.

Bill
 

Speedo2

Bearcat
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Mar 21, 2017
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New member here. Sorry to bring up a "zombie thread" but I recently had an identical event happen to me. In my search for finding out why my 77/17 exploded, I came across this discussion. I hope that Lew will provide an update on his (or her) developments with regard to his Ruger 77/17.

First, thanks to all who contributed to Lew's post and I'm very happy that he (or she) finally got some satisfaction from Ruger.

Now some photos from my event:







This happened on the 12th or 13th shot fired from my rifle on that day (03/17/2017). I'm thinking it was caused by casing head separation, sort of an OOB event, but more the result of excessive head space. I'm quite certain that the bolt was fully closed and the trigger was pulled ahead of the explosion. I'm also now wondering why the 77/17 doesn't have any provisions for breach or bolt venting to safely release gasses from pierced primers or casing head separation events. Most other rimfire rifles have these features. Ruger recently recalled their earlier American Rimfire Rifles (22 MRF & 17 HMR) because they were constructed without breach vents. I'm now collecting data, as well as broken parts, including a video of the event (it occurred at a local gun club that is equipped with surveillance cameras), prior contacting both Ruger and Hornady for resolution to this disaster.

Anyways, I thought that it may be of interest here and I'm hoping for additional comments and thoughts on these events.
 
Joined
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I've had some split cases with some lots of 17HMR ammo. The later RAR in 17 HMR has a "blow hole" in the receiver to channel gas from case failures. The 77/17 handles case splits w/o much notice.
I re-read the OP and it doesn't say the action of the rifle was damaged, just the stock. "Mag blown out, stock broken at forend and pistol grip". Wood stock or synthetic? If synthetic, was if a "full" or "boat paddle"?
So, this may have been simply a brittle plastic stock that split from pistol grip to forend??????
 

lewgroth

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Nov 7, 2013
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Minnesota
Speedo2, I got a notice that there was a post on here so I had to check it out. It looks like you had the same thing that happened to my 77/17. Did you get injured from the blast? I didn't reread the thread. I did get a new rifle after several phone calls. When I got the new rifle I didn't open the box, just had my dealer sell it. I am done with Ruger not because of the rifle. It was how they handled the problem. There were some people on this forum that tried to help but there were others that called me a liar and said there was more to the story. If anyone on here have a 77/17 rifle and after firing it, and the brass looks as pictured, don't fire it until you have it checked.
Good luck, Lew
 

5Wire

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Oct 25, 2003
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203
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Portsmouth NH USA
Scary pix and damage certainly seems attributable to the rifle.

I was getting cases like this fired in a Savage 93R17, also bolt action. CCI may do most or all manufacturing but the bill of materials used would be heavily influenced by the client brands. I stopped using "R" ammo/ No problems since.

17HMR_Remington.jpg
 

artey

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Oct 18, 2014
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209
Location
Valley City ND
Regarding Ruger returning the rifle, I had a similer issue this past summer. Ruger 77 Mark 2 in .270, had a 308 round fired through it. Ruger deemed it unsafe to fire on the same day they recieved it...but they still removed the seperated case from the chamber and returned it to me after I decided against a discounted replacement. Came with a letter stating it was unsafe but with no details.

Artey
 

Speedo2

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Mar 21, 2017
Messages
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Lew, thanks for your update. I understand why you would sell the replacement rifle without opening its box. Having gone through such an event that close to my head, I'm finding that I'm flinching more now and enjoying rifle shooting a lot less. Anyways, it does sort of provide an alibi for my misses. I'm not yet done with Ruger entirely, but I am done with 17HMR Rugers.

At this time it's my opinion that my event was caused by a combination of weak (or brittle) brass combined with the rifle's excessive head space, leading to casing head separation. The extensive damage to the rifle was likely the result of its design and construction without suitable breach vents. Of the combined causes, at this time I believe that the rifle was more at fault than the ammunition. I'll defer final judgement until hearing back from both Ruger and Hornady. Lew, did you have any discussions with your ammunition mfg?

Also, another question for Lew: Did Ruger offer any alternative replacement rifles? When I bought my 77/17, I thought it would be a "legacy gun"; one to be passed on to my grandkids. As I said above, I'm now done with 17HRM Rugers. If all Ruger would do for Lew (in order to compensate him for his losses) was to replace his damaged rifle like-in-kind, then I too would sell it, rather than pass it on to my family. Does Ruger even still make the 77/17? If so, I sure hope they now make it with breach vents. -S2
 

Precision32

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Ocala, FL
Speedo2 said:
Does Ruger even still make the 77/17? If so, I sure hope they now make it with breach vents. -S2
The entire bottom of the rim cut in the bolt is open. How and where could you place breech vents?
 

Speedo2

Bearcat
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Mar 21, 2017
Messages
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Precision32 said:
Speedo2 said:
Does Ruger even still make the 77/17? If so, I sure hope they now make it with breach vents. -S2
The entire bottom of the rim cut in the bolt is open. How and where could you place breech vents?

Probably in the same place that Ruger now puts them in the RAR 17's.
 

lewgroth

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Minnesota
Speedo2, My dealer contacted the ammo mfg. they said if there were a problem with a lot of ammo A bulletin would be sent out because of liability concern. A far as asking for a different model of rifle, I didn't ask. I do believe the 77 17HMR is a bad design even if the ammo was bad for some reason. It would be nice to know how many 77 have had this happen, don't think we will ever know. Lew
 

Finishedwbs

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Jul 13, 2022
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Location
Texas
I realize this is a few years later (2022) but my 77/17 All Weather with the Zytel stock just had a kaboom like a few others have shown. My magazine went off like a grenade! Yesterday I was contacted by Ruger and told that it was not their fault and the overpressure was caused by the ammo. I assured them that it was not reloaded ammo. The remaining ammo was sent back to Hornady today for testing. They seemed much more concerned than Ruger.
Ruger was kind enough (sarcasm) to offer me a couple hundred dollar discount on a new firearm of my choosing. I bought the rifle new in 2003 for about $450. These rifles are now selling for more than $1000 on Gunbroker (some people are asking $2000+, but I don't know if those are selling).

I am glad I conducted a search and found this forum. Otherwise, I would have assumed that it was just me who received a bad rifle.
 

BlkHawk73

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Maine
Kinda sounds like the rifle held together on what was mor eo fan ammo issue rather than a issue with the rifle itself. In any case like this we'll get one aspect of the story which, is often not always exactrly complete and factual. Unless you can show it was absolutely the fault of the gun, Ruger seemed to well above what they needed to do.
If you put bad gas in your vehcicle is it the manufacturer's fault is something goes wrong with the engine?
 

Finishedwbs

Bearcat
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Texas
Kinda sounds like the rifle held together on what was mor eo fan ammo issue rather than a issue with the rifle itself. In any case like this we'll get one aspect of the story which, is often not always exactrly complete and factual. Unless you can show it was absolutely the fault of the gun, Ruger seemed to well above what they needed to do.
If you put bad gas in your vehcicle is it the manufacturer's fault is something goes wrong with the engine?
I would be in trouble if I put gas in my vehicle because it is diesel. That being said, I have many better things to do rather than fabricate a story to post on a message forum. I have researched the issue and Ruger 77/17 rifles seem to have the most trouble reported. It's also interesting that they discontinued the 77/17 HMR. By the way, Ruger hasn't done anything yet, except offer a discount on any of their other firearms off of MSRP which compares with what I can buy the firearms for at most any firearms dealer. Maybe it was because I was shooting 17 HMR reloads (sarcasm again).

Are the majority of members of this forum major Ruger fanboys or something that I am missing? Any manufacturer can make a mistake. Most reputable ones make things right.
 

BlkHawk73

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Seemingly, you missed my point. Any manufacturer can indeed make a mistake. That includes the manufacturer of the ammo too, which again, would NOT be of any fault by any means of Ruger and therefore wouldn't require them nor should be expected to do anything because of the ammo. Can't autommatically point the finger at Riuger although it sure seems that what was done. maybe to expect a new rifle rather than whatever the ammo mfg might offer.
See it as "fanboy" if you choose but I guess that's a normal reaction when one's report isn't met with comraderie and unwaiving support. If it was clearly their fault, I'd be right there supporting you. Without that proof... To suggest Ruger isn't "reputable" is laughable seeing that they do have one of, possibly the best customer service in the industry. Regually seeing mention of people getting free services on firearms they purched used, ones that had issues clearly caused by the shooter, etc. Guess just becuase you didn't get the key to the royal vault means that was all a smoke screen.
As for the disocunt offered...they base that off thier msrp not what a shop willingly sells them at.
Interesting how you feel the 77/17 was a "bad design". Just a guess that the designers and engineers at Ruger have a bit better idea of firearm designing and since it's basically a scaled down version of their centerfire 77 models that were a VERY successful design for decades, I'm thinking they got it right.

"Ruger was kind enough (sarcasm) to offer me a couple hundred dollar discount on a new firearm of my choosing. I bought the rifle new in 2003 for about $450. These rifles are now selling for more than $1000 on Gunbroker (some people are asking $2000+, but I don't know if those are selling)." -

Are you suggesting they revert back to price structures from 19 years ago? Lets go the other direction... You paid $450 all those yrs back and it's used...would you have sold it for considerably less than that $450?
 

hittman

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A lot of these trendy calibers are things like an answer to a question never asked or a solution to a problem that didn't exist.

But back to the subject at hand ….. buy yourself a used Silverado and expect GM to fix it for free. Boggles the mind that people can be the 2nd or even 5th owner of a gun 2 to 20 years old and expect the manufacturer to repair or replace it FOR FREE.

Guns and calibers are discontinued for a good reason ….. most commonly that they didn't sell well and RARELY that the gun didn't function well.

And new members need to realize, this forum is comprised of Ruger enthusiasts; none of which represent Sturm, Ruger Inc.

Oh, and look up the Ruger written warranty on firearms. You'll see they offered more than required.
 

Sealesniper

Bearcat
Joined
Feb 8, 2023
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Location
North Carolina
I had the exact same thing happen that Lew had happen in December of this year.

Ruger All Weather 77/17. On 8th shot of the morning, the magazine exploded.

Sent gun to Ruger. They said "over pressure" and offered me a silly discount on a less desirable rifle. I told them to send my gun back, so my lawyers and get involved. Many of my cases had split necks and shoulders over the years. My gun has less than 200 rounds though it as well. Rim of case split on bottom of rim, where the rim is totally unsupported by the bolt. The magazine was blown into hundreds of pieces. For the doubters out there that called Lew a "liar", you should be ashamed. What he said was exactly what happened to me.

I am VERY disappointed in Ruger, and on other sites I have started threads and am getting lots of replies. I think Ruger is setting themselves up for a serious class action suit here. I have no doubt it was a manufacturing defect that caused my gun to explode. I will attach pictures to this thread, even though it is very old.

the bullet was lodged int he barrel a few inches down but pushed out with very little pressure (much less than loading a muzzle loader bullet)

Lew, and anyone else with this issue, please contact me so we can discuss.
 

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hittman

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Yeah …. Lew posted this 9-plus years ago. He hasn't logged on here since 2019. Appears that much like you, he joined only to air his grievances. Nothing wrong with that at all …. Just a point of interest.

Good luck to you.

Welcome to the forum. (y)
 

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