Savage 17 HMR Cracking Federal Cases

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highwayman1948

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Today I shot off half dozen rounds of Federal V-SHOK and 5 of the 6 shells looked like this

http://cdn1.thefirearmsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/7.jpg

This isn't the actual shell but mine looked almost the same just not quite as bad. I'm not an expert so could anyone give me some ideas? Is it the Ammo or problem with the rifle? If it is the rifle how do I fix the problem? Is it still ok to shot the gun?

Thanks
 
This is not an uncommon occurrence with CCI ammunition (they load all the 17HMR ammunition) - it is a result of the way that make the necks (no annealing). The brass is very brittle and will crack and split. I have seen it with Hornady, Remington, and Federal Ammunition. Unless you are getting gas shooting back into your face which I don't think is an issue with boltguns I wouldn't worry about it as you aren't reloading this stuff. It is also part of the reason that 17HMR is not recommended for semi automatics.

Oh to answer your question, it is the ammo.
 
I have a seen this happen on some .22 mag CCI ammo as well when I shoot it out of my Marlin 882. The brass splits about 3/4 of the way down one side.
 
I had the exact same thing happen with a case of Federal that I bought. I bought one 50 rnd brick of Federal and about 7 or 8 of them either cracked the case or didn't fire. One bullet even got jammed in my barrel. I didn't have my cleaning kit with me (left it at home*facepalm*) so I cursed, yelled and said all manner of obscene words then drove home and shoved the damn thing out with the cleaning rod.

Once it was out it looked normal. I'm not sure if it was bigger ( I didnt have a micrometer to measure it) or what the problem was.

After that one case, my very first time shooting my new gun (Savage .17HMR 93 somethin somethin (Too many damn letters)) I never bought Federal again. I don't know if I had an isolated bad experience or if its limted to .17 ammo or not.

Cheers
 
I have been shooting Federals and Hornady with my Savage. I have not run into this issue yet and have probably put 250 rounds of Federal v-shok and another 50 of the Hornady.
 
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