URGENT - Safety issue - CCI Standard Velocity 22 LR Ammo
- Thread starter Chas
- Start date
I have some CCI SV but not these lot numbers, and fortunately no issues (yet)… keeping fingers crossed.
Also some of the others (Mini Mag, Stinger, Clean, etc.) which always seemed to get good praise, it seems the SV is the common denominator (I recall reading a thread here a few years ago about a squib with CCI, but can’t recall the specific type).
Also some of the others (Mini Mag, Stinger, Clean, etc.) which always seemed to get good praise, it seems the SV is the common denominator (I recall reading a thread here a few years ago about a squib with CCI, but can’t recall the specific type).
We should all be writing to CCI.
Many of us have multiple boxes - or bricks - of CCI SV sitting around. It is a go to ammo choice for many 22lr plinkers.
That means both children and adults will be using this ammunition on regular outings.
They have a duty to investigate these malfunctions before anyone else gets hurt and put out a public statement.
There are enough recent incidents reported here (and elsewhere) to suggest some degree of negligence on the production line.
Do your duty and write them for an explanation before a round blows up in your kids/neighbours kids hand.
KyleSchenk
CGN Regular
Theres also a recent thread over on RFC. A post from a user over there has a response from CCI from back in March. CCI doesn't seem too interested in rectifying the problem or publicly stating there is/was one. At least not on their end of things.
CCIs response;
"This issue that you are seeing is a case fracture so this would not be a pressure related issue but is an issue that this casing has seen a contamination or chemical exposure that causes it to fracture like that when under pressure. "
KyleSchenk
CGN Regular
Yep. They don't care is exactly it. The worst part is that I don't think it's been just a lone batch. I know I've seen 3, possibly 4 different lot numbers brought up since Christmas.
I'm just glad I don't have any and have never really bought any significant quantity of it. It's never grouped well with any of the guns I've tried it with.
I have some of the miscreant lot. I only use it in a bolt rifle, so I'm not worried about anything more than a stuck case.
The issue seems to be with semi auto firearms for obvious reasons.
From the OP's pics, they don't appear to be out of battery detonation issues.
I agree with CCI that it is a "case failure," but I disagree with their theory about the cause.
Tests would have to be done to determin if the issue due to poor cartridge case forming, primer component mix, or components used in the manufacture of the case, such as too much Zinc in the mix (it's happened before).
Manufacturers are playing with different component mixes for the brass, to keep costs down.
I've seen this in the past several decades and it was once not that uncommon. It seems to happen when components for making brass become expensive or hard to acquire. My first memories of this happening was during the Viet Nam War, then again with other supply curtailments from whatever issue created it at the time.
I fired a box from five different bricks of that lot, all were fine.
Hopefully this situation isn't going to be rampant throughout all of the manufacturers, as it was in the late sixties.
The issue seems to be with semi auto firearms for obvious reasons.
From the OP's pics, they don't appear to be out of battery detonation issues.
I agree with CCI that it is a "case failure," but I disagree with their theory about the cause.
Tests would have to be done to determin if the issue due to poor cartridge case forming, primer component mix, or components used in the manufacture of the case, such as too much Zinc in the mix (it's happened before).
Manufacturers are playing with different component mixes for the brass, to keep costs down.
I've seen this in the past several decades and it was once not that uncommon. It seems to happen when components for making brass become expensive or hard to acquire. My first memories of this happening was during the Viet Nam War, then again with other supply curtailments from whatever issue created it at the time.
I fired a box from five different bricks of that lot, all were fine.
Hopefully this situation isn't going to be rampant throughout all of the manufacturers, as it was in the late sixties.
No, there is always a way for gasses and bits from such failures to leak around the bolt, especially while the projectile is still in the barrel.
This is a safety measure, and most rifles today are designed to redirect the detritous away from the shooter.
The pics indicate a "case failure" which more than likely sealed the case wall as intended and the detritous blew out at the failure point.
You don't see it in "obvious" manners on 22rf firearms, as you do in centerfire bolt action firearms, which often have "vent holes" drilled through the side of the receiver to where the bolt and case head are locked in place while in battery.
Most semi auto firearms, rimfire or centerfire, divert the detritous from case failures in other ways, such as clearance and lock up design.
kbdplinker
Regular
- Location
- Toronto, Ontario
with my wife's instance, there was no trace of the case head left overs on the floor or lane table. when i cleaned out the leftover crud out of out SA-22, there was very fine flecks of brass in the carbon that washed out with the G96 Crud Buster. i would say it disintegrated.
This is normal with rimfire case failures. Good observation.
CCI wouldn't admit to anything negative, nor would any other manufacturer. Litigation costs are horrendous.
With larger and thicker base centerfire case failures, some of the brass vaporizes, disintegrates, but mostly it "flows.)
It would be interesting to have some of the bits from the failed cases tested under a microscope for crystalline structure, which would indicate brittleness, and maybe even reveal the content of the components used to make the brass.
I know from their quality control practices that they take random samples all the way through the process to ensure the issues listed by folks with the failures don't happen. If it's random throughout the batch??????????????????
I did
kbdplinker
Regular
- Location
- Toronto, Ontario
I was shooting out of my CZ457 and had this happen. Led to it blowing up my magazine - So could be more then a stuck casing. Will post pictures soon.
How do I go about uploading an image? Unable to figure it out...
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KyleSchenk
CGN Regular
This is what I've rounded up. Incidents are all within the last 2 years. I'm not sure of the vintage of the lots.
Lot # D26EA09 ( Remington 511)
Lot # E21CA01 (Winchester 52)
Lot # G18EA06 ( CZ 457)
Lot # H21CA10 ( Ruger 10/22)
Lot # C04E111 ( pistol, unknown manufacturer)
I'd like to see what the close up examination looks like as well. I can guarantee that CCI has MTR's from their supplier/mill for all the brass they use in manufacturing. I would also bet that they're checking hardness throughout their internal manufacturing process. I'm willing to bet, there's been some changes made in recent years to the composition of their brass in order to save a buck.
That's due to the great design of the CZ bolt
When you get a catastrophic failure like that, the bottom half of the base doesn't have as much support as the top half, so any detritous and gasses will be diverted down, and slightly back at an angle, keeping as much as possible inside the magazine, instead of in your face.
Your rifle did the job of containing damage to a minimum.
