Warning - Long post - Two Parts
In April of 2014 I purchased a Savage 93R17 rifle from a LGS. I bought 5 boxes of Hornady Varmint Express ammo for it at the same time. It sat in my safe for 7 years. I finally decided to fire it for the first time on April 23, 2021. After giving it a good cleaning, I headed to the range to zero the scope. I fired from the 50yd line and soon had the shots centered on the target. On a couple of the rounds there was a "delayed" firing, a split second between pulling the trigger and the round going off - somewhat like firing a flint-lock. Although concerning, the bullets hit the target and I was actually getting some half-way decent groups so I didn't worry much about it at the time. The 21st round was a complete misfire - no pop, no bang…not so unusual with rimfire so I cycled the bolt and chambered the 22nd and final round of the day.
There was an unusually loud report (more like that of a 12ga rather than a .17 rimfire) followed by a startling blast of hot gas and particles in my face. (Thank goodness for eye protection). I was left holding a rifle with its stock split from forearm all the way through the pistol grip. The bottom metal surrounding the magazine well was ripped from the stock and the bottom of the magazine itself was blown out. Photo #1 shows the brass and bullet I recovered from the barrel.
The first thought that crossed my mind was there must have been a barrel obstruction. Possibly the bullet from the misfire. Had it actually been a misfire or did the primer go off? I didn't hear anything but, then, I was wearing hearing protection so maybe I just didn't hear it. I couldn’t be sure. So, I began inspecting the brass laying on the shooting bench. I was surprised to find a case laying on the table with powder spilling from it so I knew that it had to be the misfired round. I thought "there's your problem!" But on closer examination I found the bullet was actually pushed down inside the case (see photo #2) so I knew that couldn't have been the problem but how did it happen? I picked up all my brass I could find and brought it home. What I found next was shocking.
I discovered 14 out of the 16 rounds I recovered had split necks. (Who checks for that on rimfire ammo?) Then I checked the remaining 28 live rounds left in the box and found 11 of them were split. The splits were harder to see on the unfired cases but they were, indeed, split. When I pushed the bullet tip of the rounds that were split against my bench, the bullets were loose and easily slid down inside the case.
But wait. There's more!
In April of 2014 I purchased a Savage 93R17 rifle from a LGS. I bought 5 boxes of Hornady Varmint Express ammo for it at the same time. It sat in my safe for 7 years. I finally decided to fire it for the first time on April 23, 2021. After giving it a good cleaning, I headed to the range to zero the scope. I fired from the 50yd line and soon had the shots centered on the target. On a couple of the rounds there was a "delayed" firing, a split second between pulling the trigger and the round going off - somewhat like firing a flint-lock. Although concerning, the bullets hit the target and I was actually getting some half-way decent groups so I didn't worry much about it at the time. The 21st round was a complete misfire - no pop, no bang…not so unusual with rimfire so I cycled the bolt and chambered the 22nd and final round of the day.
There was an unusually loud report (more like that of a 12ga rather than a .17 rimfire) followed by a startling blast of hot gas and particles in my face. (Thank goodness for eye protection). I was left holding a rifle with its stock split from forearm all the way through the pistol grip. The bottom metal surrounding the magazine well was ripped from the stock and the bottom of the magazine itself was blown out. Photo #1 shows the brass and bullet I recovered from the barrel.
The first thought that crossed my mind was there must have been a barrel obstruction. Possibly the bullet from the misfire. Had it actually been a misfire or did the primer go off? I didn't hear anything but, then, I was wearing hearing protection so maybe I just didn't hear it. I couldn’t be sure. So, I began inspecting the brass laying on the shooting bench. I was surprised to find a case laying on the table with powder spilling from it so I knew that it had to be the misfired round. I thought "there's your problem!" But on closer examination I found the bullet was actually pushed down inside the case (see photo #2) so I knew that couldn't have been the problem but how did it happen? I picked up all my brass I could find and brought it home. What I found next was shocking.
I discovered 14 out of the 16 rounds I recovered had split necks. (Who checks for that on rimfire ammo?) Then I checked the remaining 28 live rounds left in the box and found 11 of them were split. The splits were harder to see on the unfired cases but they were, indeed, split. When I pushed the bullet tip of the rounds that were split against my bench, the bullets were loose and easily slid down inside the case.
But wait. There's more!
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