.17 HMR Safety Recall

[phray]

Remington has issued a recall on the Model 597 in .17 HMR and all their .17 HMR ammo. This caught my eye because I bought that very rifle for my Dad a few years ago and he absolutely loves it. It's been a joy to shoot and we've had zero issues with it.

The recall doesn't cite any specific dangers, and Remington is NOT repairing the rifles at all, just offering a $200 REMINGTON ONLY coupon. They're offering $10 coupons for returned ammo. They seem to be completely removing the .17 version of the 597 all together. It is still available in .22 (and .22 mag I think), but not .17.

My question about all of this is that the recall says, ".17 HMR ammunition is not suitable for use in semi-automatic firearms". Not suitable for SEMI-AUTO? What do you think that means?

I've been googling a bit and found that it's not just Remington, but Winchester, CCI, Federal, and Hornady all posted warnings. They all say basically the same thing, don't use .17 in semi-autos. It looks like the other companies are just warning about using .17 HMR in semi-autos, not actually recalling anything. I wonder why Remington is recalling all their ammo...

I've discovered that this is all based on a press release by the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute (SAAMI), but can't seem to find that press release. And Wikipedia says CCI Ammunition loads all of the .17 HMR ammunition for the CCI, Federal Cartridge, Hornady, and Remington brands. However, the ammunition is loaded with different bullets to different specifications.

Personally I'm a little ticked off that Remington is offering a COUPON instead of cash money, especially when it's quite a bit less than the gun was bought for. However, it's definitely not worth getting injured over...

[mr.72]

dang. I was seriously considering buying a 597 in 17HMR... since I really dug the 597 and was really on the fence when I bought my .22.

Maybe I'll get a 597 in .22mag and get a Savage bolt rifle in .17HMR...

this is very interesting. wonder what's the deal with .17HMR and semi-auto.

[mr.72]

I have been reading up on this and I think:

1. the recall is actually on the ammo, not the guns. The guns have a buyback offer, since Remington says never to use any .17HMR ammo in a semi-auto firearm and their 597 is such an animal.

2. looks like for a straight-blowback action such as is common in semi-auto rimfire rifles, the extra case pressure due to the necked cartridge of the .17HMR or even a .22WMR coupled with the thin brass required for rimfire causes a problem when the bolt can begin to move back before the pressure of the round is fully expended, allowing the casing to extend out of the chamber while the gases are still expanding and potentially blow up the back end of the cartridge.

3. also word is the 597 has headspace issues that exacerbate problem described in #2 above

Given that, I think a bolt-action .17HMR is probably not a bad bet since the cartridge is fully supported and can't over-expand when fired and blow the back off of the cartridge casing, but I can definitely see how semi-autos could be problematic.

Now, it looks like Remington is paying about 50 cents on the dollar for their own guns and ammo in the buyback. Nice. I would say, "I guess I will mark Remington off of my wish list" but they now own NEF, Marlin, H&R, Bushmaster, etc. So both of my long guns are brands whose parent company is Remington. I was planning to buy my daughter a Marlin .22 and I figured a Marlin center-fire rifle was in my future. Plus I just bought a NEF shotgun.

Gotta love companies that respect their customers ... not.

[CompVest]

One thing to think about is that about $.50 on the dollar is likely pretty close to what Remington sold their guns and ammo to the retailers for.

[mr.72]

One thing to think about is that about $.50 on the dollar is likely pretty close to what Remington sold their guns and ammo to the retailers for.

I agree, but in this case they are giving a $200 retail credit against what was for them a $200 wholesale item. So this would make sense if they offered a direct ship-to-the-factory swap for a rifle or other gun of equivalent MSRP or wholesale price, or the same thing (trade-in) at a store, trading for one of truly equivalent value.

Either way it's a slap in the face of the customers, but as far as I can tell, gun owners as a whole seem to be extremely tolerant of horrific customer service from gun manufacturers, so it probably gives Remington no competitive advantage to offer anything better.

[phray]

after a little more searching I found these pictures and this thread that both support what mr. 72 said in point #2 and #3.





i can see how that could be bad!

so i guess i'll recommend to my dad that he should send his rifle in. but I don't know if he will, he likes it a lot, and can be a stubborn kind of guy..

any recommendations as to what he should replace it with?