CCI .17 HMR Case seperation

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I went to the range yesterday with my new Henry Golden Boy in .17.Loaded 3 rounds just to check function. First 2 fired ok with a report that did no sound like a .17.The 3rd one hade a case separation an made the right side of my face look like very small birdshot had hit me. Only one small gash. Action lever was blown open with cut on finger and sore hand. I emailed CCI with no reply. Glasses saved my eye. ( Pleas use them ) I cannot find away to ad pic. sorry
 
Any pictures of the brass. Sounds like it fired out of battery. I know that split necks are common and Iv had it happen a lot with older ammo. CCI makes all 17hmr from my understanding.
 
I would think that a lever action such as the Golden Boy could not have a way to have a out of battery with the action being locked up before rifle will fire. I have a pic of the brass but can no way to attach it.
 
Glad to hear you are OK.

You should continue to follow up with CCI. I had a minor problem several years ago with some CCI rimfire ammo, and their support response was good.

They did request that I ship the remainder of the ammo back at my expense. That annoyed me, but I guess they get a lot of spurious calls, and they need a deterrent against people who complain about nothing. At the end, they sent enough replacement ammo that I was satisfied.

Your situation is entirely different and more serious than my case, and I am sure they will follow up on it.

I have a couple of other thoughts. First, I am not sure I understood your first post correctly. Did the first two shots sound normal, or did they sound strange?

Also, are you sending the rifle back to Henry? I would recommend doing so. Since it is a lever action, it is not prone to fire out of battery like a semi-auto. But it is still possible that a headspace issue contributed to the problem. It is also possible that the rifle has been damaged. Overall, I think this was almost certainly an ammunition problem. But I also think that Henry would want to look at the rifle, and if they want to see it, I would send it to them.

Once again, I am really glad that you are OK. Whenever I see someone take a shot without safety glasses, I always know that they have never seen a serious firearm malfunction. And I usually take the time to tell them about incidents like this one.
 
First 2 shots did not sound as sharp as a shot thru one of my other .17s. Yes I am sending rifle to Henry for a checkout they requested it and sent me a pre-paid shipping label.
 
After further review, I want to back off from my previous statement that is was "almost certainly an ammunition problem." Based on the limited facts available, I think it could be either the ammunition or the firearm.

One thing I notice is that the lever action was blown open forcefully. I do not know how the locking mechanism works on these Henrys. But on most centerfire lever actions, the action locks so that chamber pressure would not push on the lever. This makes me wonder if the action had not locked correctly.

I am glad to know that Henry is sending a pre-paid shipping label for the rifle. Their service department has a good reputation, so I expect there will eventually be more information about what happened here. I also expect the rifle will be returned in fine serviceable condition.
 
I received another email that they will send me a new rifle and if I have any medical bills send them to Henry. I made out on the medical as all I have is 4 small marks from pieces of brass case and a small cut. I cannot tell everyone enough times use your shooting glasses mine saved my eye. I found a large piece of cartridge damage right at the bottom of my eye glass frame.
 
agree i see people shooting without eye protection and i'm flabbergasted by it.

OP- my henry 22 cannot drop the hammer unless the lever is fully in rearward position and closed. the extractor makes a clicking sound when it goes fully into battery. can you check your rifle to see if can replicate out-of-battery dry fire? or is it too screwed up?
 
Eyes and ears are the only protection from a generally controlled explosion.

Henrys response is just as I would expect from a stand up company. From searching around it doesn't seem like this has been a common issue.
 
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