I belong to a FB page for rimfire. I keep seeing were the 17hmr rifles are blowing up and case splitting. Anyone got any ideals?

not blowing up but the autoloaders were/are having problem with blowing case rims, save a maker or 2. several cases of rim separations on other types are noted. one thing that i have noticed is that in my rifles (auto. bolt & falling block) cci ammo blew hole in a rim (about 1 in 4 in the auto) but the remmy/ely ammo held up perfectly well. i came to the conclusion that the brass was a bit stronger in the rem/ely stuff

From what I've read, there are two safety issues with the 17HMR.

1) Winchester ammo has (or had) a relatively high incidence of split necks (some even before firing) and occasional failed cases. (I recently read a post by someone who claimed his magazine was wrecked.)

It's worth noting that in the past, CCI made all 17HMR ammo. But then Winchester decided to load their ammo in house, and at least initial batches left quite a lot to be desired. I don't know if Winchester has solved their early problems, and I don't know if CCI continues to manufacture all other 17HMR ammo except Win.

2) Ruger (and others?) decided to adapt the design that worked with their .22 semi-autos to the 17HMR cartridge. That did not work well, with the problem being (I believe) that cartridges sometimes didn't completely chamber but could still be fired. The danger this posed to rifle and shooter caused those manufacturers to pull those rifles.

But Volquartsen's semi-auto design was successful and from what I read it's a good rifle.

And Savage's brand new A17 looks like it'll do well.