When the primer goes "pfffft."

[21H40]

I picked up several different types of 9mm ammo this morning to begin breaking in my new handgun. Out of the Winchester box, 99 were fine, but one was weird. I've never experienced this sort of failure before:


Looks like the primer had a structural failure, and all of its magic went out the wrong side of the brass. It was a weird POP! Hsssss. sort of thing.

Just one more example of why it is important to understand your machines and the potential failure points.

 

[Cfish]

I bet if you pull the primer there is no flash hole in the case. I had a Remington 9mm do this years ago.

 

[troy fairweather]

Wonder if the Anvil was broken under the cup before firing.

 

[JohnKSa]

The primer was seated sideways when the round was made. It might have even gone off at that point but since a machine probably did it there's a good chance no one would have noticed.

 

[Havok7416]

Just a sideways seated primer. It can sneak up on the home reloader depending on equipment and concentration. You would think that Winchester's QC would have caught it but stuff happens.

 

[Riomouse911]

I know a lot of folks don’t trust reloaded ammo, but factory center fire ammo has its share of bad cartridges.

.I had a reversed primer on a .223 round from Federal several years back. I caught it as I was loading magazines.



I also bought an order of Winchester ammo for my old employer that had numerous rounds in the lot with incompletely punched flash holes. Those were a headache, when fired the primers would get driven halfway out of the primer pocket and back into the firing pin hole. The pressure would mash the primer cup into the hole and stick. This would jam the guns up something fierce.



This .45 case had the case mouth catch on something and fold over when it was loaded by the factory. I saw it when loading a magazine as well.

I pulled the bullet with my bullet puller and kept the case with these others in my misfit bin.



And this .025 over length 9mm case that jammed in my CZ-75 (far right) was the subject of my near-kaboom post earlier this week.



Oopsies happen, so try to be vigilant.

Stay safe.

 

[LiveLife]

All these would have been caught during one of my reloading QC checks ... Feel so much better about my reloads.

Now when I load factory ammunition in the magazine, I do a quick glance of primers.

 

[PistoleroWadcutterGANG]

Yep, got inspect ammo before loading the mags. I'm sure a lot of you have seen / felt / wondered at a factory cartridge that you could tell was crimp tapered to an inch of its life by the factory and then sits too deep to fire. Don't trust Winchester white ammo personally.

 

[N555]

The primer was seated sideways when the round was made. It might have even gone off at that point but since a machine probably did it there's a good chance no one would have noticed.

Yeah primer off by 90degrees error.

 

[Frulk]

As a force of habit (being a reloader) I look at each and every primer (factory or my reloaded ammo) before loading it into a firearm or magazine.

 

[Show Me]

Low volume rifle loads I spend most my time with I thumb each primer for the depth that must be there. Have found a few "oopsies". Good reading to be had here.

 

[Steel Horse Rider]

If a primer was mashed in sideways I don't understand how a firing pin could stripe the anvil to ignite the primer charge. I know when I am priming with my Lee hand primer occasionally one will get sideways but then the shell case can't be removed and it is a big pain. However, I have never had one ignite as the anvil usually becomes loose or falls out due to the deformation of the primer case.

 

[armoredman]

Years ago at Dept range qualification, a young officer showed me a factory CCI Blazer 9mm that had a sideways primer, wondering what to do. I looked at the rest of the box and THREE of them were like that. Unreal.

 

[tark]

The primer was seated sideways when the round was made.

Just a sideways seated primer.

I have never seen a sideways seated primer that did not either: Go off when seated or protrude from the case so far that the round would not chamber. The primer in the OPs pic looks like a classic example of a case with no flash hole.

 

[Remington1911]

Low volume rifle loads I spend most my time with I thumb each primer for the depth that must be there. Have found a few "oopsies". Good reading to be had here.

Anything that I hand load, zero doubt I would have got that.

Factory, I would lie to myself if I said I would check every round to make sure there was a primer issue, and my skill is too low to spot .025 over length as well, and I have a feeling it is the same with most humans.

We have all seen the posts like this over the years. Another fave of mine is a guy posts up a round, clearly a good hard primer strike, bullet still in case. He pulls it down and there is no powder in the case.

Then people come on and say, well my pre checks would have caught this.....yea I have no doubt they would.

 

[Show Me]

Anything that I hand load, zero doubt I would have got that.

Factory, I would lie to myself if I said I would check every round to make sure there was a primer issue, and my skill is too low to spot .025 over length as well, and I have a feeling it is the same with most humans.

We have all seen the posts like this over the years. Another fave of mine is a guy posts up a round, clearly a good hard primer strike, bullet still in case. He pulls it down and there is no powder in the case.

Then people come on and say, well my pre checks would have caught this.....yea I have no doubt they would.

With what I'm into now days I want primers below flush and to the bottom. That's what I feel for. Used to cast and shoot revolvers a lot. Thinking back I'd say maybe one out of one thousand would not have powder and the primer would stick the bullet in the lead. Oak dowel took care of that. I always say I would use factory ammo for bear and people protection. Not everyone is awesome and perfect like a Nascar driver or fighter pilot. Although there seems to be more than a few on THR. Like your comment

 

[Riomouse911]

I was at the range last week and a corrections officer was off duty, shooting in the lane two over. (He had bought a new off-duty and wanted to shoot a few boxes through it before going to qualify with it.)

He had a new-manufacture Remington 115 gr FMJ round go Pffft! on him; there was some smoke that came out of the chamber area but no pop. The primer fell out of the case when he ejected it. There was a flash hole and loose powder granules would fall out if it was tapped on the countertop.

So, IMHO it looks like one of two things; either the powder was bad/contaminated, or the primer compound in this case fizzled and didn’t have enough of a spark to ignite the powder.

Stuff happens!

Stay safe.