Bad primer or light primer strike

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dumbhunter

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Hi guys. Was at the range and pulled the trigger and got a click instead of a bang. Did the old tap rack bang thing, and the offending round landed on the bench, so I picked it up, chambered it and pulled the trigger. Second time got a bang. So, you guys think it was a bad primer or something wrong with my pistol? Ammo was Winchester 100 round packs 115gr 9mm.
 

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That’s not the deepest primer dent, but it clearly fired the second time so it worked.

Without seeing the round after the original FTF its only a guess; first time it didn’t load correctly from the mag sp it didn’t seat in the chamber all the way, gunk in the way of firing pin, a renegade rock hard primer, gun’s hammer spring (or striker spring) getting old, etc.

If it happens again let us know, with a pic of the gun and the first strike mark on primer, etc. we might be able to give you a better idea. :thumbup:

Stay safe.
 
Riomouse911 said:
Without seeing the round after the original FTF its only a guess; first
Click to expand...
His 2nd pic looks like it’s still a complete round…
If it was the only offending round out of the box, I prolly wouldn’t fret about it.
If it was multiples, then he would have to do more research into the gun before contacting Winchester….

…..JMO……

@Show Me posted some good questions that also need to be answered in order to pick a path of research.
 
Soonerpesek said:
His 2nd pic looks like it’s still a complete round…
If it was the only offending round out of the box, I prolly wouldn’t fret about it.
If it was multiples, then he would have to do more research into the gun before contacting Winchester….

…..JMO……

@Show Me posted some good questions that also need to be answered in order to pick a path of research.
Click to expand...
The truth or facts will set you free.
Before I ever call a factory service department for equipment I write down all my testing and facts so I look less like a dork. When they get you figured as an informed individual the tone of the conversation always takes a turn for the better. I like to get my ducks in a row.
I'll bet that goes for firearm and ammo questions.
Since I always blame myself first the testing always goes my way.
That goes for inaccurate firearms also.
Till proven otherwise.
Now me being windy and captian obvious can't be fixed.
 
Soonerpesek said:
His 2nd pic looks like it’s still a complete round…
If it was the only offending round out of the box, I prolly wouldn’t fret about it.
If it was multiples, then he would have to do more research into the gun before contacting Winchester….

…..JMO……

@Show Me posted some good questions that also need to be answered in order to pick a path of research.
Click to expand...
Ya, I see that now. DOH! Phone screen not as large as the monitor, I missed the bullet still in the case. 😫

As @Show Me posted, lots of variables come into play with a FTF after a so-so primer strike. OP only mentioned one FTF, so this sounds like this was a one-off from that box. (But without a bit more info that’s just a guess, too) @dumbhunter, is there more you can add to help fill in the details?

Stay safe.
 
How many in that box didn't fire on the first strike. If that's the only one, I'd say that the factory didn't seat the primer all the way and the first strike seated the primer.
 
Not the sharpest picture I have ever seen but after blowing it up as far as I could without really losing detail I am going to say it was a light primer strike. Cause? Unknown to me.
 
Your experience suggests a primer that wasn't fully seated. (This is also known as a "high primer".)

The first firing pin strike seated the primer, but did not ignite it because the primer was propelled forward into the primer pocket, wasting some of the mechanical energy needed for ignition.

The second firing pin strike ignited the fully seated primer.

I wouldn't worry about it, but I would take note if a trend of misfires starts to become evident.
 
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dumbhunter said:
Hi guys. Was at the range and pulled the trigger and got a click instead of a bang. Did the old tap rack bang thing, and the offending round landed on the bench, so I picked it up, chambered it and pulled the trigger. Second time got a bang. So, you guys think it was a bad primer or something wrong with my pistol? Ammo was Winchester 100 round packs 115gr 9mm.
Click to expand...

How old is your mainspring? If you get more misfires with factory ammunition, time for a nice, fresh, factory, mainspring.

Pistols don't exactly have powerful ignition systems. And your firing pin hit is not in the center of the primer. The further offset is the firing pin hit, the more energy it takes to have 100% ignition. But no one talks about that, because if shooters understood that, there would be firearms sent back to the factory, that should have never had been shipped. And that would cost manufacturer's profit.

So what typically happens, the shooter gets frustrated, has no idea why his thunderstick no go bangey, and trades the firearm back to the local gunstore, who sells it to the next unlucky buyer.

Written by our own @Hummer70

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By Mark Humphreville

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IT DON’T GO BANG-FIRES, HANGFIRES, MISFIRES AND SHORT ORDER

IT DON’T GO BANG-FIRES, HANGFIRES, MISFIRES AND SHORT ORDER COOKS In looking over the various information I can find on the internet about why it doesn’t go bang there is almost virtually no information on this area for the aveage shooter to obtain the knowledge needed to investigate these...
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Thanks for all the replies. So, more info for those who asked. The gun is my EDC. It's a HK USP compact 9mm. It's a 1996 production model, but looked unfired when I bought it about 4 years ago. Its bone stock and has 4-5k rounds through it. She was a bit dirty as I had some time here and there during the week and this was my third range trip that week, but didn't have tome to clean it between trips. Had at least 600 rounds through it since the last cleaning. This failure to fire happened half way (about) though the second box (100 round boxes) of that range trip. The box that round came out of was the 6th box from a case. Had not had any issues before it. Then fired the rest of that box and one more box that day with out any other issues.
This gun had been rock solid reliable, and this was the first issue I've ever had with it. I have since done a thorough cleaning and inspection, and all seems to be ok. The primer looked to be struck pretty good, so I was intrigued as to why it happened. The only ammo I ever had an issue with was Wold steel based, but have not used that in about 15 years.

Thanks all!
 
Wasn't this on "Man on Fire"? "The bullet always tells the truth."

Denzel couldn't get a round to fire out of his G34 when he tried to shoot himself during a drunken stupor. He called Christopher Walken who told him "the bullet always tells the truth".

Denzel saves the round, and then gives it and a G17 to Marc Anthony, and tells Anthony to shoot himself for having his daughter, Dakota Fanning, kidnapped. The G17 fires the round and kills Anthony.

 
ironworkerwill said:
I AGREE! The way the primer looks dished a bit may be because the primer wasn't seated deeply enough to begin with. Not a fan of Win ammo.
Click to expand...
That's too bad about Winchester ammo. Wish I knew that 45 years ago.
YMMV or MMMV.
 
As a Winchester LE rep once told us, their budget training lines typically got the budget components. That could include less sensitive primers, he said. The premium duty lines were usually described as having more sensitive primers, among other higher end components and QC efforts. I don't care whose budget/training/practice lines are being discussed, if budget components are involved don't be shocked by budget performance.
 
fastbolt said:
As a Winchester LE rep once told us, their budget training lines typically got the budget components. That could include less sensitive primers, he said. The premium duty lines were usually described as having more sensitive primers, among other higher end components and QC efforts. I don't care whose budget/training/practice lines are being discussed, if budget components are involved don't be shocked by budget performance.
Click to expand...

Fastbolt- very true about budget ammo. I was not really concerned about the ammo, but with the pistol. Little things like this can be indicators that something is starting to go wrong. Being that this is my ccw, I wanted to see if this is a maintenance issue starting to rear its ugly head, and take care of it ASAP!

Thanks!
 
Could be that the primer was not seated all the way, first hammer strike seated the primer all the way, second hit fired the cartridge.
 
JoeHenry said:
Could be that the primer was not seated all the way, first hammer strike seated the primer all the way, second hit fired the cartridge.
Click to expand...
That's been my experience.

Another thought is that the case length is short, affecting headspace. The firing pin is barely making it to the primer.
 
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