Cratered ?

[legend 550]

Went to the range the other day. The fellow in the next lane gave us all his empty brass. He Had a Tarus 9mm and was shooting Tulammo J words. When I got home and started sorting brass I noticed all his primers look cratered. Am I correct or is this what a primer fired in a Tarus looks like or was this ammo on the hot side?

126567

[hithard]

The primers aren't that flat, look around the edges of the case and the primer. See how they are still fairly rounded? What your seeing is a large firing pin hole in relation to the firing pin itself. In other words its a very sloppy fit. In instances where the fit is way off you will see primers blow out as there is insufficient support behind the primer itself.

[tazman]

I have 2 Taurus PT92 9mm pistols. The primers all look like that.
The hole around the firing pin is a little over large to allow easy movement even when a bit dirty. That's why the primer looks cratered.
As Hithard said, those aren't flattened. No signs of excess pressure there that I can see.
I have fired over 4000 rounds of new and reloads in my pistols with no issues. Don't worry about it.

[legend 550]

I saw the primers weren't flattened. I just never saw a firing pin mark quite like that, just looked odd. Not my pistol just curious.

[bedbugbilly]

Interesting. I've read several posts on other forums over time in regards to this happening sometimes on a Handi-Rifle due to the firing pin hole being larger than the firing pin - can't recall on which frame it was though. An interesting observation though - thanks for posting the photo!

[Pirate69]

Good explanation. I again learned what to look for to determine the real cause of an observation.