Dimpled primer on unfired round, safety issue?

[MTMilitiaman]

So last night I was fondling my Romanian AK clone when I noticed that the round previously in the chamber had a dimpled primer. At first I thought it could be powder residue or something so I tried to smudge it off. When it wasn't removable I realized that it was an indentation almost certainly caused by pressure from the firing pin. It is located directly in the middle of primer and it has me worried there may be a safety issue. I was afraid to chamber the round again for fear that there may be an AD caused by additional force on the round. The cartridge is a 122 gr FMJ from Wolf. I would like to know if the primers are hard enough to take this kind of thing or if I should be genuinely concerned.

I tried to take pics of the round in question but my digital camera does not have the resolution required to get a clear image.

[jonathon]

No problems, even happens on ARs and SKS as well.

It's because the firing pin just floats in there, no spring. The force of the bolt closing causes it to move a bit and just slightly dimples the primer. No worries as long as your firing pin moves freely!

[fastvfr]

My Yugo SKS was totally cleaned and the FP channel, and the FP itself, were deburred and polished.

The pin rattles freely, but if I load a cartridge by letting the bolt fly home the primer gets a pretty substantial dent in it, just as described.

I plan to test my rifle by repeatedly loading the round from the magazine ten times to see if it goes off by doing so.

I'll post the results regardless of the outcome.

Good luck and stay safe!

[graveman]

It is normal since it has a floating firing pin. They figured if you put one in the pipe you're going to go ra-ta-ta-ta-ta and won't unchamber it hence no worries if the primer gets dented.
Wolf ammo ( and all non-US x39 ammo ) has hard primers designed to withstand this. American-made x39 ammo DOES NOT, so stay away from it. I had a slamfire on 2 different occasions with Winchester x39 and AK ..... the primers are too soft.
Be safe and shoot the hell out of that AK !

[search5449]

Dimpled primers are not to be ignored. I would never chamber a round and let the bolt slam home unless I was willing to accept a possible slam-fire. Don't chamber a round unless you have the weapon pointed in a safe direction and are ready to commence firing. This community doesn't want or need any publicity about accidental shootings.

[jth440]

Originally posted by graveman
It is normal since it has a floating firing pin. They figured if you put one in the pipe you're going to go ra-ta-ta-ta-ta and won't unchamber it hence no worries if the primer gets dented.
Wolf ammo ( and all non-US x39 ammo ) has hard primers designed to withstand this. American-made x39 ammo DOES NOT, so stay away from it. I had a slamfire on 2 different occasions with Winchester x39 and AK ..... the primers are too soft.
Be safe and shoot the hell out of that AK !

makes sense. in my experience, wolf primers are some of the hardest.