Part that came out of coworkers AR-15

One of my coworkers had this part come out of his AR-15 and he could not figure out what it is or where it came from.

How bit is it?... it almost looks like a primer anvil to me.

Primer anvil.

jimbobborg said:

Primer anvil.

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Yup

Agree, primer anvil. Was he shooting reloads or commercial ammo?

Q

Don't reload so not sure what that does and why it would be still attached.

I understand primers go in first, after cleaning and re-sizing take place.

Update:

Search is your friend. The anvil is part of the primer. So new question:

Is it typical for it to detach from the primer? I have never seen one in at least 15000 rounds through all my guns.

bkuether said:

Don't reload so not sure what that does and why it would be still attached.

I understand primers go in first, after cleaning and re-sizing take place.

Update:

Search is your friend. The anvil is part of the primer. So new question:

Is it typical for it to detach from the primer? I have never seen one in at least 15000 rounds through all my guns.

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It means the anvil would have detached from the inside of the primer cup. Then fell out of the rifle. Which in turn means that the primer came entirely out of the primer pocket in the case. Not good....next question becomes why.

For the anvil to blow out the entire primer came out first.

kalister1 said:

For the anvil to blow out the entire primer came out first.

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Yes. Which would bring up QBeam's question as starting point to determine why. Factory, or reloads?

How many rounds through this AR?

Might be wise to check headspace.

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This is a serious (read safety) issue. The round is developing enough pressure that the primer is backing or blowing out.
Common causes are too tight of headspace, incorrectly reamed chamber, ammo with too hot of powder or cold powder being used in a hot climate (unusual if factory ammo), or primers not properly seated.

That gun and ammo NEED to be checked out.

Check to see if the BARREL is marked .223 or 5.56. If reloads pull em apart and start all over again.

Ping Chad at SOTAR and get him involved.

I think, before we hit the panic button, we need to find out what kind of ammo (factory -v- reload) was being used. If reloads, what brand of brass and load count on that batch.

I do have a hunch, since neither knew that it was the innards of a primer, probably factory ammo.

Yes, one huge concern here, especially given such limited information, is the possibility of headspace issues. Most Definitely a safety concern if in fact this is the problem. The very best possible scenario here is that the rifle is checked out. Rifles need checks periodically like anything else.

If reloads? Gotta think it extremely unlikely that OP's friend himself personally reloaded the ammo in question that he shot in the rifle mentioned. If he did, he'd hopefully know a primer anvil upon seeing one. And thus the OP's question would never likely have been asked. And if reloader doesn't in fact know what a primer anvil looks like, gotta think there's a whole other set of possible problems here.

Most shooters (and unfortunately many reloaders who want to read only load data recipes) don't understand the internal ballistics of what's really happening when a round is fired. With regard to primers specifically, yes they actually do indeed move rearward within a cartridge case upon said cartridge being fired. The bolt face of a properly chambered and headspaced rifle, in combination with and upon firing a properly loaded cartridge, is what limits rearward thrust and movement, and effectively "reseats" that initially moving primer. What should NEVER happen however, is that said primer leave the case entirely.

For discussion purposes, it is possible and perhaps even likely here that OP's friend got hold of some poorly assembled reloads. Reloads improperly assembled introduce a whole other set of possibilities. Possible for instance, one may have loaded a case with a primer pocket so sloppily oversized that you could fit a bull ring in it. Such a case is a worn out cull to be rejected in proper reloading practice, and should never ever have left a bench with a fresh primer installed. And is this scenario, separation between primer cup and anvil may have actually occurred during case ejection. The primer literally fell out of the damned case, just as soon as it was free to do so. A Seriously over pressure load, for a variety of reasons, is another possibility.

Bottom line, OP's friend needs to correctly determine the exact cause of what happened here. With rifle, with ammo, with both.

Oversize primer pocket.

I've had two blown primers out of thousands of rounds. One was factory and one was a reload. Both were in ARs. Both ARs were headspace inspected and passed clean. It happens. Having said that, the gun should have a look at as well as the ammo AND spent cases.

outrider58 said:

I think, before we hit the panic button, we need to find out what kind of ammo (factory -v- reload) was being used. If reloads, what brand of brass and load count on that batch.

I do have a hunch, since neither knew that it was the innards of a primer, probably factory ammo.

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And maybe too close to slow bulk powder burning rate letting the bolt unlock before the case was completely sealed against the chamber. Even with staked primers in new ammo. One fell out. Among other things too of course.

OP, is your friend shooting suppressed? Is he an experienced shooter?

I’ve seen this happen during training. But his was the entire primer and it jammed up above his bolt, between it and charging handle. After about 30 minutes of “mortaring” the rifle he got the bolt to slide and out popped a primer much worse for the wear.

He was using American Eagle 55gr. The instructor was a certified HK Armorer and Marine Corp Officer. He said it happens with cheaper/dirtier ammo. The owner of the rifle had an abnormally dirty batch of ammo. I frankly have never seen a rifle get so dirty, so fast.


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That is either a dickfor, or a henway.

eruby said:

That is either a dickfor, or a henway.

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I think it looks more like a kenibbling pin.