.303 Cartridge Misfire?

[NorthStaffsPOW]

Hi all. Found this relic .303 cartridge case. I have found a number of these in fired and unfired condition but this one has me puzzled. It is empty and appears to have been struck but it is not the strong dent from the firing pin that I would expect to see and it appears that the primer has been pushed into the cartridge. Also damage to the rim (at 2 o'clock position) may be evidence of extraction? The cartridge is empty and made in 1912.

[ServiceRumDiluted]

I saw some cases in similar condition in a museum recently on the Somme, (silent picket or Tommys possibly) and it set me wondering what forces might have caused that. I concluded, probably wrongly, that they had been close to a significant blast which had created a vacuum inside the case and pressure on the outside, thus crushing them inwards. Can't comment on the fired/unfired nature, but my theory only really works for empty cases.

[MikB]

Firing pressure flattens the primer cup around the indentation, but a misfired primer cup slopes inward into it. Yours doesn't look like that to me. It looks as if pressure has pushed back the indentation. I'm wondering if it's a round that cooked off with the face of the firing pin close against it?

 

Edited 18 November , 2018 by MikB

[NorthStaffsPOW]

I like both theories. SRD, it is interesting that you have seen cartridges in similar condition. As soon as I picked it up I said it looked like it had been in a blast and had the air sucked out of it.

 

MikB, that is an interesting theory. It would explain the light impact against the primer.

 

This case was found at Neuve Chappelle.