Firearms

Range and direction of gunshot wounds are important determinations to make in

order to properly evaluate a firearms injury case. Interpretation of the range of fire is
made by evaluating the presence or absence of gunpowder on skin and/or clothing.
Direction of fire is determined by following the path of a bullet from an entrance to an
exit wound or to the location of a bullet within a body.

Handguns and rifles fire ammunition or cartridges composed of a primer,

gunpowder or propellant, and a bullet or projectile. Ammunition is remarkably similar for
both except when used in the military or with other specific types such as specially
coated bullets or exploding rounds. The primer is composed of elemental compounds
such as antimony, barium, and lead in varying proportions. When a firing pin of a weapon
strikes the primer, the resulting explosion ignites the gunpowder.

Gas pressure from the combustion of gunpowder in a confined space of a

cartridge and gun barrel propels a bullet out of a muzzle. Gunpowder is usually
composed of small flakes, spheres, or cylinders of nitroglycerine or nitrocellulose
mixtures. Unburned and burning gunpowder particles may be discharged with a bullet.
Gunpowder, vaporized primer, and metal from a gun may be deposited on skin and/or
clothing of a victim. In addition, elements from the primer may be deposited on objects in
close proximity to a discharged weapon.

The presence or absence of these primer elements can be detected with a

gunpowder residue test designed to aid in determining whether a particular individual has
recently fired a gun. When a residue of completely burned gunpowder is deposited on
skin, it produces an area of soot deposition referred to as "fouling." Gunpowder particles
cause tattooing or stippling because they abrade or become embedded in skin and cannot
be removed. Fouling or soot can be easily washed-off.

The most commonly used ammunition includes a bullet with a lead core that
mayor may not be covered with a copper jacket. Bullets may have flattened, rounded, or
hollowed tips. Some handgun ammunitions contain numerous small pellets instead of
containing one bullet. This is commonly called "birds hot" or "snakeshot."

The caliber of a handgun or rifle refers to the inside diameter of the barrel. The
measurement is given in fractions of inches or millimeters. A .38 caliber handgun, for
example, is 38/100 of an inch in diameter and would fire a .38 caliber bullet.
Unfortunately, this system is not consistent. A .357 caliber handgun can fire the same size
bullet as a .38, the difference being a greater amount of powder, giving the .357 a greater
velocity and more destructive power. Inconsistencies in nomenclature are especially
common with rifles. A barrel of a rifle or pistol has spiral grooves cast along its entire
length, causing a bullet to pursue a tighter, straighter path once it exits a muzzle.
Alternating grooves with uncut metal are called lands and grooves. These lands-and-
grooves make distinct impressions (or rifling marks) on bullets as they pass through a
barrel. Different weapons have different patterns of lands-andgrooves and each weapon
gives a unique characteristic wear pattern. Comparing the marks and wear patterns on a
bullet recovered at autopsy with the pattern on a test fired bullet can make a positive
identification of a murder weapon.

Range of Fire
Presence or absence of gunpowder residue on or in a target area indicates whether
a range of fire was contact, loose, close, intermediate, or distant.

Tight contact - a muzzle of a weapon is held tightly against skin. All gunpowder
residue is on the edges or in the depths of a wound. There may be searing or burning of
wound margins or reddening of surrounding skin due to carbon monoxide gas produced
by burning powder. In a tight contact wound to the head, there is often tearing of skin
around the entrance wound because of a tremendous pressure buildup and blowback of
skin toward a muzzle.

Loose contact - If a weapon is not held firmly against the skin, gunpowder may
escape from a barrel and be deposited around the edges of a wound.
 Close range - Close range gunshot wounds occur at muzzleto- target distances up
to 6 to 10 inches. Both fouling and stippling are found on clothing or skin. Microscopic
examination discloses carbon debris (fouling) and possible partially burned flakes of
gunpowder in the superficial and deeper layers of the skin.

Intermediate range - These wounds occur at muzzle-to-target distances of

approximately 6 inches to 3 feet. There is no fouling, only stippling or deposition of
particles on clothing.

Distant wounds - Distant wounds have neither fouling nor stippling on a target
and do not have appreciable quantities of powder residue in a wound tract. Microscopic
examination of distant wounds, however, can disclose a few particles of powder residue
in a wound track. This would be likely if the ammunition contains ball powder, which can
travel much further than flake powder.

In order to determine the exact distance of a weapon from a body, the same gun
that caused the wound must be test fired with the same ammunition. The patterns are then
compared with those seen on the decedent. If a suspected weapon is not recovered, a
distance may only be estimated. If a bullet is recovered, however, estimates are usually
quite accurate because ballistics experts can examine a bullet and give a knowledgeable
determination of the weapon used.

Entrance and exit wounds are generally easy to differentiate. Entrance wounds
tend to be circular defects with a thin rim of abrasion caused by a bullet scraping and
perforating skin. Entrance wounds of the face can be quite atypical because thesurfaces
are not flat. A gunshot wound to the eye may not look like a gunshot wound because the
eyelid may close over the defect. As previously mentioned, contact wounds of the skull
might have multiple tears because of blowback of the skin against a muzzle.
 Exit wounds may be circular like entrance wounds, but they are often irregular in
shape. They may be slit-like or have ragged edges. They do not have a rim of abrasion
like entrance wounds unless a victim's skin is pressed against another object. This is
called a "shored" exit wound because there is a wide rim of abrasion. For example, if a
man was shot while sitting in the front seat of his car and a bullet exits his back, the skin
will be forced against the car seat causing an abrasion. This will happen whether or not a
victim is wearing a shirt.

Skin around an exit wound may be discolored because of underlying bleeding in

the soft tissues. Entrance wounds rarely have this surrounding contusion unless they are
re-entry wounds. These wounds have more irregular shapes and abrasions than a typical
circular entrance wound caused by a nondeformed and non-tumbling re-entry bullet.

Shotguns
Shotguns have smooth bores with no lands-and-grooves. This means that a
particular weapon cannot be matched to pellets recovered at a scene or from a body.
Range of fire is determined similarly to the way it is for handguns and rifles except that
the degree of pellet spread can be more helpful.

Shotguns usually fire pellets, but they can also fire slugs. These solid projectiles
are similar to large bullets except that they do not travel as far and usually stop in a target.
They are commonly seen in some states which outlaw hunting deer with rifles.

Shotguns are designated by the diameter of the barrel, or bore. The unit of
measure is the gauge. Shotgun gauge is determined in a unique way. Bore size is equal to
the number of lead balls of similar diameter weighing one pound. A 12-gauge shotgun,
for instance, has a barrel diameter that is the same circumference as 12 lead balls of
similar diameter weighing a pound. A 16-gauge has a smaller diameter than a 12-gauge
because 16 balls of an equal diameter that is less than the 12 would weigh one pound.
The exception to this is the 410- gauge which is .410 inch in diameter.