NCJ Number
64770
Date Published
1977
Length
324 pages
Annotation
PRACTICAL BALLISTICS EXPERIENCES AND GUNSHOT EFFECTS ARE EXPLORED TO AID EXPERTS IN THEIR EVALUATION OF GUNSHOTS AND GUNSHOT WOUNDS.
Abstract
TOPICS DISCUSSED INCLUDE CARTRIDGE EJECTION AND CARTRIDGE POSITION AFTER THE SHOT; SHOT SCATTERING AND PROBABILITY OF HITS; DIFFERENTIATION OF BULLETS; BULLET DEFLECTION FROM VARIOUS SUBSTANCES--METAL, GLASS, CONCRETE, SAND, ROUND RODS, AND WATER AS DETERMINED IN EXPERIMENTS; AND BULLET DEFORMATION AS THE RESULT OF CONTACT WITH THE TARGET SUBSTANCE AND OF SUCH FACTORS AS VELOCITY, TIME, AND BULLET HARDNESS. ALSO DISCUSSED ARE SPECIAL WEAPONS AND AMMUNITION SUCH AS SMALL CALIBER SHOTGUNS, AIR GUNS, 4 MM CALIBER WEAPONS, AND SIGNAL WEAPONS. VELOCITY LOSS OF VARIOUS SIZES OF SHOT IN THE AIR IS STUDIED, AS IS THE VELOCITY THRESHOLD BELOW WHICH BULLETS HAVE NO PENETRATING POWER. THE PENETRATION DEPTH OF LEAD BULLETS IN SOFT TISSUE, THE STOPPING POWER OF BULLETS; SHOTS THROUGH GLASS, AND EFFECTS OF FIRING ON THE HAND HOLDING THE GUN ARE EXAMINED. FINALLY, UNUSUAL FINDINGS ARE REPORTED THAT RELATE TO SHOTS WHICH GRAZE THE SURFACE, THE SHAPE OF BULLET HOLES, RICOCHETS, ATYPICAL POWDER TRACES, EFFECTS OF SHOTS ON CLOTHING, AND DETERMINING POWDER TRACES AFTER THE EFFECTS OF WATER AND FIRE. PHOTOGRAPHS AND TABLES SUPPLEMENT THE TEXT. A BIBLIOGRAPHY AND SEPARATE LITERATURE FOR EACH CHAPTER ARE ALSO PROVIDED. --IN GERMAN. (KMD)