Firearms Examination

• Author: D. P. Lyle
• Pages: 313-326

Firearms Examination 313

CHAPTER 17

FIREARMS

EXAMINATION

This area of forensic investigation is popularly called ballistics, an incor-

rect term but one that is well-ingrained and difficu lt to shake. Ballistics

is actually the science of projectile motion, or how a bullet, artillery shell,

rocket, or other hurled object travels through air. How firear ms work and

how guns and ammunition are identified and compared is the job of the

forensic firearms examiner.

In Chapter 8 we looked at what bullets do to the human body and how

the coroner evaluates such injuries. In this chapter we will look at guns and

ammunition and how their identification and comparison can solve crimes

involving guns. The duties of the forensic firearms examiner require that

he be familiar with all t ypes of firearms and am munition and understand

the inner workings and ballistic character istics of each.

He might be presented with bullets, bullet fragments, shell casings, or

weapons and be charged with the following:

• Determining the caliber, the type, and the manufact urer of the

weapon and/or ammunition used in a crime