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Forensic Science Ballistics

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7 views

Ballistics 0

Forensic Science Ballistics

Uploaded by

Hillarthy Pernicious
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as TXT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Forensic Ballistics

Forensic ballistics - is the science of analyzing firearms usage in crimes. It


involves analysis of bullets and bullets impact to determine information of use to
a court or other part of legal system. Separately from the ballistics information,
firearm and tool mark examinations also involves analyzing firearm, ammunition and
tool mark evidence in order to established whether a certain firearm or tool was
used in the commission of crime.

Ballistics -(ballein "to throw") - is the science of mechanics that deals with the
flight, behavior and effects of projectiles especially bullet, gravity bombs,
rockets or the like.

Ballistic missile - is a missile, only guided during the relative brief initial
powered phase of flight whose course is subsequently governed by the laws of
classical mechanics.

Flight - is the process by which an object moves through an atmosphere by


generating aerodynamic lift, propulsive thrust, aerostatically using buoyancy or by
ballistic movement without any direct solid mechanical support from the ground.

Firearms identification - the identification of fired bullets, cartridge cases or


other ammunition components as having been fired from a specific firearm.

Rifling - is the process of making helical grooves in the barrel of a gun or


firearm which imparts a spin to a projectile around its long axis. This spin
stabilize the projectile, improving its stability and accuracy.

Projectile - is any object projected into space by the exertion of a force.

Trajectory - is the path that a moving object follows through space as a function
of time.

Firearm - is a weapon that launches one or many projectiles at high velocity


through confined burning of a propellant.

Ballistic fingerprinting - involves analyzing firearm, ammunition and tool mark


evidence in order to establish whether a certain firearm or tool was used in the
commission of a crime.

Gun ballistic - is the work of projectile from the time of shooting to the time of
impact with the target.

Four categories of gun ballistics

Internal/interior ballistic - the study of the processes originally accelerating


the projectile. example - the passage of a bullet through the barrel of a rifle.

Transition/intermediate ballistic - the study of the projectiles behavior when it


leaves the barrel and the pressure behind the projectile is equalized.

External/exterior ballistic - the study of the passage of the projectile through a


medium, most commonly the earths atmosphere.

Terminal ballistic - is the study of the interaction of a projectile with its


target.
Colonel Calvin Hooker Goddard - father of forensic ballistic.

Some Factors to be Considered in designing a Firearm

1. reliability of firing

2. accuracy of projectile

3. force of projectile

4. speed of firing

Characteristics of a Muzzle Loader Firearm

1. powder and bullet loaded from top of the barrel


2. smooth bore with a round lead ball.
3. limited range and accuracy

Accuracy is Increased

1. by longer bore or length of metal tube


2. putting spiral grooves in the bore (riffling)

Breech loading firearm - is a firearm in which the cartridge or shell is inserted


or loaded into a chamber integral to the rear portion of a barrel.

Sir Hiram Maxim - an American inventor of the machine gun or the maxim gun.

Richard Gatling - inventor of the Gatling gun, a machine gun with a six barrel
capable of firing 200 rounds per minute at the earliest stages of development.

Gatling Gun - a hand driven, crank operated multi barrel machine gun.

note: velocities of bullets are increased with the use of a jacket of a metal such
as copper or copper alloys that covers a lead core and allow the bullet to glide
down the barrel more easily than exposed lead. Such bullets are less likely to
fragment on impact and are more likely to traverse through a target while imparting
less energy.

Fouling - deposits of unburned powder residue in the bore of a gun.

What is the indispensable tool of the firearm examiner? comparison microscope.

Firearms Terminology
1. Action - the part of the firearm that loads, fires,
and ejects a cartridge.Includes lever action,pump
action, bolt action,and semi-automatic.The first
three are found in weapons that fire a single shot.
Firearms that can shoot multiple rounds "repeaters"
include all these types of actions but only the semi-
automatic does not require manual operation
between rounds.A truly automatic action is found
on a machine gun.

2. Barrel - the metal tube through which the bullet


is fired.

3. Black Powder - the old form of gun powder


invented over a thousand years ago and consisting
of nitrate,charcoal,and sulfur.

4. Bore - the inside of the barrel.

5. Breech - the end of the barrel attach to the action

6. Bullets - is a projectile propelled by firearm,sling,


airgun.They are shaped or composed differently for
a variety of purposes.

round nose - the end of the bullet is blunted.

hollow point - there is a central cavity in the bullet nose not covered by a metal
jacket that creates expansion when a target is struck, creating more damage.

action 4 - hollow point projectile made of non fragmenting brass with radiopaque
plastic tip.

hydra-Shock - hollow point projectile with soft deformable anterior and hard
posterior core.

Jacketed - the soft lead is surrounded by another metal, usually copper, that
allows the bullet to penetrate a target more easily.

wad-cutter - the front of the bullet is flattened.

semi-wad-cutter - intermediate between round nose and wad-cutter.

7. Butt or Buttstock - the portion of the gun which


is held or shouldered.

8. Caliber - the diameter of the bore measured from


land to land , usually expressed in hundredths of an
inch (.22 cal) or in millimeters (9mm).

9. Cartridge - also called a round - packages the


bullet, propellant and primer into a single unit within
a containing metallic case that is precisely made to
fit within the firing chamber of a firearm.

Parts of a cartridge

a. bullet
b. case/shell
c. powder
d. primer

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