Chapter 1

ballistics and its branches

BALLISTICS

• In its broadest sense, ballistics is defined as is the science dealing with the motion of
projectiles and the conditions governing that motion.

• It is derived from two Greek words: the ward “ballo” and “ballein” which means to throw.

• It is derived from the Roman war machine called “Ballista”, I gigantic catapult that was used
to hurl missiles or large objects like stones, dead animals at a distance.

Forensic – a term originated from the Latin word “forum”, meaning “marketplace where people
gather for public disputation or public discussion”.

MOTION

• Refers to the mobility or movement of the projectile from the time it leaves the empty shell,
it leaves the gun muzzle and until it reaches the target or falls on the ground.

3 TYPES OF MOTION

Direct motion – is the forward movement of the bullet or shots out of the shell by the action of
the expansive force of gases from a burning gun powder.

Gyroscopic motion – is the action of the bullet passing through a rifled bore barrel firearm which
is either twisted to the left or right.

Translational – is the action of the bullet once it hits a target and subsequently ricocheted.

BRANCHES OF BALLISTICS

1. Interior (internal) Ballistics

It refers to the properties and attributes of the projectile while still inside the gun. It covers from
the time; the firearm is loaded with the cartridge, the explosion and the movement of the bullet
from the breech to the muzzle of the gun.

ATTRIBUTES OF INTERIOR BALLISTICS

Firing pin hitting the primer- In order that the primer should explode, the firing pin should hit
such. This is due to the theory of friction wherein there is a resistance to motion created by the
firing pin.

Ignition of the priming mixture

Priming mixture is made up of very sensitive material that is commonly located in the center
portion of the cartridge case. In order to ignite the priming mixture, it must be live and potent
and must be devoid of any moisture.

Combustion of the gunpowder

As the primer crushed and ignited, the flash passes through the vent towards the gunpowder
that provides the combustion of gunpowder

Expansion of the heated gas

There will be equal expansion of heated gas inside the cartridge, after the combustion of
gunpowder. The gas expanded in the different direction that tends the bullet and shell to
separate from each other in the cartridge.

Pressure developed

When the heated gas created by the burning powder charge is developed, a tremendous
pressure is produced in the chamber of the firearm.

Energy generated- Energy refers to force that push the bullet or projectile came out of the shell.

Recoil of the gun- The recoil of the gun is due to the Newton’s third law of motion (law of
interaction) which states that in every action is always equal and opposite reaction. The forward
movement of the bullet after the explosion results to backward movement of the cartridge case.

Recoil of the gun is affected by several things such as tightness with which the firearm is held,
height of the bore above the center of the stock line of wrist for pistols, shape and design of the
butt plate or the pistol’s grip, weight of the firearm and the physical and mental condition of the
shooter.

Rotation of the bullet in the barrel- When the bullet is driven by the heated gas by tremendous
pressure towards the muzzle end, the bullet will rotate following the riflings inside the gun
barrel. But if the firearm does not have riflings inside the barrel, the bullet (shot) would just
move forward without rotating inside the bore of the barrel until the bullet left the gun muzzle.

Engraving of the cylindrical surface of the bullet- The riflings starting from the breech end up to
the muzzle end of the barrel will engraved in the body of the bullet, depending on the number of
lands and grooves as part of the class characteristics of the firearm.

2. Exterior (external) Ballistics

It refers to the attributes and movements of the bullet after it has left the gun muzzle, which
includes the condition of the bullets’ movement and flight up to the target.

ATTRIBUTES OF EXTERIOR BALLISTICS

Muzzle blast – it is the noise created at the muzzle point due to sudden escape of the expanding
gas coming in contact with the surrounding atmosphere. Due to this sound at the muzzle end of
the gun, a silencer was invented to minimize the sound, which the criminal took advantage to
conceal the crime.

Muzzle energy – it is an energy generated at the muzzle point, whenever the cartridge explodes
from a firearm.

Trajectory – actual curve path of the bullet during its flight from the gun muzzle to the target.

Range – straight distance from the muzzle to the target. It is classified into:

Accurate range - the distance within the shooter has control of his shots, meaning he can place
his shots at the desired spots.

Effective Range – the distance within which a bullet is still capable of inflicting injury after it has
been fired.

Maximum range - the farthest distance that a projectile can be propelled from a firearm.
Velocity – refers to the rate of speed of the bullet per unit in time.

Air resistance/aerodynamic drag – resistance encountered by the bullet during its flight which
reduces its speed.

Pull of gravity – downward reaction of the bullet towards the center of the earth, due to its
weight. The pull of gravity will apply only, starting from the parabola, then to the maximum
range and to the final vertical drop. However, in the effective range, the bullet could withstand
the pull of gravity due to its velocity and gyroscopic stability.

Penetration – depth of entry on the target based on the power and velocity of the bullet.

3. Terminal Ballistics

It refers to the effects of the impact of the projectile in the target. The knocking power of
particular powder load of the cartridges which makes a devastating lesion, caused by the bullet.

ATTRIBUTES OF TERMINAL BALLISTICS

Terminal accuracy – it is the size of the bullet grouping on the target.

Terminal energy/striking energy – it is energy of the projectile when it strikes the target. This
refers to the fatal equivalent of a bullet when it struck the victim.

Terminal velocity – it is the speed of the bullet upon striking the target.

Terminal penetration – it is the depth of entry of the bullet in the target.

4. Forensic Ballistics

It refers to the investigation and identification of firearms by means of ammunition fired through
them. This is the real branch of the science which the police use as their guide in field
investigators.

ATTRIBUTES OF FORENSIC BALLISCTICE

Field investigations – it is conducted the first responders when they investigate a case wherein
firearms have been used.

Technical examinations of ballistics exhibits – it is conducted by the firearms examiners in the

ballistics laboratory to determine the value of firearms exhibits in the solution of the case.

Legal proceeding – it includes making of ballistics report and presentation of the result of the
examination conducted before the court.
 CHAPTER 2
THE EVOLUTION OF FIREARMS

• Roger Bacon – an English monk and scientist who credited for the invention of gunpowder in
1248.

• Berthold Schwartz – credited for the application of gunpowder for the propelling of a missile
in the early 1300s.

• Col. Calvin Hooker Goddard (1891–1955) - He was a forensic scientist, army officer,
academic, researcher and a pioneer in forensic ballistics.

• In 1925 Goddard wrote an article for the Army Ordnance titled "Forensic Ballistics" in which
he described the use of the comparison microscope regarding firearms investigations. He is
generally credited with the conception of the term "forensic ballistics", though he later
admitted it to be an inadequate name for the science.

• He was considered as the father of forensic ballistics.

• Horace Smith (1808-1893) - He was a gunsmith, inventor, and businessman. He and his
business partner Daniel B. Wesson formed two companies named Smith & Wesson, the first
of which was financed in part by Oliver Winchester and was eventually reorganized into the
Winchester Repeating Arms Company

• Smith was employed by the U. S. Armory service from 1824 to 1842, when he moved to
Newton, Connecticut. He was employed by various gun makers up to the 1840s, when he
moved to Norwich, Connecticut. He is then listed as a partner of Cranston & Smith. It is
known that while in Norwich, he engaged in the manufacture of whaling guns and he is
credited with the invention of the explosive bullet used to kill whales.

• Daniel Baird Wesson (1825 – 1906)- He married Cynthia Maria Hawes, May 26, 1847 in
Thompson, Connecticut. He partnered with Horace Smith in Norwich, Connecticut in the
early 1850s to develop the first repeating rifle, the Volcanic rifle.

• He is an associate or partner of Smith in revolver making.

• John Moses Browning (1825 – 1926)- He was an American firearms designer who developed
many varieties of firearms, cartridges, and gun mechanisms, many of which are still in use
around the world. He is the most important figure in the development of modern automatic
and semi-automatic firearms and is credited with 128 gun patents—his first was granted
October 7, 1879.

• Browning influenced nearly all categories of firearms design. He invented or made significant
improvements to single-shot rifles, lever action rifles, and slide action firearms. His most
significant contributions were in the area of autoloading firearms. He developed the
autoloading pistol by inventing the slide design found on nearly every modern automatic
handgun. He also developed the first gas-operated machine gun, the Colt-Browning Model
1895—a system that would surpass recoil operation in popularity. Other successful designs
include the M1911 pistol, the Browning .50 caliber machine gun, the Browning Automatic
Rifle, and a ground-breaking semi-automatic shotgun, the Browning Auto-5.

• David “Carbine” Williams - He was the maker of the first known carbine.
• Alexander John Forsyth (1768-1843) - He was a Scottish Presbyterian clergyman who
invented the percussion ignition. He was educated at King's College, Aberdeen, and
succeeded his father as minister of Belhelvie in 1791.

• He is considered as the father of percussion ignition.

• Elisha King Root (1808–65) - He was the inventor, engineer, manufacturer; born in Ludlow,
Mass. In 1849 he became superintendent of the Colt Firearms Company, eventually
becoming president.

• Eliphalet Remington (1793 – 1861)- He was born in 1793 in the town of Suffield,
Connecticut, to parents whose origins lay in Yorkshire, England. He was a blacksmith, and at
23, he hand-made a revolutionary sporting rifle using a firing mechanism bought from a
dealer, producing the barrel himself.

• The gun received such an enthusiastic response that Remington decided to

manufacture it in quantity, and formed the firm of E. Remington and Sons, which he headed
until his death in 1861 . By the mid-1800s the gun had become immensely popular with
American sportsmen and was one of the standard guns used in what has been called "the
winning of the West".

• The company continued to grow and to develop its product and gradually began the
manufacture of other sporting goods, such as bicycles. At the present time, the company is
known as the Remington Arms Co., Inc.

• Samuel Colt (1804 - 1862) - He was an American inventor and industrialist. He was the
founder of Colt's Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company (now known as Colt's
Manufacturing Company), and is widely credited with popularizing the revolver. Colt's
innovative contributions to the weapons industry have been described by arms historian
James E. Serven as "events which shaped the destiny of American Firearms.

• Colt never claimed to have invented the revolver, as his design was merely a more practical
adaption of Collier's revolving flintlock, which was patented in England and achieved great
popularity there.

• Henry Deringer (1786 – 1868)- He was an American gunsmith. He invented, and gave his
name to the Deringer pistol. Further development and copying of his design resulted in the
derringer (note the double-r) pistol that was generically manufactured widely by other
companies.

• He gave his name to the whole class of firearms (rifles and pistol).

• John Mahlon Marlin (1836 - 1901) - He was an American firearms manufacturer and
inventor.

• Marlin was born in Boston Neck, near Windsor Locks, Hartford County, Connecticut as the
son of Mahlon Marlin and Jennette Bradford.

• He worked at the Colt plant in Hartford during the Civil War. Starting in 1863, he made
pistols in New Haven, Connecticut, expanding into manufacturing pistols and then different
types of firearms by 1872, then called Marlin Fire Arms Company, today Marlin Firearms.

• John C. Garand
• Designed and invented the semi automatic U.S. rifle cal. 30. M1 garand

• John T. Thompson - pioneered the making of Thompson SMG.

• Fedor Tokarev – designed the service pistol for Soviet forceS

• Peter Paul Mauser – Invented and designed the Mauser M1912 (Germany)

• Carl Walter – developed a reliable small caliber automatic pistol in 1866.

• Oliver Winchester – One of the earliest rifle and pistol makers.

• George Luger – designed the Luger MP08 (Germany).

• Eugene Stoner – designed the M16 assault rifle.

• Hiram Maxim (1858)- built the first fully automatic gun and the silencer.

• Richard J. Gatling – patented his design of the "Gatling Gun", a six-barreled weapon capable
of firing a (then) phenomenal 200 rounds per minute.

• Oscar Mossberge – maker of high quality caliber .22 rifle, sporting rifle and pump action
shotgun.
 CHAPTER 3
FIREARMS: ITS NATURE AND CLASSIFICATION

LEGAL DEFINITION OF FIREARMS

• Firearms as herein used, includes rifles, muskets, carbines, shotgun, pistol, revolvers, and all
the other deadly weapons, to which a bullet, ball, shot, shell, or other missiles may be
discharge by means of gunpowder or other explosives. This term also includes air rifle,
except those of small calibers and limited rankge used as toys. The barrel of any firearm shall
be considered a complete firearm for all purposes hereof. (Sec 877 REVISED
ADMINISTRATIVE CODE/SEC 20 NATIONAL INTERNAL REVENUE CODE)

TECHNICAL DEFINITION OF FIREARMS

• Firearm is an instrument used for the propulsion of projectiles by means of the expansive
force of gases coming from burning gun powder.

• 2 General Classification of Firearms

A. ACCORDING TO GUN BARREL INTERNAL CONSTRUCTION

1. Rifled Bore Firearms - those that contain riflings inside the gun barrel. Riflings refers the
lands and grooves such as the following: Rifle – Pistol - Revolver

2. Smooth Bore Firearms – those that have no riflings inside the gun barrel for the breech
end up to the muzzle of the firearm. Such as the following: Shotguns - Muskets

B. (according to caliber of projectile)

1. Artillery – propelled projectile is more than one inch in diameter.

Ex. Cannons, mortars, bazookas

2. Small Arms – propelled projectile is less than one inch diameter.

Ex. Machine guns, shoulder arms and handguns/arms

HANDGUN/SHORT ARMS

1. Pistol – a handgun that is magazine feed. It is said that pistols were invented in the Italian
town “PISTOIA.” Hence, the name pistol – arrived in Britain about 1515 as German import.

2. Revolver – A handgun with a corresponding cylinder that revolves before the barrel which
consist of different chambers.

THE HANDGUN:

Handgun is a firearm that can be operated with one hand. Other types of guns, such as rifles
and machine guns, require the use of both hands, a tripod (three-legged stand), or a
shooting rest.

Parts of a handgun

1. the frame
2. the grip
3. the barrel
4. the sights
5. the action

The frame is the main body of the gun that connects the other parts. The grip is the handle
of the gun, and the barrel is the metal tube through which the bullet is fired. The lands and
rifling (grooves) are alternating raised surfaces and channels inside the barrel. They cause
the bullet to spin and thus make it travel in a direct path.

The shooter uses the sights to line up the handgun with the target. Some sights can be
adjusted to help aim the gun more easily. All handguns made for target shooting have
adjustable sights.
• Front Sight tells us where the gun is pointing and where the shots go.

• Muzzle – The end of the barrel out of which the bullet comes

• Barrel – a tube through which a bullet travels when a gun is fired.

• Slide Stop Notch – It expended all loaded ammuinition and facilitates faster reloading by
pulling back the slide to advance the first round of a new magazine

• Rear Sight – Closer to the eye of the shooter .

• Hammer – a part of firearm that is used to strike the percussion cap/primer or separate
firing pin, to ignite the propellant and fire the projectile.

• Safety Lever – a lever that is situated on the grip of the gun which must be actuated by the
operators hand when he is about to fire.

• Back Strap – the rearmost portion of the handgun’s grip.

• Grip – generally held by the hand that operates the trigger

• Magazine – the storage and feeding device that is inserted into the firearm

• Front Strap – the forward portion of the grip, located under the trigger guard

• Trigger – To fire or to explode a gun, the releasing or triggering device.

• Trigger guard – A loop that surrounds the trigger of a firearm to help prevent an unintended
pulling of the trigger

• Ejector Rod – The mechanism that ejects the cartridge case from a firearm

• Extractor Rod – The mechanism that withdraws the cartridge case from the chamber of the
firearm.
 • RIFLING - Rifling refers to spiral grooves that have been formed into the barrel of a firearm.
It is the means by which a firearm imparts a spin to a projectile to gyroscopically stabilize it
to improve accuracy. The grooves are the spaces that are cut out, and the resulting ridges
are called 'lands'. These lands and grooves can vary in number, depth, shape, direction of
twist ('right' or 'left'), and 'twist rate' (turns per unit of barrel length). The spin imparted by
rifling significantly improves the stability of the projectile, improving both range and
accuracy.

THE RIFLE- The rifle, invented about 1500, had spiral grooves in the barrel that made it more
accurate than any previous firearm. Smokeless powder was developed in the 1800's. Breechloading
systems replaced dangerous muzzle loading. Many improvements since have resulted in high-
powered firearms.

Rifle is a gun with spiral grooves in its long barrel that spin the bullet as it is shot. Rifles are
usually held against the shoulder when firing. Soldiers use rifles in battle. People also use rifles to
hunt game and to compete in shooting matches.

The parts of a rifle - All rifles have four basic parts:

(1) the barrel,

(2) the stock,

(3) the action, and

(3) the sights.

 TYPES OF FIREARMS ACCORDING TO MECHANICAL CONSTRUCTION

1. Single Rifle Firearms – type of firearm designed to fire only one shot for every loading.
Example: Pistol, Rifle, Shotgun

2. Repeating Arms – type of firearm designed to fire several shots in one loading. Example:
Automatic pistols, Revolvers, Rifles, Shotguns

3. Bolt Action Type – reloading is done by manipulation of the bolt. Examples: Rifles,
Shotguns.

4. Automatic Loading Type – after the first shot is fired, automatic loading or feeding of the
chamber takes place. Examples: Rifles, Shotguns

5. Pump Action Type (Trombone) – loading takes place by back and forth manipulation of the
under forearm of the gun. Examples: Rifles and Shotguns.

6. Lever Type (Break-type) – loading takes place by lever action on the firearm. Examples:
Rifles, Shotguns.
 TYPES OF FIREARMS ACCORDING TO USE

1. Military Firearms

a. Pistols ,d. Shotguns

b. Revolvers , e. Machine guns ,

c.Rifles

2. Pocket and Home Defense Firearms

a. Pistols , c. Rifles

b. b. Revolvers ,d. Shotguns

3. Target and Outdoorsman known as Sporting

a. Pistols b. Revolvers c. Rifles

TYPES OF FIREARMS ACCORDING TO USE

1. Military Firearms

a. Pistols ,d. Shotguns

b. Revolvers , e. Machine guns ,

c.Rifles

2. Pocket and Home Defense Firearms

a. Pistols , c. Rifles

b. b. Revolvers ,d. Shotguns

3. Target and Outdoorsman known as Sporting

a. Pistols b. Revolvers c. Rifles

THREE MAIN PARTS OF FIREARMS

1. Revolver 3. Rifle – Cal. .30

b. barrel assembly a. barrel assembly

c. cylinder assembly b. magazine assembly

c. frame or receiver c. stock group

2. Pistol 4. Shotgun

a. barrel assembly a. barrel assembly

b. slide assembly b. magazine assembly

c. frame or receiver c. stock group

• Miscellaneous type of gun

 1. Zip Gun – generally referring o home made gunused by juvenile delinquents in US. In
Philippines, it is referred to as paltik.

2. Gas Gun – generally reffering to all gun designed to firing tear gas.

3. Harpoon Gun – refers to a barbed spear in hunting large fish.

4. Tool gun – device that resembles a gun’s design but are generally used for construction of
furniture, ex. glue gun , drilling machine, etc.

5. Trap gun – refers to gun for trapping animals

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