Ballistics and Firearms Evidence

____________________ is the scientific study of the motion of projectiles in flight.

A ____________________________ is a weapon, such as a gun, capable of firing a
projectile using a confined explosive.
_________________________________________________ are specially trained to analyze
weapons, bullets, and ballistics (or how bullets behave after being fired from a gun).
They commonly have to

Analyze bullets and shell casings found at a crime scene to determine what type
of weapon fired them
Help with crime-scene reconstruction by estimating the distance between the
gun muzzle and the victim or working out the trajectory of the bullets
Match a bullet or shell casing to a particular weapon or to a sample from a
different crime scene to link the two

Firearms
Modern firearms are divided into two basic types: _____________________________ and
_________________________________________.
_______________________ (like rifles and shot guns) require the use of two hands for
accurate firing.

shotgun
______________________ fire bullets, whereas _________________________ can fire either
small round pellets (shot) or a single projectile called a slug.
_____________________________ handguns held and fired in one hand and fall into one
of three categories

________________________ the handguns that you see in old westerns. Bullet and
shot cartridges (shell casings loaded with a primer, gunpowder, and bullets or
shotgun pellets) are placed into a cylinder that revolves with each pull of the
trigger, bringing the next cartridge in front of the guns firing hammer in a
sequential manner. After a bullet is fired, its shell casing remains in the cylinder
until its manually removed. Revolvers hold ____________________ in the cylinder.
______________________________ loaded using a magazine or clip. The
_________________ is basically a spring-loaded device that holds a stack of
cartridges that typically slides into the handle of the pistol. This type of weapon,
like the revolver, fires once for each pull of the trigger. Some of the explosive
energy is used, however, to automatically eject the empty shell casing from the
gun, and the spring in the clip seats the next cartridge into the firing chamber.
You can load up to _____________________ into a magazine (clip).
____________________________________________ - They possess a clip similar to that
of a semiautomatic pistol and, when fired, use some of the explosive power from
each spent round (cartridge) to expel an empty casing and bring the next
cartridge into its firing chamber. The major difference between these pistols and
semiautomatics is that machine pistols ___________________________________ as
long as the trigger is pressed and ammunition is available in the clip.

________________________ utilize a lever or a sliding bolt to eject a spent cartridge

and bring the next one into the firing chamber. Rifles also can be semiautomatic or
automatic. You brace against your shoulder to fire.
___________________________ in general, dont fire bullets, but rather shells filled
with groups of pellets (shot). As the shot exit the barrel, they spread out in a circular
pattern, which means shotguns dont require as much aiming. You just have to
point them in the intended direction.
____________________________________________________ shot or pellets are
propelled by pressurized air, spring compression, or a carbon dioxide cartridge
Guns work by instigating an explosion that sends a bullet racing out of the barrel. When
you pull the trigger of a gun, its ___________________ strikes a cylinder of primer in the
shell of the bullet and ignites it, causing gunpowder in the shell to explode. The
explosion pushes the bullet through and out of the guns _________________ with
tremendous velocity.
Rifling
The word _______________________ originally referred to the _____________________, or
indentations, in the rifles barrel. The _______________________, or raised areas, that
surrounded the grooves are called ___________________________. Within the guns barrel,
lands and grooves cause a bullet to ______________________ when exiting the barrel of
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the gun, much like how a football spirals when thrown. This rifling pattern left on the
bullet, is _________________________ to the firearm. Each gun has a unique rifling pattern
within the guns barrel. It is impossible to produce two identically rifled gun barrels.
When a gun is fired, the barrel marks each bullet with its own unique pattern. Therefore,
a bullet can be matched to the specific gun from which it was fired.
Bullets, Cartridges, and Calibers
____________________________ = a projectile propelled from a firearm; normally made of
metal.
The term bullet is often incorrectly applied to the _______________________, which
includes primer powder, gunpowder, the bullet, and the casing material that holds
them all together.
How a Firearm Works
The sequence of events in the firing of a bullet is:
1. ____________________________ Pull the trigger and the firing pin of the firearm
hits the base of the cartridge, igniting the primer powder mixture.
2. __________________________ The tiny explosion not much more than a spark
of the primer powder mixture on the anvil delivers a spark through the flash hole
to the main gunpowder supply.
3. ___________________________ The main gunpowder supply ignites, and the
pressure of the explosion pushes the bullet from the casing and into the barrel of
the firearm. The amount of gunpowder and the mass of the projectile in a
cartridge determines the speed of the bullet.
4. _____________________________ The bullet follows the lands and grooves pattern
of the barrel and begins its spirls before it leaves the barrel

Cartridge
Bullets are named by __________________ and _________________. The caliber is a
measure of the ___________________ of the cartridge. Some common calibers
include .22, .25, .357, .38, .44, .45. Caliber also refers to the diameter of the inside of
a __________________________________. Because the bullet moves through the barrel,
the caliber of ammunition should match the firearm that shoots it. If a bullet is
removed from a wound or crime scene, its caliber can link it to the weapon used to
fire it.
As a gun is fired, the barrel marks each bullet with its own unique pattern of
__________________________________________________. Investigators compare bullets
and spent cartridge casings from a crime scene with bullets and spent cartridges
from the suspected firearm. To get a known bullet for comparison, investigators testfire the weapon into a _______________________ or ________________________. This
captures the bullet without damaging it. Then, they can compare the markings on
known bullets with those on the suspect bullets.
The barrel of a firearm has a unique pattern of __________________________, which
leaves a matching pattern of lands (______________________) and grooves
(_______________________________) on the bullets it fires.
Marks on Spent Cartridge Casings
________________________________ marks left on the spent cartridge casings can also
be used to identify a firearm. Firing pin marks are impressions made on the bottom
of the cartridge by the firing pin as it strikes the bottom of the cartridge when the
firearm is shot.
Gunshot Residues
Because all firearms explode gunpowder, they produce
__________________________________when fired. These residues are the traces of
smoke and particles of unburned power carried sideways from the firearm by the
expansion of gases as the bullet is fired. Gunshot residues containing nitrates can
stick to the person holding the firearm and leave evidence on the short.
The amount of GSR ________________________________ as the distance between
firearm and victim increases.
Investigators look for the presence of GSR when attempting to recreate a crime
scene. If someone fired a gun, GSR could be found on his or her hands or clothing.
GSR can be removed by washing, but chemical testing can often detect residue
despite the attempted removal. The distance between the weapon and the victim
can be determined by examining the GSR pattern on the body of a victim.
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Databases
_________________________________________________________________ database of
ballistic markings of firearms used in previous crimes
______________________________ an FBI database that focuses on cartridge casings
In 2000, these databases were merged to form the
_________________________________________________________________.
Trajectory
An important part of a ballistics investigation is determining where a shooter was
located during a crime. Investigators look for clues at a crime scene to help them
calculate a bullets ___________________________ to figure out where a shooter
discharged the firearm. _________________________ the path of the propelled bullet
Ex.) if a trajectory angle is downward, the position of the shooter was ______________
his or her target
_________________________________________ states that every force has an equal and
opposite force that balances it. In the case of firearms, the explosive force that
pushes the bullet out of the barrel is balanced by ______________. _________________
is the backward force that the bullet exerts on the gun when it is fired. The recoil
affects both the spent cartridge casing and the shooter.
Trajectory can be calculated by finding ________________________________ along the
flight path of the projectile. Reference points can be bullet holes, an entry wound
on a victim, an exit wound, piles of spent cartridge casings, etc. Investigators can
use ____________________________________________ or ________________ to trace the
path of the bullet that will help determine the position of the shooter.
A firearm crime is often complicated and trajectory may be difficult to determine.
Sometimes bullets ricochet, become damaged, and do not provide a direct path
for measurement.
Bullet Wounds
Eyewitness accounts of a shooting are not always accurate. It is helpful to examine
bullet wounds on victims to confirm or dispute a witnesss story. Determining which
wound is the _____________________ and which is the ________________________ is an
important step in determining what happened at a crime scene.

Generally, entrance wounds are ________________________ than exit wounds,

because the skin is somewhat elastic, and it stretches when a bullet enters
the body. Therefore, the size of the entry wound would be smaller than the
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bullet. Entrance wounds will be smoother and have a cleaner cut. Exit
wounds are generally larger, because as the bullet moves through the body,
it may collect and carry body tissue and bone with it. Because of this, exit
wounds tend to have an ____________________________.
Look at clues on the body near each wound: if the bullet penetrates clothing
first, fibers may be embedded in the wound pointing in the direction of
penetration
Investigators can examine the presence of GSR, which is usually found only
around _______________________________
If the bullet is fired when the muzzle is in contact with the skin, the hot gases
released from the muzzle flash may burn the skin, leaving a mark.

Several factors influence whether a discharged bullet will pass through a victim
or remain lodged somewhere in the body. For example, if the bullet has a high
speed, it may have enough energy to pass directly through the body, leaving
both an entrance wound and an exit wound. ______________________________
are more likely to pass through a body than are low-velocity bullets.
________________________________________, such as a .22 caliber, tend to lodge
within the body, while larger caliber bullets will pass through.