1

THE DIFFERENCE ON DEFORMITY

OF LEAD BULLETS AND

JACKETED BULLETS

A Research proposal presented to

the Faculty of the Criminal Justice Education

University of the Cordilleras

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree of

Bachelor of Science in Forensic Science

By

HIROMI PARAN WASAN

KRIEZL LUZ LORENZANA MAMITAG

LEYZEN PANGIYAN NGAYA

RIO DIANE CASLANGEN BAL-OT

SHIENA PENGYASEN CONCHAO

December 2020
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THESIS ABSTRACT 

Title: THE DIFFERENCE ON DEFORMITY OF LEAD BULLETS AND

JACKETED BULLETS

1. 1 Total No. of Pages: 29 

2. 2 Text No. of Pages: Twenty-nine

Researchers:

HIROMI PARAN WASAN

KRIEZL LUZ LORENZANA MAMITAG

LEYZEN PANGIYAN NGAYA

RIO DIANE CASLANGEN BAL-OT

SHIENA PENGYASEN CONCHAO

Type of Document: Research proposal

Type of Publication: Unpublished

Accrediting Institution: University of the Cordilleras

Funding Agency: Does not apply

Keywords: lead bullets, jacketed bullets, firing

tests, deformation, soft tissue, laminated glass, pig

bone, float Glass, wood/drywall.

Abstract:
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Rationale/Background

Projectiles are important pieces of evidence in crime

scene investigations that involve ballistics. In the

present day, forensic ballistics has attempted to

quantify and identify important characteristics of

fired ammunition which can be considered as a

challenge for ballistic experts, exceptionally in

forensic investigations that deal with lead bullets.

Lead bullets are differentiated from other types of

projectiles in their composition and certain features,

which makes ballistic experts face a variety of

problems when analyzing this type of evidence given

the level of damage and deformity they suffer after

hitting a target. In this study, we will be conducting

a quantitative design experiment to further analyze

and differentiate the deformation of jacketed and lead

bullets.

 Summary

   Fire testing will be conducted to acquire the

results of this study. The data will be gathered

through physical examination of fired lead and

jacketed bullets by using a comparison microscope. A

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9mm pistol provided by the University of the

Cordilleras, Ballistics Laboratory will be used for

the firing tests. The target areas will be limited to

soft tissues, laminated glass (windshield glass),

float glass (window glass), pig bone, and lastly,

wood. Expected results will yield to explain why lead

bullets become a problem in laboratory tests due to

their mutilated or fragmented concentration of

elements. Similarly, it is expected there will be a

lack of deformation in soft tissues with the use of

jacketed bullets while lead bullets will result in

deformed copper plating when fired. We also

hypothesize the deformity of not coated fired lead

bullets would be deformed upon impact when they hit

osseous tissues (Caister et al., 2020). On the other

hand, jacketed bullets would cause minor deformities

because of the harder material they are made of. It is

also expected that lead bullets will be more distorted

when they hit different objects such as laminated

glass, float glass (Waghmare et al., 2019) and wood as

compared to jacketed bullets which will exhibit a

minor deformity.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

             PAGE 

TITLE PAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  01

THESIS ABSTRACT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 02

TABLE OF CONTENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 05

LIST OF TABLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .06

CHAPTER 1

  THE PROBLEM

        Background of the study . . . . . . . .  07

        Theoretical/Conceptual Framework . . . . 12

        Statement of the Problem and Hypotheses .14

CHAPTER 2

  DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

        Research Design and Methodology . . . . .17

        Population and Locale of the Study . . . 18

        Data Gathering Tools and Procedure . . . 20

        Treatment of Data . . . . . . . . . . . .21

        Chronogram of Activities . . . . . . . . 22

REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
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LIST OF TABLES

Table No.    Table Title                 Page 

   1     Chronogram Activities . . . . . .22    

 
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CHAPTER 1

THE PROBLEM

Background of the study

Ballistics plays a big role in the world of

forensic science where it involves the study of

motions, dynamics, and projectiles relating to

internal action of firearms, being this a well-

established discipline used in crime laboratories for

examination, verification, comparison, and

identification purposes. Similarly, for over years,

ballistics has played a prominent role within the

courtroom as it has been widely used to examine

evidence in forensic investigations of crimes

involving firearms, mainly to prove the identification

of a weapon associated with a suspect or a victim.

In forensic investigations, ballistics comes into play

when there are cartridges and ammunition that are

recovered in crime scenes, which results in

significant evidence even if the firearm used is not

physically present at the scene. To cite an example,

investigators can examine bullets that were taken from

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two separate sites to establish the possibility that

the same firearm was used in the shootings (National

Forensic Science Technology Center n.d.).

Although significant weight is placed nowadays on

the employment of firearms, this subject has impacted

the system as much as other technological

advancements.  As technology advances, forensic

ballistics has attempted to quantify and identify

important characteristics of fired projectiles which

sometimes results in a real challenge for forensic

experts, especially those that involve the examination

of lead bullets (Tobin, 2004).

Bullets may be metallic or non-metallic,

cylindrical elongated projectiles propelled from a

firearm by means of the expansive force of gases

derived from burning gunpowder.  They are measured by

their caliber, which indicates the interior diameter

(or bore) of a gun barrel.

Bullets can be differentiated in different ways

such as in weight, shape, and manufacturer. For this,

ballistics not only involves the study of the behavior

and the terminal effects of the projectiles on

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biological tissues and other materials but also with

the study of the physical properties of projectiles

(Maiden et. al., 2009)

As mentioned before, the examination and

identification of projectiles encounter challenges

depending on the composition and certain features of

the projectiles. Differences between the properties

and composition of lead and full metal jacketed

bullets for instance have a significant influence on

their impact and deformity when these types of

projectiles reach a target. For this reason,

ballistics experts face a variety of problems

especially when examining lead bullets given the level

of damage and deformity that occur in these types of

projectiles.

Considering the problems encountered when

analyzing lead bullets in comparison to the

examination of jacketed bullets, this study aims to:

1. Identify the main reasons why lead bullet and

jacketed bullets have different deformities when

fired.
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2. Describe how the velocity and distance of both

types of bullets affect a certain target.

3. Provide a better explanation of how projectiles

become distorted as they reach their target.

4. Provide relevant information on how laboratory

testing and physical examinations of both types of

bullets are conducted.

5. Understand better how firearms and other physical

characteristics of the projectiles influence their

level of deformity.

The deformities brought by the impact of lead and

full jacketed bullets on different targets will be

also investigated in this study. The researchers

decided to conduct a test fire on different materials

to determine the differences in the deformities of

lead and jacketed bullets and evaluate the damage

those projectiles cause on the different targets.

Taking into consideration the possibility that lead

bullets might deform easily than jacketed projectiles

(as discussed in the next section), this study will

then provide a better explanation and interpretation

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of how these types of projectiles act the way we

expect.

We believe our study will be significant for

firearms experts, forensic practitioners, and

specifically professionals in ballistics and academics

or scholars interested in this discipline since it

will cover the problems encountered during ballistics

examinations and will give an insight into why those

problems delay criminal investigations.  Additionally,

the study about lead bullets will raise awareness on

one of the limitations and difficulties when examining

this type of ammunition.

The relevance of this study, on the other hand,

may also be extended to other disciplines such as

wound ballistics and wildlife forensics as it may

provide insights for treating firearms injuries and/or

preventing impacts of lead ammunition by using body

armors.

As to the society, even though hunting is not a

common activity in Baguio City (and a different type

of ammunition is typically used for those purposes),

civilians involved in illegal activities may use lead

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bullets as ammunition to commit crimes, therefore

since our study will support forensic experts on

examining this type of evidence, we believe our study

will be significant to support criminal investigations

in Baguio City having this an eventual impact on

public safety and overall, in the whole community.

Theoretical Framework

Lead bullet is a projectile that is high in mass,

compared to other materials, lead easily melts at low

temperatures making the manufacturing and working

process much easier. For the same reasons, the

composition of these types of projectiles has a bigger

influence on their deformation when the bullets are

fired up than the deformation that occurs when they

reach a target (goHUNT, n.d.). In addition to this,

the problem arises when testing lead hollow point

bullets. These types of projectiles are made out of

softer material that expands upon impact on the target

making their examination and identification more

complicated.

 Full metal jacketed bullets, on the other hand,

exhibit less deformity levels, or the extent of

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deformity is not as severe as the one exhibited by

lead bullets which as previously discussed,

complicates their examination especially if dealing

with lead hollow point bullets. Then, in comparison to

the study of lead bullets, it is easier for ballistics

experts to conduct the examination of full metal

jacketed bullets because the manner of deformity is

less severe.

Regarding the mechanical construction of slugs,

lead bullets are those which are composed of lead or

alloys of lead, tin, and antimony which is slightly

harder than pure lead (Warlow et al., 2011). In

addition to those components, lead bullets must be

lubricated to stop the lead adhering into the bore

(process known as ‘‘LEADING’’) which seriously

interferes with the accuracy of the projectile (Warlow

et al., 2011) and may have an effect on the level of

deformity as well.

 On the contrary, jacketed bullets are resorting

to those with a core of lead covered by a jacket of

denser material such as gilding metal, a copper-alloy

of roughly 90% (Amick et al., 2003). Some European

 14

manufacturers use steel as jacket metal. The primary

purpose of the ‘jacket’ in a projectile is to avert

adherence of metal (lead) to the inside of the gun

barrel. Another function of the jacket is to keep the

projectile intact and from not splitting up when it

strikes within the target to forestall impairment

while within the weapon to manage expansion (U.S.

Patent No. 4,336,756, 1982) which significantly

reduces the level of damage caused to the projectile

and facilitates the examination of these type of

bullets by forensic experts.

The study and comparison of the deformity of full

metal jacketed projectiles vs. lead bullets need to be

addressed and we believe this is a topic that needs

more attention given the difficulties local forensic

experts in Baguio City encounter when processing this

type of evidence.

Statement of The Research Problem and Hypotheses

Given the need to understand the difference of

deformity of lead bullets as compared to jacketed

bullets, we have stated the following research

questions and hypotheses.

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1. Why do lead bullets become a problem in laboratory

tests?

2. What is the difference of deformation of lead

bullets that have impacted soft tissues compared with

the one exhibited by jacketed bullets after hitting

the same target?

3. What is the difference in the deformity of lead

bullets when they hit osseous tissues in comparison

with the deformity of jacketed bullets?

4.  What would be the distortion of lead bullets when

they hit different objects, specifically laminated

glass (windshield glass), float glass (window glass),

and wood?

Hypotheses

1.  Examiners who work on lead bullets do not have

advanced equipment for examining fired lead bullets

which makes the analysis of mutilated fragments

complicated.

 2.  Jacketed bullets lack deformation in soft tissues

while the deformation of lead bullets is due to copper

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plating distortion when these types of projectiles are

fired.

 3.  When fired lead bullets hit osseous tissues they

will be deformed upon impact (Caister et al., 2020)

because they are not coated, while jacketed bullets

exhibit minor deformities given the harder material

they are made of.

 4.  It is expected that lead bullets will be more

distorted when they hit different objects such as

laminated glass, float glass (Waghmare et al., 2019)

and wood as compared to jacketed bullets which will

exhibit a minor deformity.

 
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Chapter 2

DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

This chapter provides the overview of research methods

that will be used during this study. It provides

information on the experiments by describing the

procedures that will be followed to test our

hypotheses and answer our research questions. In this

chapter, the researchers will also discuss the methods

and procedures that will be used to analyze the data

gathered from the experiments.

Research design and Methodology

The researchers will use a quantitative design. By

applying this method, the researchers will conduct

different types of experiments to gather all the

possible data to answer the research questions we have

stated for this study and to come up with conclusions

about the hypotheses previously stated.

In order to analyze and further discuss the

deformation of jacketed and lead bullets, the

researchers will gather the experimental data through

 18

fire testing. The experiments will be conducted for a

period of 12 weeks (3 months).

The researchers will rely on the dated schedule

given by the school authority to gather the necessary

data for the research. 

The study of the projectiles and their impact

will be based on visual examinations of the different

target areas. The information obtained by using the

two types of projectiles will be processed and

compared to analyze the effects of using lead and

jacketed bullets on a variety of target samples.

Population and Locale of the Study

The study will be conducted at the firing range in the

University of the Cordilleras (Main) at Governor Pack

Road Baguio City. A selected marksman will be the

person assigned to conduct the firing tests (following

the criteria presented below). After the firing, the

assigned personnel will retrieve the fired bullets

from the target or from the location from where they

are found.
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The technique for gathering the samples will depend on

the availability of the marksman and on the scheduled

date and time allotted in the firing range.

The person who will conduct the test fire will be

chosen based on the following criteria:

1.  The marksman (must be a UC enrolled student) or

2.  A Criminology Intern of the University of the

Cordilleras

The number of shots allowed are 3-5 per target.

The following materials will be used as sample

targets:

1. Osseous soft tissues

2. Laminated Glass (windshield glass

3. Pig bone

4. Float Glass (window glass)

5. Wood/drywall

The researchers will be obtaining the target samples

from different sources: the osseous tissues as well as

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the pig bone will be purchased from the market, the

wood/dry wall would be recycled material and the

laminated and float glass will be obtained from the

junk shop through donations. The items will consist of

3-6 samples per item for the experiment. The bullets

will be purchased by the researchers.

Data Gathering Tool and Data Gathering Procedure

The instrument that will be used for the firing tests

is a 9mm Pistol, Beretta provided by the Ballistics

Laboratory at the University of the Cordilleras. The

shootings will take place at the firing range of the

University of the Cordilleras including set distances

from the target, with a backstop in recovering the

bullet.

Approximately 25 jacketed bullets and 25 lead bullets

will be used in this study for a total of

approximately 50 firing tests. As mentioned before the

number of shots per target will be limited from 3 to

5.

The firing tests will be performed in two parts. The

first step will consist of performing the experiments

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by using lead bullets on the different targets then it

will be preceded by the use of jacketed bullets.

Observations will be acquired during the two parts of

the experiments.

Treatment of data

      This study seeks to answer the differences

between the deformities of the jacketed and lead

bullets, a comparative data tool will be used in data

collection since it allows a comparison of two or more

target groups based on one or more variables, to

determine their consistency with one another.

      For the analysis of data, two comparison tests

will be conducted which are the physical examination

and the microscopic examination. As to the physical

examination, it will vary according to the firing test

and target used as well as to the type of bullet (or

fragments) gathered after the test.

The microscopic examinations will be achieved by

comparing details of fragments or bullets

simultaneously (using a comparison microscope) with

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the same degree of magnification. This instrument can

have a monocular or binocular eyepiece, which will be

used to evaluate the visual quality of the equipment

using test bullets prior to examination (Dillon, J.H.

(n.d.).

  Finally, the analysis will focus on explaining

the bullets’ deformities (Nordin et. al., 2019) after

hitting different targets and explain the outcomes of

the firing tests.

 
 
 Chronogram of Activities

Table 1 summarizes the activities and the

different steps planned to conduct this research.

 23

Table 1

Chronogram of Activities for conducting the research

project: the difference on deformity of lead bullets
and jacketed bullets.

Activity Month

Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb March Apr

Conducting a X X X X X X X X
literature
review

Determining X            
research topic/
title

Looking for X            
research advisor

Determining X            
research
problems and
objectives

Defining X X          
research
questions,
methods and
hypotheses
 24

Activity Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb March Apr

Writing the X X X X      
research
proposal

Finishing the       X      
proposal and
getting approval

Requesting       X      
permission to
conduct firing
tests.

Selecting of       X      
marksman, and
schedule firing
tests

Obtaining the       X      
target samples
and necessary
materials

Activity Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb March Apr

Setting up the       X      
experiments
 25

Conduct the data       X X X  

collection and
observations

Processing the       X X X X  
results

Data Analysis         X X X

Writing progress         X X X X
reports to the
research advisor

Writing the         X X X X
final manuscript

Submission of             X
thesis

Activity Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb March Apr

Presentation of             X
Oral Defense

REFERENCES

 Amick, D. D. (2003). Jacketed bullet and methods

of making the same. United States Patent.

https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/7c/89
 26

/41/7feb08dc5dc600/US20030101891A1.pdf?

fbclid=IwAR06FcloN1tCVEw1HJH2Sb2gZVbVskoJMJ6sMlio

UbNZ8SxdBDyT90hfNVE

 Caister, A. J., Carr, D. J., Campbell, P, D., &

Brock, F. (2020). The ballistic performance of

bone when impacted by fragments. International

Journal of Legal Medicine, 134, 1387–1393.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-020-02299-9

 Dillon, J.H. (n.d.). Bullet Comparison and

Identification. National Forensic Science

Technology Center.

https://projects.nfstc.org/firearms/module11/fir_

m11_t06.htm

 goHUNT. (n.d.). 7 things you didn't know about

ammo. Retrieved April 29, 2015, from

https://www.gohunt.com/read/seven-things-you-

didnt-know-about-ammo?

fbclid=IwAR0GKcAvksRtGjoFKbkuceTt6DJ5P1NHplTmPMvA

-ziQ2XFC_b4aCFZcgig#gs.g6pv2w
 27

 Maiden, N. (2009, May 23). Historical overview of

wound ballistics research. Forensic science,

medicine, and pathology, 5(2), 85-9.

10.1007/s12024-009-9090-z 

 National Forensic Science Technology Center.

(n.d.). Forensic Science Simplified. Retrieved

December 05, 2020 from

http://www.forensicsciencesimplified.org/firearms

/how.html

 Nordin, F. A., Bominathan, U. R., Abdullah, A. F.

L. (2019). Forensic significance of gunshot

impact marks on inanimate objects: The need for

translational research. Journal of Forensic

Science, 65(1), 11-65.

https://doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.14142

 Schreiber, C. J. (1982). U.S. Patent No.

4,336,756. Grand Island, Nebraska: United States

Patent and Trademark Office.

 Tobin, W. A. (2004, March 1). Comparative Bullet

Lead Analysis: A case study in flawed forensics.

 28

The champion.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/25604114

8_Comparative_Bullet_Lead_Analysis_A_Case_Study_i

n_Flawed_Forensics

 Waghmare, N. P., Gupta, K., Naik, J., & Anand, V.

R. (2019). Characteristics of Fired Bullet on

Different Target Materials. Journal of Forensic

Science and Criminal Investigation, 12(2). DOI:

10.19080/JFSCI.2018.11.555833

 Warlow, T. (2011). Firearms, the Law, and

Forensic Ballistics (3rd ed.). CRS Press.